The Best of 5 Recommended Microsoft Partners For 2022

WWW.THEENTERPRISEWORLD.COM | APAC EDITION | APRIL 2022

The Best of 5 RECOMMENDED

MICROSOFT PARTNERS For 2022

Ajay Khankhoje | Founder & CEO

Synergetics Information Technology Services Transform Your Business with Microsoft Azure and Synergetics.

From Editor’s Desk C

ompared to any other technology in history, the cloud is a space that is transforming faster. Looking at the latest advancements happening in the cloud technology, organizations of all sizes have the power to modernize the future of business. Even though cloud adoption may require utmost planning, a reliable cloud partner can scale your business to new heights.

Among the most recommended and most preferred cloud platforms out there is Microsoft. Microsoft’s platform offers centralized services and disaster recovery along with ultimate cost savings. Partnering with a Microsoft solution provider will give you a clearer idea of what areas need to be transformed, and change the landscape of your business.

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s The Best of 5 Recommended Microsoft Partners for 2022 are some of such companies that are helping businesses go the extra mile with their services.

For the cover story, read aboutSynergetics Consulting is a “Born in the CLOUD” multi-services company focusing on the growth of Small-Medium Enterprises through services that include data center modernization and application innovation involving the adoption of Social, Mobile, Analytics, and Cloud technologies as Business Accelerators.

In 2004, Synergetics Consulting was set up in MUMBAI, India, to provide services for modernizing data centers by implementing a hybrid cloud that propels enterprises in their IT-as-a-Service journey, enabling global enterprises to become more agile and innovative.

The company implements hybrid cloud transformation, workspace transformation, service transformation, and Cloud Infrastructure Management enabling the Modernization of data centers. Synergetics Consulting leverages analytics, automation, and assurance to deliver reduced TCO, greater IT-Business Alignment, and higher SLAs for its customers.

Their team of 50+ specialists creates Systems for Employee Engagement, integrating Enterprise Systems with Devices, Sensors, Cloud services, Mobile & Data, resulting in the modernization of applications, and more. sa.global is a leading Microsoft Gold Partner providing industry-focused Microsoft Dynamics 365-based ERP, CRM, HCM, and business intelligence solutions. Having been in the business applications space for over 30 years, the company has helped more than 600,000 Microsoft Dynamics users across 80 countries to deliver operational excellence and financial performance for their organizations.

With a presence in 25 countries, sa.global is a community of diverse social and cultural backgrounds, experiences, ideas, and opinions. The company’s global team is 100% focused on the Microsoft technology stack and they look to deliver enhanced experiences and business efficiency for their clients, building integrations leveraging the Microsoft platform.

In an interview with The Enterprise World, Mr. Vikas Gupta tells us about the journey of Crayon India.

“We at Crayon Software Experts India help our customers in building the commercial and technical foundation for a successful and secure cloud-first, digital transformation journey. The Crayon Software group is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with more than 3,300 employees in over 50 offices in nearly 40 countries. We operate a global, customer-first and vendor-agnostic IT consultancy helping our clients select the best solutions for their business needs and budget to thrive and innovate with software, cloud, data, and AI.”

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This list is NOT a ranking. The companies on listed in magazine serve different aspects of the market, making ranking them in any order except revenue impossible and unfair.

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Leaders in Spotlight For the cover story, read aboutSynergetics Consulting is a “Born in the CLOUD” multi-services company focusing on the growth of Small-Medium Enterprises through services that include data center modernization and application innovation involving the adoption of Social, Mobile, Analytics, and Cloud technologies as Business Accelerators.

In 2004, Synergetics Consulting was set up in MUMBAI, India, to provide services for modernizing data centers by implementing a hybrid cloud that propels enterprises in their IT-as-a-Service journey, enabling global enterprises to become more agile and innovative.

The company implements hybrid cloud transformation, workspace transformation, service transformation, and Cloud Infrastructure Management enabling the Modernization of data centers. Synergetics Consulting leverages analytics, automation, and assurance to deliver reduced TCO, greater IT-Business Alignment, and higher SLAs for its customers.

Their team of 50+ specialists creates Systems for Employee Engagement, integrating Enterprise Systems with Devices, Sensors, Cloud services, Mobile & Data, resulting in the modernization of applications, and more. sa.global is a leading Microsoft Gold Partner providing industry-focused Microsoft Dynamics 365based ERP, CRM, HCM, and business intelligence solutions. Having been in the business applications space for over 30 years, the company has helped more than 600,000 Microsoft Dynamics users across 80 countries to deliver operational excellence and financial performance for their organizations.

