“I don’t need a hard disk in my computer if I can get to the server faster…carrying around these non-connected computers is byzantine by comparison.” – Steve Jobs, Co-founder, CEO and Chairman, Apple Inc.
The recent pandemic pushed the whole world indoors. This led almost every sector to switch to cloud solutions for all the good reasons. Cloud solutions have been in picture for some time now. They not only enable increased capacity, functionality, scalability, and reduced maintenance for computer infrastructure to businesses, but also let them focus on revenue driving initiatives.
One company providing all these disruptive cloud solutions to other businesses is interworks.cloud. They are an award-winning CSP automation platform situated in Thessaloniki, Greece—with presence in Germany and US—providing pathbreaking cloud solutions to businesses.
A Vision of Transformation
interworks.cloud™ is a leading cloud automation platform provider with two decades of experience in transforming traditional IT service businesses into powerful Cloud Solution Providers.
Addressing the needs of Cloud Distributors, CSPs, MSPs, and ISVs worldwide, the interworks.cloud platform automates key cloud service processes, such as billing, ordering, invoicing, and recurring payments for Office 365, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft ESD, Acronis, Google Workspace, and other IaaS and SaaS solutions.
With more than 15 active and fully functional integrations—including leading products from major cloud vendors—the interworks.cloud platform helps businesses in more than 70 countries boost their service portfolio and expand their cloud offerings.
Providing Automated Excellence
Apart from its state-of-the-art cloud automation platform, interworks.cloud™ is a leading cloud service Distributor and Provider in Greece, Cyprus, and Malta. The company counts an extensive network of more than 400 Cloud Resellers and 14+ partnerships with leading software vendors, including Microsoft, Acronis, Google, Webroot, Fortinet, Dropsuite, and others.
interworks.cloud™ is a Microsoft Gold Partner and a certified provider for all its vendors, providing first-class 24/7 support. These strong vendor partnerships allow the company to serve end companies through its extensive reseller network in Greece, Cyprus, and Malta.
Finally, the company offers its very own cloud services – including Cloud Servers, Databases, Backup, Security, S3 Storage – for thousands of companies in Greece and abroad, ensuring fast speeds, stability, and security in a completely renovated infrastructure center.
The Creator’s Quest
Dr. Vassilios Zografos is the Co-founder and CEO of interworks.cloud. His background and affinity have always been in the IT industry. He graduated in Computer Science and Economics from the Brunel University, attained his MSc in Information Systems from UMIST, and his Ph.D. in e-Business Components Architectures from the same institution.
A true believer in business automation, Vassilios was the conceptual designer of BOS (Business Operating System), a highly acclaimed distributed development platform for effective Knowledge Management, Workflow, and Organizational Modeling used in large corporations globally.
Vassilios could always see what is around the corner in the future of the IT industry. When business automation was wishful thinking rather than the standard practice for many companies, he directed interworks.cloud towards developing an on-demand CRM platform that led the business in Greece from 2005 to 2009.
This successful track led Microsoft Corp. in 2009 to choose interworks.cloud as a certified Incubation Center for Southeast Europe for providing Cloud Services and Business Consulting to ISVs (Independent Software Vendors), Telcos, etc.
And in 2010, long before cloud services were even an option for business, Vassilios steered the company towards developing a Cloud Business Operating System (CBOS), the first of its kind.
Outlook that Counts
We asked Vassilios about his opinion on how the adoption of modern technologies such as AI, big data and machine learning have transformed the cloud computing industry and what more could be expected in the near future, to which he replied, “The pandemic brought a remarkable shift towards cloud computing, leading the industry to more resilient and sustainable growth. At the same time, widespread connectivity has made big data more available and accessible to businesses, whereas machine learning is being embedded into an increasing number of products and services. Therefore, it is only a question of time until these trends converge.”
He further added, “We firmly believe that combining the power of cloud computing with the potential of artificial intelligence will create new opportunities for the digital transformation of businesses, which are bound to become more innovative and more efficient. Ubiquitous computing will become available thanks to the public and private cloud. At the same time, AI technology will help businesses offer smart applications and systems that harness the knowledge of big data and contribute to the creation of truly personalized solutions tailored to each customer’s specific needs.”
Overcoming Challenges
We asked Vassilios about how he was driving his company to sustain operations and ensuring the safety of his employees at the same time, taking in consideration the current pandemic, and its impact on global economies, to which he said “When we started working remotely, our top priority was maintaining a healthy remote working environment with high mental well-being levels. Undoubtedly, managing a team remotely requires a whole different approach. We wanted to empower our managers with tools that help them keep their teams together, engaged, and motivated no matter where they are. So, we started using tools to measure our employees’ pulse every week, and thus, understand how they feel and what challenges they may be facing. More importantly, knowing employee pulse allows our managers to offer valuable mentoring.”
He further explained, “On top of that, we organize regular 1-on-1 remote meetings. In these dedicated sessions, our managers discuss openly with their team members, address their concerns, and commit to resolving issues together. Almost 1.5 years in WFH mode, we are proud to report that 86% of our team members feel their overall performance has not been disrupted while 81% stated that the spirit of collaboration, togetherness, and open communication on which our company is founded, has not been affected by the pandemic.”
Words of Guidance
In his advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the cloud tech space, Vassilios expressed, “Twenty years in the tech industry, we are pleased to say that the most pivotal moments center around risky decisions. So, although it may sound cliché, it is the most important advice for budding entrepreneurs: believing in your dreams and throwing yourself into the unknown can be rewarding.
Some important lessons we learned along the way:
- Have a clear mission: a clearly defined mission helps convey the reason your business exists and helps your employees become part of your endeavor.
- Always think of the customer: customers are not always right, nor are they happy all the time. However, they never cease to be the reason and the focus of everything you do. Listen to them carefully, value their feedback, and never stop creating the business solutions that best suit their needs.
- Mistakes are made, and that is okay: working in a tech company means you always must brim with innovation. Innovation results from thinking out of the box, questioning existing solutions, experimenting, and inevitably, daring to make mistakes.”
Future Endeavors
Talking about his vision to scale his company’s operations and offerings in 2021, Dr. Zografos said, “Our mission is to create the most compelling cloud commerce platform by removing the hassle of selling and managing cloud services to businesses. We have developed a strategic hiring plan for 2021, and we are hiring 40 new experts who will form an integral part of our mission. In addition, we are expanding into new markets across the world with our Standard Edition for Resellers.”
Additionally, he said, “We also want to keep our clients satisfied by expanding our product roadmap with new updates, features, and integrations. Some of our significant additions into our vendor portfolio will be Acronis extensions for IT Distributors, IBM, Adobe, Bitdefender, BitTitan, Vade Secure, Serveil, and many more,” concluded Dr. Zografos
Testimonial:
“Working with interworks.cloud is proving to be a forward-looking and highly beneficial partnership in what is a very fast-moving market sector.” – Marco Iten, Head of Cloud & Services, Alltron AG, Microsoft Indirect CSP, Switzerland”.
