Ambitious TechQuarters bets on cloud for growth

Cloud reseller says its cloud run rate is the same as that of its much bigger rivals

Fast-growing VAR TechQuarters is hoping to triple the size of its business in the next three years as it squares up to larger rivals to grab cloud business.

The MSP, which was founded in 2010, employs about 20 staff in its central London office as well as a handful of others based across the UK.

The firm focuses on IT support, disaster recovery, print and VoIP services and mainly sells Microsoft kit such as Office 365 and Azure. Last year it won the vendor's global cloud partner of the year award.

It said despite its newcomer status and modest size, its cloud run rate matches that of much bigger channel rivals.

"We're doing as much as these large Microsoft partners who are just dipping their toe into the cloud and trying to work out ways of selling it or maybe setting up their own divisions," said TechQuarters' founder and chief executive Chris Dunning. "We're a real force to be reckoned with, as they say, and long may it last."

TechQuarters is on track to smash the £1m sales barrier in 2014 and hopes by 2017 revenue will exceed £3m.

"Our profit is running respective [to sales] and has been even better, in fact, in the last year," Dunning added. "We're on track for £1.4m [revenue] this year – we're breaking the £1m barrier in year five.

"Once you get through that, you can really smash it and grow to the next level."

He added that the firm's future growth could be either organic or from an acquisition.

Employing apprentices and graduates is a key part of TechQuarters' strategy, according to Dunning, who said young people are great at selling cloud services and have bags of enthusiasm.

He said the cloud market is ripe for new channel firms as incumbents struggle to make the transition to services.

"There are a lot of MSPs out there which will struggle beyond belief," he added.

"If you're a large MSP, say a 100-man band, and you've been aiming yourself towards selling lots of high-end server, on-premise, licences and so on, you've got your techies driving your direction.

"You've also got high-end sales guys who want to earn serious commission aiming towards selling those types of solutions. Between the two of those – the sales team and the supertechies – they are driving your strategy forward. How are you going to fundamentally change?

"If you don't change, you will fail. You've got to adopt the cloud."