With a presence in 25 countries, sa.global is a community of diverse social and cultural backgrounds, experiences, ideas, and opinions. The company’s global team is 100% focused on the

Microsoft technology stack and they look to deliver enhanced experiences and business efficiency for their clients, building integrations leveraging the Microsoft platform. sa.global is focused on the Professional Services industry, helping firms in key vertical markets like IT Services, AEC, Legal, Accounting, Advertising and Marketing, Management Consulting, Manufacturing, CROs, and non-profits.

“We enable our clients to leverage technology to solve business problems, improve efficiency, and build a stronger digital foundation.”

They do all this by putting their clients at the center of everything they do and by envisioning the end outcomes they want to achieve. The sa.global team has gone beyond the core Microsoft Dynamics platform through investments in their IP. “evergreen” for professional services which aims to help in the rapid transformation of their clients’ businesses enabling them to become more resilient, adaptable, and intelligent and be able to meet their client’s needs.

With a strong workforce of 900 Microsoft Dynamics professionals across 25 countries, sa.global caters to global organizations as a quality partner.

In an interview with The Enterprise World, Mr. Vikas Gupta tells us about the journey of Crayon India.

“We at Crayon Software Experts India help our customers in building the commercial and technical foundation for a successful and secure cloud-first, digital transformation journey. The Crayon Software group is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with more than 3,300 employees in over 50 offices in nearly 40 countries. We operate a global, customer-first and vendor-agnostic IT consultancy helping our clients select the best solutions for their business needs and budget to thrive and innovate with software, cloud, data, and AI.”

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How To Reduce Cloud Security Risks In Your Business

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Ajay Khankhoje | Founder & CEO

Synergetics Information Technology Services 12

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Cover Story

Transform Microsoft Azure Synergetics Your Business with

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Cover Story

M Managed IT services and other IT services have become more than a necessity for any organization to navigate their imprints in this digital era. Making this all really easier, having a Microsoft partner on board can help you in lot more ways than you can think of. For one, a Microsoft partner will help you to implement the latest hardware and software with other mobile solutions for your organization.

Featuring for the Cover Story of The Enterprise World's this issue of The Best of 5 Recommended Microsoft Partners for 2022 is Synergetics Information Technology Services, your trusted cloud adoption partner.

The CompanySynergetics Consulting is a "Born in the CLOUD" multi-services company focusing on the growth of Small-Medium Enterprises through services that include data center modernization and application innovation involving the adoption of Social, Mobile, Analytics, and Cloud technologies as Business Accelerators.

In 2004, Synergetics Consulting was set up in MUMBAI, India, to provide services for modernizing data centers by implementing a hybrid cloud that propels enterprises in their IT-as-a-Service journey, enabling global enterprises to become more agile and innovative.

The company implements hybrid cloud transformation, workspace transformation, service transformation, and Cloud Infrastructure Management enabling the Modernization of data centers. Synergetics Consulting leverages analytics, automation, and assurance to deliver reduced TCO, greater IT-Business Alignment, and higher SLAs for its customers.

Their team of 50+ specialists creates Systems for Employee Engagement, integrating Enterprise Systems with Devices, Sensors,

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Cover Story Cloud services, Mobile & Data, resulting in the modernization of applications, and more.

Synergetics is the Gold Cloud partner of Microsoft in this geographical area and has advanced specialization in Windows Server & SQL Server Migration and Modernization of Web Application.

Cutting Through the ComplexitiesThere was a phase during which the company was establishing themselves through their solutions, deliveries and services. Synergetics' initial challenges included low profile engagement and minimal awareness as trustworthy partner delivering cloud solutions and services. The company experienced delays and time-lags of more than a year in client acquisitions.

With time, Synergetics is emerging as providers of reliable cloud solutions.

The team today bears the stamp of recognition as they set higher benchmarks for their achievements and successes over the next years.

“In the current scenario of rapid cloud adoption, we are keen to have a viable pan-India and global presence for added leverage and business.”

The past 5 years have been the riders of accelerated growth of Synergetics Consulting. The company has had clients from the Public Sector, BFSI, E-commerce, Retail, Manufacturing, Pharma, and Travel and Hospitality.

Synergetics has helped them overcome their key challenges of achieving of digital transformation thru hybrid cloud solutions.

Synergetics has been associated with Microsoft Azure since the very first day of its launch. Their growth was accelerated with the adoption of cloud computing technology across the enterprises.

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“We are Gold Microsoft Partner for Cloud Platform, Data Center, Data Analytics, and Application Development.

Also, we carry accreditation as Silver Microsoft Partner for Security and DevOps along with Microsoft Advanced Specialization Partner for Windows Server and SQL Server Migration and Modernization of Web Application.”

