Managed24/7 goes for Cisco Gold

MSP headed by former Minx boss John Pepper hopes to double its revenues in 2015 and break £20m mark by 2017

Managed service provider (MSP) Managed24/7 says it is on track to become a Cisco Gold partner within the year as it aims to double its revenues in 2015.

Founded in 2009, the firm has bagged three of the four specialisations needed for Cisco's Gold status, putting it on course to secure the badge by the end of 2015, according to its managing director, John Pepper.

"We haven't set out to be a badge collector, but as we have grown we have naturally got this capability to go after certain certifications and it has taken six years, but our hope is to become a Gold Cisco partner by the end of this calendar year," said Pepper, who sold his previous Cisco partner, Minx, to Insight Enterprises in 2008.

Pepper said the certification, which is one of the most prized in the channel, would demonstrate to Managed24/7's customers that it has the capabilities and skills to deliver in the mid-market and enterprise space.

With its financial year running to the end of September, Managed24/7's revenues were at £3.3m and its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were £750,000, last year, but Pepper said he anticipates revenues and EBIT to double this fiscal year to £6m and £1.5m respectively.

Driven by organic growth and one or two possible strategic acquisitions, the aim is for Managed24/7 to become a £20m company in the next two years, Pepper said.

With offices in Manchester, Milton Keynes and London, the firm has 45 staff but Pepper said he expects to double this headcount in 2015 to accommodate the company's growth.

Managed24/7 provides eight core services, one of which is 24-hour support. It also partners with VMware, Microsoft, Apple and HP.

Pepper also said that there is a clear skills shortage in the UK's cloud industry today which needs to be addressed.

"My concern is that there are a lot of people who are selling cloud who need to get the certifications and accreditations to back it up and there is a skills gap at the moment.

"To address this, vendors need to help with assisting and training but also, colleges need to make sure they are training the students of tomorrow and making them cloud savvy, rather than the on-premise route," he said.

"The world has changed a lot more quickly than a lot of people could see coming and there is a skills gap in terms of being able to deliver the engineers needed to assist with that push."