IBM & Microsoft.  
Once fierce rivals. Now strategic partners. 

If you'd said this in the 80s in the midst of the PC wars, you'd be laughed out of the server room. 

Fast forward to today, IBM have a strong strategic partnership with Microsoft and have  launched a dedicated Microsoft Practice. 
 
Why? 

Because transformation at enterprise scale now demands collaboration at enterprise scale. 

🟦 Azure 
🟨 Fabric 
🟩 Copilot 
🟪 AI at the edge of every workflow 

Customers are looking for aligned ecosystems.  
 
And IBM’s new Microsoft Practice puts decades of enterprise consulting muscle behind Microsoft’s modern cloud stack. 

In this week's Microsoft Mentors podcast, I sat down with Tim Callahan to unpack: 
➡️ The vision behind IBM’s Microsoft Practice 
➡️ What this means for Azure customers (hint: faster idea-to-impact) 
➡️ How IBM is restructuring to fuel transformation, not turf wars 
➡️ And why, in a world racing toward AI, it’s not about picking sides, it’s about building bridges 

This episode is packed with insight, nuance, and a few throwbacks to OCS and Blue Yonder mailboxes 👴 

What do you make of the IBM + Microsoft alignment?  

It started with two people in a pub… and ended with 250 people queuing outside a packed-out Azure event. 

That’s how you build credibility in the Microsoft ecosystem. 

Before Azure was mainstream, Elastacloud were deep in the weeds. Writing tools, building community, and backing the tech nobody else cared about (yet). 

Richard Conway and Andy Cross didn’t just spot the trend. 
They help make it happen. 

➡️ Founded the UK Azure user group 
➡️ Trained 200+ Microsoft Partners 
➡️ Got seconded by Microsoft to onboard customers at scale 

That traction led to big data specialism, high-performance projects, and eventually, acquisition by Acora. 

Now Richard’s CTO of a modern MSP, helping mid-market customers navigate the same cloud journey Elastacloud once pioneered. 

If you’re trying to build credibility as a Microsoft Partner, this is how it’s done. 

Since refocusing his attention on his own health and fitness (and dropping 30kg!) Hugh rediscovered his energy and built a culture that runs (literally) on wellbeing. 

His big realisation? 

Making time for your health + fitness doesn’t slow the business down. 
It supercharges it. 

🏃 Valto Run Club now takes 10+ people out every Thursday 
⛰️ They’ve just hiked all 15 Welsh 3000s in under 24 hours for charity 
💬 And some of the most honest business conversations now happen mid-jog, not in boardrooms 
 

And it’s led to clear, measureable results for the business... ➡️ Stress is lower 
➡️ Retention is up 
➡️ Performance is stronger 
➡️ And the business has scaled to 50+ people with a genuine culture of care 

Hugh shares the full story on this week’s episode of Microsoft Mentors; from burnout to business breakthrough, and how he's weaving wellbeing into the Microsoft Partner playbook. 

If you're a founder, leader, or future CEO in the Microsoft space... 
This one’s a blueprint for building a business that’s fit for scale, and fit for life. 

Grow to scale or grow to sustain?
The founder dilemma no one talks about enough.

Big vision. Bigger risks.
And a million micro-decisions in between.

This week’s Microsoft Mentors Live is a proper deep dive with Mitesh Chauhan — founder of LA Net.

We cover the gritty side of building a Microsoft services business from scratch:

• Wearing every hat — delivery, sales, accounting, hiring

• Training talent from scratch (and watching them outgrow you 👀)

• Walking away from easy revenue to protect your niche

The big question we kept circling back to:

➡️ Are you building to scale?
➡️ Or building to sustain?

Two very different mindsets.Two very different outcomes.
Neither wrong — but one will burn you out if you’re not honest about what you're really chasing.

🎙️ It’s one of my favourite chats so far — and a must-watch for anyone growing an MSP, Microsoft Partner, or technical consultancy.

£18m → £100m revenue

50 staff → 170 employees

And a Microsoft Practice they never meant to build.

This week on Microsoft Mentors, I sat down with Rob Quickenden, CTO at Cisilion — who shared how a “defensive move” to stop losing Cisco clients to Skype for Business accidentally became their biggest growth engine.

We unpacked:💥 How Cisilion evolved from a Cisco-first shop to a dual-vendor powerhouse
💥 Why Teams was the tipping point — not just for tech, but talent
💥 The very real challenge of staying relevant as a Partner while growing fast
💥 And what’s next with Copilot and AI.