The 2000s decade witnessed adoption of the Cloud albeit at a slow pace. Also, the mid-2010 decade witnessed the emergence of cloud storage as a cost-effective service provider. 2020 has been the year of exponential rise in the demand for Cloud solutions and services.

In the year 2021, with the remote work option becoming the most feasible option to perform and deliver business targets. Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) emerged as an essential in order to survive, perform and deliver all throughout the lockdown imposed during the COVID pandemic.

“We have definitely garnered more clients and are looking forward to offer Cloud solutions, managed as well as partner services.”

The Growth QuotientThe reason behind our company's long-standing success is perseverance and diligence in delivering above the client's expectations. The company's dynamic leadership accompanied by their team who is keen to learn and grow whilst imbibing emerging technologies always.

“Synergetics believes in dynamism and leveraging the knowledge space for expansion and growth. We believe in learning, experimenting and evolving within the arena of IT technology.”

Synergetics' engagement model of Educate, Advice, Implement and Manage helps clients at every step of their review/consultation or implementation phase. The client is involved and well briefed at the Cloud Planning, Assessment phase.

Similarly, for the Managed Services the company manages diverse

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Cover Story resources involving workflow management, server management, third party applications, workload management and other vital processes.

Synergetics Consulting has witnessed a steady growth since its inception. The company has grown to family of 30 Microsoft Certified consultants and trainers. In terms of revenue, their current serviced revenue for Microsoft stands at $10 million and are still going strong. Their Azure services Revenue has crossed $1 million.

“Our customer base has grown quite well with nearly 5-10 customers across every sector of the economy.” Ÿ

Team for consulting 30+ tech experts

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5 cr Services revenue and 77 crazure consumption revenue

The Products and ServicesSynergetics offer Ÿ

Cloud Assessment & Strategy

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Data Center Modernization

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Data Estate Modernization

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Cloud Infrastructure & Application Migration

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Cloud Management – Managed Services

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Application Modernization and Innovation

The customers are relieved to know that their IT solutions are well formulated to the extent that they cover most of the contingency situations.

Moreover, the company's governance policy goes lengths to ensure discipline, transparency and clarity in the cloud operations, its scalability and accessibility. In all, Synergetics assures the clients a seamless cloud experience right from the day one.

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“We strive to o er a gamut of comprehensive services fortified with best possible solutions that can cover anticipated issues for BFSI, Manufacturing, and startup sector. ” Their forte lies in the team of Microsoft Certified Cloud engineers and consultants across 15 countries.

A special mention to the company's Cloud Consulting Services that have evolved exponentially. I would like to mention that our Cloud Consulting services has evolved exceptionally.

Synergetics has had great success in bringing to fold many SME's within the Cloud environment.

Almost 90% of the businesses across the world have adopted the Cloud. In fact, it is the need of the hour and imperative to do so. At the same time, the world is more connected than ever and having a pan global presence is feasible within shorter timeframes and remotely too. In such circumstances, data accessibility and applications become even more critical for businesses to stay ahead of the competition and outperform with business acumen.

Synergetics has been in this field when the concepts of the cloud were in the nascent stage and have witnessed its

evolution journey. Meaning that the team is well aware of the entire journey of cloud assessment, cloud migration and its adoption to its actual working along with the challenges.

“We have in place a team of exceptionally skilled professionals who have years of experience in offering viable Cloud solutions.”

The company's cloud solutions are robust and future driven. They are in perfect sync with current market trends while arm the business to embrace the new trends in technology with dexterity and resilience.

Synergetics is looking to grow in Europe and Asia Pacific by providing it's cutting age services to customers looking for a partner who can provide end to end cloud adoption services.

In the Indian market, Synergetics wants provide the world class and highly sophisticated cloud journey planning, adoption and management solution to enterprises who cannot access it due to the high cost and

barriers established by large SIs and advisories.

Ajay Khankhoje - (Founder & CEO)Leading the WayAs Founder & CEO of Synergetics that is based in India and in the USA, Mr. Ajay Khankhoje is passionate about transforming the company from a learning services organization to a Cloud Consulting Organization that provides unique solutions like Mirror shoring to enable organizations to mirror their growth globally.

Synergetics today provides learning services on emerging technologies on Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence enabling an organization to digitally transform by re-skilling their workforce, channel and customers plus onboarding solutions for new hires to improve employee retention, recruit top talent and help maximize the training budget.

The Cloud Consulting team is deeply involved in helping Enterprises plan and migrate workloads to the cloud.

Mr. Ajay's Professional Highlights includeŸ

100% growth in Microsoft Business.

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Successfully transforming the Organization into a Solutions Organization.

