In a league of its own

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How would you like to be the only modern applications company in the world? The leaders at BlueMetal loved the idea so much that they trademarked the term. But what exactly does it mean? “We build solutions that meet our clients’ needs,” said Scott Jamison, CEO at BlueMetal. “Usually that’s a cloud-based solution, because it’s the most effective way to solve that problem.”

Recognizing the future of IT

Back in 2009, when the Boston-based company first opened its doors, the idea of being born in the cloud must have seemed somewhat risky. The company’s founders however, could see the writing on the wall.

“Looking out at Microsoft’s ecosystem however, we recognized there weren’t enough partners focusing on the cloud yet. We really wanted to seize the opportunity and serve clients better.”

Working with Microsoft as a partner, the company kept very close tabs on whether the Microsoft cloud was ready for prime time. Impressed with what they saw, BlueMetal got in early on the Microsoft Cloud, prior to even the existence of Office 365. They have never looked back since.

Shepherding customers on their cloud journey

Keeping tabs on clients’ needs definitely influences how BlueMetal approaches new cloud projects. “First and foremost you have to respect their business challenges,” said Jamison. “If a customer’s business need can be better served by approaching cloud technologies, then that will be our first approach.”

As advisors, the people at BlueMetal strive to help their clients with the hardest issues on their plate. “We really focus on the unique problem so that we can build the best solution for them,” said Jamison.

One of the key changes for BlueMetal concerns selling audiences. In the past, the company engaged more with IT than with business. Now it’s the other way around. That’s because value drives a different conversation with technology. “We do a really good job of bridging that gap between business and technology, providing the interpretation of each side’s needs, wants, and capabilities,”said Bienfang. “We then elevate both sides so they can envision a joint solution.”

Helping customers transform the way they operate

Everybody wants to be able to do business electronically and through their favorite devices. As businesses evolve, they want to create digital experiences. At the end of the day, that’s done by leveraging cloud platforms and moving to a software as a service model. Many IT departments lack these capabilities, such as continuous delivery, autonomous operations, and seamless identity. “This is a new world of software development where we’ve evolved our capabilities to create solutions and help our clients bring them to market at a heightened velocity using modern software techniques,” said Bob Familiar, National Practice Director at BlueMetal. “Clients can interact with their customers in real-time. We refer to all of that as getting to the concept of a real-time business.”

A strong partnership with Microsoft

Priya Gore manages the Strategic Alliances team at BlueMetal. One of her most important partnerships by far is Microsoft.

“They’re also the most willing to engage.” One of the key benefits for Gore is the Microsoft partner ecosystem that expands technology, account teams, and experts. “They’ve really set a gold standard in the way in which they partner with us.”

At the same time, Gore points out that partners shouldn’t just wait to be served by Microsoft. They have to stay active in the relationship and work on building a closer bond.” All too often, I’ve seen partners failing to understand that it’s a two-way street,” said Gore. “The best engagements we receive are when we offer something to the partnership.”

Growing customers in the cloud

About 75 percent of BlueMetal’s solutions incorporate the cloud. “We believe it’s continuing to grow,” said Matt Jackson, National General Manager at BlueMetal. “Customers want to enhance their technology, and they recognize the agility of the cloud and the economic advantage of being able to flex up and down.”

The company’s growth would seem to support that theory. The evidence of this growth is a more than 100 percent increase in number of projects that are resulting in either net-new Azure subscriptions or increased Azure consumption.

These kind of numbers have resulted in the company increasing its staff by 25 percent so far this year, with an estimated annual growth of 50 percent for the foreseeable future.

The company is also seeing an increase in the number of requests for managed services, Enable Azure, and continuous delivery. These solutions require a core team that can work with the client through the entire lifecycle of a project from envisioning, design, and development to support and operations. “In the past, when we provided a solution to a client, they would ask for a few support hours,” said Jamison. “Now it’s becoming a greater life cycle where we do everything from 24/7 call center support to planning their project or helping them define the next revision of their solution.”

In addition, the company has seen a surge in demand for the IoT as customers look to transform the way they collect data and leverage advanced analytics to derive insight from that data and achieve that real-time business model referred to earlier.