It’s rare to hear a Microsoft Partner story told this honestly.

"We've signed 15 new customers, hired 7 people and will have achieved x2 Microsoft Solution Partner designation in the first 12 months!"

Today’s Microsoft Mentors episode features Chris, co-founder of Mondo Cloud, one of the UK’s newest Microsoft CSPs!

➡️ From running bars in a football stadium

➡️ To leading Cloud transformation in a £100M+ MSP

➡️ To launching Mondo Cloud from scratch last October

It’s a story of betting on yourself, building from the ground up, and putting service levels back where they belong, at the centre of the relationship.

We covered: 

✔️ The MSP acquisition cycle, and why service breaks post-M&A

✔️ How 365 leads into Azure (and what to watch for)

✔️ Start-up pain points, tech stacks, and Partner Centre nightmares

✔️ Why “first fix” is Mondo’s north star

✔️ And his biggest learnings as a brand new CSP

🎙️ Listen here on LinkedIn Live or on Spotify / YouTube

If you’ve ever had to fight Partner Centre… You’ll feel Chris' pain 😅

"With Azure, you've won an empty bucket... and the right to fill it with gold."

That line from James Marshall stuck with me.

Because it perfectly sums up how different selling Azure is compared to traditional IT services.

In the old model? You won a deal, delivered the solution, and moved on.

In Azure? Winning the deal is just the start. You’ve won the right to go deeper — to fill that bucket with value, consumption, and impact.

💡 But here’s the catch: most partners are only filling that bucket a quarter full.

They do the first migration… maybe a DR plan… and stop there. Then it’s on to the next shiny new customer.

James and I dug into:

• Why partners stall after the first project

• The mindset shift from acquisition to expansion

• How the best are using specialization, standardization, and data to scale

• The “Rule of 78” and why Q1 is way more important than Q4

• Why GenAI will follow the same journey infra engineers did with Azure

🔁 This episode was packed with insight for Microsoft Partners — especially those growing Azure practices in CSP.

If you’re building buckets and wondering how to fill them — or how to stop losing revenue through the holes — this one’s for you.

Ever wonder what actually happens at Microsoft's MVP Summit?

Azure MVP Jonathan D'Aloia gives us the low down...

Well, more of a feel for what it's all about... the event and MVP's are under NDA after all!

We covered a lot of ground though...

➡️ JD’s path to becoming an MVP, specialising in Infrastructure as Code with Bicep & Terraform

➡️ Real-world advice on building AI-ready data platforms using Azure Databricks, Fabric, and Synapse

➡️Tips for aspiring MVPs, how to start contributing, find your niche, and deal with imposter syndrome

➡️ What really happens at the MVP Summit: product feedback loops, deep dives with Microsoft product teams, and the power of in-person connection

➡️The story behind launching the Surrey Azure User Group

JD’s biggest takeaway?

Community is a game-changer. Whether it’s joining a user group, sharing knowledge online, or just connecting with others in the ecosystem... it all compounds.

🎧 Give this one a listen if you’re building solutions on Azure, eyeing the MVP program, or simply want to get a feel for what the MVP Summit is all about!

We'd planned 10 episode for Series 1, but guess what... we wanted to give you ONE more!

Not only that, but our first ever in person podcast with Curtis Milne, Microsoft Azure MVP for IaC and Liverpool's very first Microsoft MVP!

We talk about Curtis MVP journey, his passion for mentorship, IaC, Cloud Adoption Framework and much much more!

"The Microsoft Tech Community is in a rocky state in certain elements.. we're here to steady the ship"

This week on Microsoft Mentors: The Podcast, I'm joined by Ethan Sumner, CEO of DevEx Connect.

Ethan has been instrumental in the set up and growth of a number of Microsoft / DevOps Tech community groups.

He know first hand, just how difficult it can be to fund, maintain and grow users groups... the life blood of the tech community.

That's where DevEx Connect comes in... supporting community groups and brining the community together at global conferences!

AND if you're in the North West, you can experience DevEx Connect first hand next week (29th / 30th October).

I'll be there, Camera and Microphone in hand so what more reason do you need to get your tickets ASAP!

Link to podcast and event in the comments 👍

We'll be back on LinkedIn Live in a couple of weeks once we finally work out this bloody tech issue!

Manchester Summit - DevEx Connect