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Transformation of the structure/Competencies/Offerings.

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Acquiring customers for Solutions offerings.

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Achieved 75% sales growth rate in the last 10 years.

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“Best Vendor Award” from Datamatics Ltd.

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Establishing global alliances with vendor community members such as IBM, Microsoft, etc.

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Significant success in taking Synergetics services to countries like the US, Japan, UK, south Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc.

What Does Being an Entrepreneur Mean? - In Words of Mr. AjayIt is indeed challenging to be an entrepreneur which is full of responsibilities. An entrepreneur is an individual with strategic vision and who steers the company towards it.

With key focus on growth, the entrepreneur seeks to have a worldclass team inculcating the spirit of teamwork, cooperation and the right corporate culture within the team.

The entrepreneur is the face of the company and its mirror image, and hence proceeds with partnering with similar corporate entities through strategic alliances and brands for mutual benefit.

Alongside, the entrepreneur plays a key role in visualizing, and creating marketing initiatives to establish a strong market presence and brand while reaching out to the desirable market audience and target group.

The entrepreneur plays an important role in finance management, optimizing capital spend to drive growth, Initiate acquisitions, and mergers to grow further while spearheading new products, services and locating new channels for expanding sales and distribution.

“My simple advice would be to pursue your dream and persevere till you succeed.”

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any businesses are moving to cloud systems these days to take advantage of the numerous perks that come with it. The cloud system is continually being improved in the contemporary landscape to provide better solutions to the needs of businesses.

One of the primary reasons businesses migrate to cloud-based systems is to take advantage of big-business infrastructure without implementing and operating it themselves. You can reduce risks and reap the benefits of cloud solutions if you take the appropriate measures and engage with the right hosting partners. Your business can utilize cloud services such as sage cloud hosting to operate, monitor, and manage your business.

What Is Cloud Hosting?

The storing of your data over multiple servers worldwide is referred to as cloud hosting. As long as you have an internet connection and a device, you can access the cloud anywhere.

Hosting vendors are frequently in charge of your cloud hosting services.

Cloud computing provides businesses and organizations with unprecedented levels of flexibility and convenience while also lowering expenses in terms of data storage, file sync and sharing, and data access.

Let's take a look at three reasons why moving to the cloud will boost your company's efficiency and productivity.

1. Flexibility and Scalability Businesses investing in cloud-based services gain a great deal of flexibility.

The bandwidth and storage capacity of remote cloud servers are practically

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3 Reasons W Should limitless. This enables businesses to scale their capacities in real time to accommodate expansion and increased website traffic.

This is especially advantageous for smaller businesses experiencing rapid expansion, such as startups. According to your business needs, you can quickly add or reduce various resources such as storage and bandwidth.

2. Cost-effective One of the significant benefits of a cloud system is reducing operations costs. When it comes to document sharing and online conferencing, opting for a cloud-based solution lowers the startup expenses.

Remote servers remove the requirement of application needs and in-house storage. This results in reducing costs linked with management, data storage software updates. Cloud systems are inexpensive to use because they are frequently supplied on a pay-per-use basis, allowing businesses to rent only what they need while still generating a profit.

3. Easy Backup Data loss can occur at any time. Whether the data loss is caused by natural causes, power surges, or hardware failure, data loss is a catastrophe for a business.

While most businesses have backup plans in place, it is beneficial to have additional contingencies.

When vital files are stored in the cloud, business owners can rest assured that they will be safe even if their hardware fails. By investing in cloud systems, businesses can ensure reliable disaster recovery and backup solutions without the effort of storing them on a storage device.

As investing in elaborate disaster recovery strategies can be expensive for many firms, cloud systems are a costeffective solution. The cloud system is designed in such a way that data saved on it is replicated across servers, ensuring that it is backed up if one fails. After a breakdown, immediately retrieving data again reducing website downtime and productivity loss.

Why Your Business Move to the Cloud

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Crayon Software Experts India Navigate Your Digital Future

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loud migration has today become more mandatory than just a luxury. With technologies making more shifts than ever, a digital environment and a digital transformation is more than a necessity. At Crayon India, they take care of all your digital needs and help you navigate your digital future.

In this interview with The Enterprise World, Mr. Vikas Bhonsle, CEO of Crayon India gives us more insights about the company.

Tell us about the company.

We at Crayon Software Experts India help our customers in building the commercial and technical foundation for a successful and secure cloud-first, digital transformation journey. The Crayon group is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with more than 3,300 employees in over 50 offices in nearly 40 countries. We operate a global, customer-first and vendor-agnostic IT consultancy helping our clients select the best solutions for their business needs and budget to thrive and innovate with software, cloud, data, and AI.

