ISG Provider Lens™ Microsoft Cloud Ecosystem - Managed Services for Azure - Switzerland 2023

This research report identifies business partners in the Microsoft ecosystem in Switzerland.

This first edition of the ISG Provider Lens™ (IPL) Microsoft ecosystem study in Switzerland covers multiple market segments. It examines the partner landscape of the U.S. software manufacturer Microsoft, focusing on its partners’ abilities to support customers in modernizing apps and transforming apps to the cloud. This is becoming increasingly important as customers, having moved some of their business applications to the cloud, are now transforming specialized applications.

The report looks at the provisioning, monitoring and operational management of customers’ cloud environments and the introduction of Microsoft solutions in their companies. The providers’ ability to offer supplementary services for workplace-related applications and  specific offerings around Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SAP on Azure and Power Platform are also included in the assessment. The report analyzes IT and cyber security supplementary services in Switzerland, including backup/restoration, availability and collaboration.

Many companies worldwide use Microsoft’s Azure Cloud. Its enormous number of components, tools and solutions can give the impression of completeness. However, after the – usually simple – implementation and setup of the software, it often becomes apparent that  any measures are required for successful company-wide use. This goes beyond the optimization of applications and licenses and often also includes optimizing business processes and integrating the numerous solutions and tools.

This report evaluates the complexity of the solutions and tools offered by providers and their use in the Azure Cloud. Of the approximately 400,000 Microsoft partners worldwide, approximately 5,000 are located in Switzerland. Of these, 78 providers were evaluated based on the selection criteria. Out of 78, 19 providers qualified as Leaders and Rising Stars.

The consumption of resources in the Microsoft Cloud and the revenue from licenses are major criteria for evaluating the providers. Choosing which license package or subscription type is an independent decision. 

The Swiss IT landscape has been experiencing slow  development compared to the rest of Europe and the U.S. Azure Cloud in the region only has been established for over two years. The current crises in Europe – war, the pandemic and inflation – have not had a severe impact on the Swiss economy. Therefore, the Swiss IT market will rapidly expand in a user driven manner.

Local contacts, local development capabilities and on-site support with the shortest response and recovery times in the event of faults are still important criteria to select providers.

New Microsoft Cloud Partner Program

In 2022, during the observation period of this study Microsoft introduced a new system for classifying partners. The new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP) replaces the previous Silver and Gold certifications with six new solutions partner designations:

• Solutions Partner for Business Applications
• Solutions Partner for Data and AI (Azure)
• Solutions Partner for Digital and App Innovation (Azure)
• Solutions Partner for Infrastructure (Azure)
• Solutions Partner for Security
• Solutions Partner for Modern Work

Microsoft evaluates its partners based on a point system. The specialization model for partners has been redefined as specializations, replacing former advanced specializations.

The new partner system is a challenge for partners. They are evaluated based on new clients won, their number of certified employees and customer sales. Surprisingly, in terms of revenue, consulting, design and implementation of IT solutions play a subordinate role  in reaching certain levels in the partner pyramid. The strengths of a provider lie precisely in attracting customers, consulting, training and eliminating bottlenecks in staffing.

Target groups and trending processes

Compared to Germany, companies with fewer than 500 employees are more prevalent in Switzerland, a significant characteristic of its economy. However, these are often hidden champions or global market leaders. The Microsoft Azure Cloud in Switzerland is tailored for large-, small- and midsized enterprises to transform their workloads to the cloud. For example, one of the components for SMEs includes Dynamics 365 Business Central.

In addition to the transformation of workloads and business processes to the cloud, partners support users in other trending processes such as the democratization of data and technologies, for example, through citizen development. Power Platform components are now in vogue. Data analysis using Power BI is also popular. It is important to note that Power BI is not used as a pure visualization tool for Excel data.

IT security and cybersecurity are also crucial for protection against malware and ransomware, high availability and business continuity. Most service providers evaluated here use their own offerings to accomplish this.

While implementing client projects, providers use existing blueprints (and other best practices) and ready-made solutions to improve existing business models or create new models, services, methodologies and business processes among users.

Market forecast

Users are anticipated to continue embracing cloud-first and cloud-native strategies. The most significant investments in workload transformation are expected to come from here. The IT, cybersecurity and environmental and social governance (ESG) topics are also  likely to receive considerable investments in the coming years. These topics offer great potential for innovation in new managed services among Microsoft partners.

Security and ESG play significant roles in some quadrants of this study. They are likely to impact the market development of Microsoft 365 and Managed Workplace. ISG predicts that a portion of the IT investment will go toward reducing electricity consumption and other resources. Unified communications and collaboration solutions may play a role in. Also optimizing personnel planning (for example, reducing commuting) can be an example here. If they put together appropriate services and solution packages, service providers evaluated in this study can increase their market share and attract new customers in this context.

Value creation within the open systems interconnection (OSI) layer model is increasing. Middleware and operating layers are likely to undergo commoditization, similar to technology and software. The application layer is expected to create value in the coming years.

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