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Mr. Vikas Bhonsle, CEO www.theenterpriseworld.com

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Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

We are considerably new in the Indian market, which has only worked to our advantage. Also we are a people-first company, and we take pride in that. We are more customer-oriented than product-oriented.

Pandemic has made us see digital transformation from different perspectives. We understand that each customer has unique requirements, and our objective is to provide them with the best solution for their particular problems. Customers do not benefit from great-sounding technologies but from the solutions that will solve their problems easily and quickly. With that in mind, we had set our goals to help companies move and innovate faster, modernize aging infrastructure, scale globally, get better insights from their data and restructure organizational models to create better customer experiences. From a short-term vision, we are focusing on providing business continuity solutions to organizations through the use of collaboration tools like MS teams, and Multicloud adoption. These factors have helped us in our growth journey so far.

What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Crayon Software Experts India provides a fully managed service for Software and Cloud Asset Management that are customized and designed as per the clients' requisite to make them feel relieved from managing their IT investments and allowing them to focus on other business areas. We provide world-class experts to monitor and report on IT investments. We conduct regular status meetings with key stakeholders, where comprehensive reporting for as many publishers as desired, including recommended actions for optimization are provided. Having a global team of accredited experts, the organization assists its clients in planning, optimizing, managing, and innovating their IT estates throughout the entire lifecycle. It strategizes to provide a unified interface to its customers through an intelligent Cloud.

Crayon Software Experts India emphasizes Software Asset Management (SAM) as the key GTM strategy and provides optimal license in addition to consultation services.

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Our services are custom designed for the clients, and it ensures that they are relieved from managing their IT resources and can free them to focus on other productive channels. We are partnered with world-class experts and solutions which helps us to analyse, monitor and assess various IT investments that a company should make.

Crayon Software Experts India focuses on navigating the ever-changing IT landscape by enabling a new-age workplace and supporting business growth with unique innovations. All of its services are delivered by implementing the best methodologies and frameworks.

With such an approach to deliver the best to its clients, the company is all occupied to introduce its security and customer cost optimization measures.

How do your services help companies to leverage new technologies to increase business scalability and sustainability?

We help clients select the best solutions for their business needs and budget to thrive and innovate with software, cloud, data, and AI. With a global team of accredited experts, we assist our clients with services to plan, right size, optimize, manage, and innovate their IT estates throughout the entire lifecycle. We help businesses make data-driven and cost-saving decisions while navigating the digital future.

How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

We are a people-first organization, and we ensure that we provide technologies to our customers that solve their immediate problems and bring speed and efficiency to their business processes.

Also, a well-established communication process and a reliable support system are crucial to the success of any service provider. We ensure that our existing customers are getting the best services and that we continue to help them scale their businesses on the cloud in the future. We have regular discussions with the industry CIOs, CTOs, and key decision-makers, to understand the real-time challenges companies face and the solutions required.

Even during the pandemic, we were on the ground, taking continuous feedback and speaking to our customers, partners and the broader ecosystem. We ensure that our current offerings are relevant and updated for the current time.

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

I have been with Crayon Software Experts India since June 2014. Before that, I was with Dell for over 14 years as a General Manager of the Mid-Market of Dell India, where I handled a business portfolio of over 300m USD. During my time in Dell, I managed different regions portfolios and had an International stint of Marketing as a Brand Manager for the South Asia region.

In Crayon, I took responsibility for developing and implementing the company's vision and strategy to become one of the fastest-growing Cloud Companies globally and for the transformation of Crayon in India into an end-to-end technology solutions provider. In my complete 20 years of professional life, I have gathered experiences in Business Management, Sales, Marketing, Strategy Formulation, Operational Management and Relationship Management.

want to build a high-performing team and run a company that is built to last, you should engage in deliberate practice to develop the full range of abilities that eventually spells success. As an entrepreneur, one must take responsibility for the operations of a company or a business and provide the necessary leadership and direction for the organization.

FACT FILE Global Headquarter:

Oslo, Norway

Year of inception:

2002

Interesting Facts: ·

50% of the workforce engaged in pureplay advisory & consulting services is on software & cloud.

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We provide the strongest, robust & most intelligent cloud platform to the 2 most popular hyperscalers in the globe.

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We address 80% of Global Market, which represents our services.

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We have setup something called as the ISV incubation center. Here we work with ISV's across industries & help them evaluate, based on their technology, the most attractive option on the cloud.

·

Another unique proposition is that we are one of the very few people, who have the expertise & capability to carry out GDPR assessments for our customers.

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We optimise our customers Digital IT spends by leveraging the expertise we have in Cloud Analytics. This has helped customers save significant amount of money by optimising their Cloud Infrastructures.

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Path-breaking services: Software & Cloud Analytics, Advisory & Consulting Services, Managed & Subscription Services, GDPR Experts, Volume Licensing Optimisation & Management.

How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

At Crayon, we believe that our people are our assets. We trust in taking care of our people and placing their interests above everything else in the organization.

Our culture is everything at Crayon. When all the necessary vectors line up, and the difference is marginal, it is our culture that trumps everything else. Our company culture is designed to infuse desired behavior amongst our workforce and lays down values and norms that permeate every stratum within the organization. It also helps create a strong bond with our employees.

Respect, integrity, winning attitude, collaboration, social responsibility norms, and belief is something that our people relate strongly to, and this provides a defining and impactful reason for association with employers. Our strong culture builds an emotional connection that sustains our relationship with our employees.

What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs?

Two things are really crucial for entrepreneurs to be successful. Getting the right people, and having the right strategy. As a leader, it is vital that they care about their organizational development, their team, and about the individual careers of their people. I believe that if you

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How To Reduce Cloud Security Risks In Your Business

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one are the days when people used file cabinets for storing sensitive data. The cloud has shown itself compelling as a safe virtual location for privately housing data such as health documentation, employment files, and family videos and photos. In addition, many businesses are choosing cloud computing and are willing to spend the necessary money to do it. This is true as 94% of enterprises currently use cloud-based software, with 36% paying more than USD$12 million yearly on such technology.

Similarly, the cloud constantly changed the practices of businesses on its internal operation and in serving customers.

Cloud architecture has made remote work less hard for various companies while at the same time giving access to data and tools that the employees need to work together.

Another reason cloud provides an dded advantage is that companies can gain the benefits of efficiency, scalability, and an opportunity to save on costs which can only happen by moving away from on-premise data storage.

However, the unconstrained development in cloud computing raises Cloud Security risks among companies' data. Data breaches, data loss, identity risks, malware, denial of service, and system vulnerabilities are among the matters of concern.

And so, experts believe that Cloud Security solutions set up in the cloud can be suitable for businesses. These Cloud Security solutions can significantly reduce cloud security risk in your business, preventing unnecessary loss of data and money. In the same manner, knowing the essential things regarding security solutions that you can do can indeed help.

This article will exactly delve into that.

To start, here are the ways to minimize cloud security risks in your business.

1. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication New ways of becoming vulnerable to cybercriminals always appear, and stolen credentials are one of the primary ways hackers access online company data and applications. That's why traditional username and password combinations are not enough to safeguard user accounts from hackers. And so, the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) to adequately protect cloud users is vital to ensure that only authorized individuals can have access to sensitive data and cloud apps.

Nearly all of the security experts out there say that it's required as part of Cloud Security solutions. They will also tell you that you're careless if you fail to apply MFA as part of your infrastructure as a service plan.

But what is multi-factor authentication? Multi-factor authentication, also called two-factor authentication or twostep authentication, is an electronic authentication system where a person needs more than one distinct authentication factor for successful authentication. It makes use of a multi-

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factor authenticator or a combination of authenticators that gives diverse factors. Likewise, other usual authentication methods include answering secret questions, integrating biometric logins, giving off personal identification numbers (PIN), or typing in a code that the cloud provider emailed or texted to you.

Note that what's good about this authentication system is that even if a hacker knows your password, they will still have a hard time getting into your account. All in all, MFA is one of the most affordable yet most effective Cloud Security controls to ward off potential hackers from gaining access to your cloud applications.

2. Limit User Access When more than one user accesses a company's cloud storage, the first step to take is to start levels of clearance.

Your business should limit user access to do this. Limiting cloud data access to specific employees can only significantly increase data stability. In other words, the smaller the number of people who have access to the data, the better. Moreover, when data entry access is limited and targeted, it can be way less hard to detect the origin of a data breach.

One way to limit user access is to link identities to back-end directories, even for external identities. Another step is to use a smartphone access control system that gives a way to manage users easily and assign door access no matter where the IT support pannel is. An access control system can limit employees to only one sign-on (SSO) authentication.

3. Encryption Encryption is the act of hiding pertinent data, such as financial information (codes and credit card numbers), in the form of unreadable codes. Encryption is crucial in terms of your data being in the cloud. In cloud encryption, you can alter the company's text and data by using encryption algorithms, which are then stored in the cloud.

Likewise, nearly all cloud storage users assume that each cloud service they have chosen provides its encryption. This opinion can be valid. For instance, DropBox employs an excellent encryption system for business files. The problem is that you don't possess the decryption key either because this cloud service owns the encryption key. However, what's worse is that hackers can access your data if they also take possession of the decryption key. Therefore, you need to encrypt your data and files using encryption software or application before sending them into the cloud.

Altogether, cryptographic protection of data is essential, no matter its size. It may seem unnecessary but be reminded that data breaches can occur at any moment. And so, if the cloud

information received. Therefore, you can spend money on tools that provide the chance to send simulated phishing emails to check if your staff has made the correct steps in such situations.

data are well encrypted, you can avoid being worried about unauthorized access halfway and on the chance of improper handling. In short, encryption will always keep your data secure.

4. Backup Business Data

6. Conduct Penetration Testing

More and more data are being moved in and out of servers as businesses rely on cloud computing. Therefore, there's a greater possibility of data corruption or mishandling.

Likewise, corruption of files that can undermine business processes can occur if you fail to back up the company's cloud data early. Therefore, you should back up your cloud data. Backing up cloud data is the best method for companies to prevent configuration errors and malware that could endanger or erase it.

When your business is ready for cloud data security, always remember to test it. Think like a cybercriminal and find ways of testing whether or not the system you've made can be invaded or tampered with. This practice is called penetration testing, and it helps reduce cloud security threats while saving you from wasting time. Likewise, there are some things to remember when employing penetration testing, these are:

Most cloud service providers do automatic backup of data, which should make you comfortable at a certain level. On the other hand, the Cloud Security of their backup devices isn't easy to determine. Also, it's hard to ensure that cyber risks will make your cloud server vulnerable. In this scenario, using a physical drive such as a universal series bus (USB) to back up data is an ideal course of action. Furthermore, keeping your cloud data offline to ensure that no one can access it through the internet is also good.

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Analyze your business' vulnerabilities and make an inventory of what to test, like applications and servers.

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A penetration test looks like a real cyber-attack.

Therefore, you should inform your cloud provider before it begins.

Likewise, we can't leave things to chance. Nearly all businesses can't afford to keep their private information on their personnel's home PCs. And so, placing automatic backups and recovery on independent servers is vital. This practice can help keep your most recent changes on files and data saved and secured whenever unexpected incidents happen.

5. Educate Employees Here are the specific ways to apply employee education on cloud security: Ÿ

Set up a plan—You can set up a response protocol if the employees feel that they've been compromised. Your business can develop a document that gives your staff the steps to take in various situations to make them more prepared.

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Involve the whole company—Employees are more likely to own their duties concerning security procedures when they're actively a part of safeguarding business assets.

And so, you can get all of the workforce involved in security training and inform them of the best

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actions possible.

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Run untold security tests—Training your staff means nothing if the employees fail to keep in mind the

As you continue to develop your plan for a cloud penetration test, remember that internal risks are as real as external ones.

Conclusion The use of file cabinets is over in terms of storing sensitive information. The cloud has proven helpful in storing private data such as employment files, health documentation, and family videos and photos. In addition, many companies have chosen the cloud as part of their operation. It makes remote work much more manageable and allows the business team to collaborate. It can also make one's business more efficient, provides scalability, and provides the chance to save on costs.

On the other hand, different security risks among businesses' sensitive data arise along with the growth of cloud computing usage. Therefore, experts agree that you should incorporate security solutions into the cloud. All in all, to have proper cloud security, you can practice some Cloud Security practices such as employing multi-factor authentication, encrypting cloud data, educating employees, and backing up business data.

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Kapil Gupta, Global Head (GSC) | Country Director (India) 34

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The client and employee-centric partner of the future

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eyond being just a household name, Microsoft has today firmly established its identity across every industry. Microsoft is now dominating the development, manufacturing, and many other sectors of industry. Having a Microsoft partner onboard gives you multiple benefits, as they offer you more than just IT services. They help you grow your business with quality services and easy accessibility.

Featuring in The Enterprise World's this issue of The Best of 5 Recommended Microsoft Partners for 2022 is sa.global, a company that is helping clients enhance their project performance and business agility with tailored solutions for the Professional Services industry.

With a presence in 25 countries, sa.global is a community of diverse social and cultural backgrounds, experiences, ideas, and opinions. The company's global team is 100% focused on the Microsoft technology stack and they look to deliver enhanced experiences and business efficiency for their clients, building integrations leveraging the Microsoft platform. sa.global is focused on the Professional Services industry, helping firms in key vertical markets like IT Services, AEC, Legal, Accounting, Advertising and Marketing, Management Consulting, Manufacturing, CROs, and non-profits.

"We enable our clients to leverage technology to solve business problems, improve efficiency, and build a stronger digital foundation."

The Companysa.global is a leading Microsoft Gold Partner providing industry-focused Microsoft Dynamics 365-based ERP, CRM, HCM, and business intelligence solutions.

Having been in the business applications space for over 30 years, the company has helped more than 600,000 Microsoft Dynamics users across 80 countries to deliver operational excellence and financial performance for their organizations.

"An 11-time winner of the coveted Microsoft Dynamics Partner of the Year Award, we have also been a member of Microsoft's elite Inner Circle for 10 years in a row.

These achievements make us a globally recognized, trusted, and accredited Microsoft Gold partner."

They do all this by putting their clients at the center of everything they do and by envisioning the end outcomes they want to achieve. The sa.global team has gone beyond the core Microsoft Dynamics platform through investments in their IP. "evergreen" for professional services which aims to help in the rapid transformation of their clients' businesses enabling them to become more resilient, adaptable, and intelligent and be able to meet their client's needs.

With a strong workforce of 900 Microsoft Dynamics professionals across 25 countries, sa.global caters to global organizations as a quality partner.

"Our commitment to incorporating our Global Service Centers (GSCs) into all our service estimates provides our clients with the best team for the engagement."

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Operating 24x7x365, sa.global's GSCs are strategically located in a follow-the-sun pattern – in all major time zones. While other partners offer offshore services in an ad-hoc manner, sa.global gives the advantages of the GSCs in APAC (India), EMEA (Serbia), and Americas (Colombia) operating with the consistency of skill sets, methodology, and business processes.

This is then put into practice through their proven delivery methodology – ACCelerate – which provides the much-needed framework, toolsets, IPs, and enablers for teams to work along with the clients – more like an integrated team than an external partner, to be a part of the end success.

The Products and Services"At sa.global, we appreciate the need to work with globally distributed workforces and the urgency to innovate, to keep the competitive edge." sa.global's expertise in Microsoft technologies and their experience from working with clients globally allows the team to invest in IPs that integrate seamlessly with the

Microsoft platform and bring custom solutions to Professional Services Organizations (PSOs) with a much quicker time-to-market. sa.global's strategic focus is to serve the value chain of its clients with an emphasis on: Establishing Foundation platforms: Implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 business solutions across the ERP and CRM space to create a digital backbone of a modern business.

Enabling business Insights for differentiation: Leveraging Microsoft Azure, the Power Platform, and integration technologies, sa.global brings together relevant and accurate real-time information to business users.

Fostering Collaboration in global firms: The company provides collaborative work environments for different personas in their client organizations. This is driven by a customized set of built-in tools like Microsoft Teams within Microsoft 365, and Power Automate and Power Apps, within Microsoft Dynamics.

The sa.global India Leadership Team

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APRIL 2022

Driving sustained realization of investments through Managed Services: sa.global provides global clients with 24x7 support that works with them to continually adapt and improve their existing technology and leverage it for business growth.

In addition, sa.global's consulting workforce provides assessments and guidance across creating Resilient businesses. The Advisory Services across financial and digital transformation help them work alongside their clients in their transformation journeys.

"Throwing light on our products, we offer evergreen + empower, our next-generation, cloud-based solutions for Professional Services Organizations and other project-based businesses." evergreen + empower built on Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Azure is a true-cloud solution designed to change the way project-based firms work and operate. By connecting the firm's employees, clients, and business processes, the solution drives greater efficiency, better insights, and enhanced client service. sa.global's Future RoadmapIn January this year, sa.global secured $50 million in growth financing from Kartesia, an independent and privately-owned provider of credit and capital solutions with a pan-European presence. This funding will support the company's business transformation, expansion, and growth initiatives.

"Our strategy for the future is to be the client and employee-centric partner of the future to create a healthy and sustainable business."

From a business perspective, the team's vision is to be a boutique global systems integrator specializing in the accelerated adoption of the Microsoft cloud business platform and catering to Professional Services Organizations within key vertical markets. Simply put, the future of sa.global is to be a professional services industry partner.

“We aim to remain aligned with Microsoft business solutions as a platform of choice."

With this, the team is aiming to bring their global expertise to the Indian client base rapidly and help them prepare their businesses for global operations at a faster pace.

Through all of this, their priority is to upskill the workforce by identifying critical areas and skills based on their goals, vision, and client demands. The company understands its clients' need for skilled resources to drive their business transformation programs, and therefore, upskills and prepares teams by providing them opportunities to work on multi-country and complex projects. sa.global has also created Centers of Excellence for core skills such as Data Analytics and Automation to enhance their expertise in these areas, standardize best practices for wide-scale adoption, provide direction and thought leadership, and cater to high-demand capabilities for rapid execution.

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