Technology—unarguably becoming the backbone of humanity’s progress—has brought about transformational changes within industries across the globe. Leveraging the opportunities delivered by these changes, a few innovative organizations functioning within the IT spectrum have seeded the development of something profound – Cloud Computing.
This edition, Top 10 Companies Leading the Cloud Revolution 2021 places the spotlight on those players who have striven to innovate and conceive products and services that have formed a niche market for themselves. And a standout leader among such companies is Pax8.
Born from serial entrepreneur John Street’s vision of modernizing the distribution channel for cloud technology providers, Pax8 simplifies the way organizations buy, sell, and manage cloud solutions, empowering its partners to achieve more with cloud tech.
Having tried to work through the channel with his previous cloud company, Street knew the challenges it presented. Legacy distribution did not provide the solutions, technology, or support channel partners required to run their businesses efficiently. In 2012, with two other individuals, Street founded Pax8 and forever changed the cloud technology marketplace.
“At Pax8, our mission is to be the world’s favorite marketplace for technology professionals to buy cloud products. To do that, we believe in building the right team that provides excellent service, and we combine that superior level of support with world-class technology,” Street expresses.
Pax8 has won multiple awards for being one of the best places to work in the industry. The team lives and breathes what they call ‘The Wingman Experience’ – offering partners 24´7 support, education, and enablement optimized for IT professionals.
“We are passionate about our work quality, care about the people we serve, and capitalize on opportunities to improve,” says the team. Pax8 is dedicated to enabling its partners with the most advanced solutions while also having fun along the way. The company’s core values are deeply rooted in the culture. “We Elev8 each other, Advoc8 for our partners, Innov8 continuously, and Celebr8 our wins,” the team adds.
Pax8’s born-in-the-cloud platform modernizes the channel’s cloud journey with consolidated billing, automated provisioning, and industry-leading PSA integrations. The company’s unwavering commitment to driving partners’ success and helping them achieve their goals has made Pax8 the leader in the cloud services industry.
Pax8 empowers partners to lead their clients’ digital transformations and succeed in the modern channel through partner enablement events, vast educational resources, and organizational enhancements. “We work to make the channel better every day, and we have fun doing it,” says the team.
The company is constantly innovating to meet the evolving needs of IT professionals. In the previous year, the company launched Pax8 Pro, offering partners the first-of-its-kind cloud automation software and simplified Software as a Service (SaaS) lifecycle management.
Pax8 Pro eliminates manual tasks, improves client security, and provides visibility into client workflows. The company also introduced MSP Foundations, its first live, eight-week course providing partners the key fundamentals for growing a successful and impactful business. These innovative solutions enable partners to be more efficient, productive, and deliberate in growing their business, resulting in increased client and revenue growth.
Built on Strong Foundations
John Street, CEO, Chairman and Founder at Pax8, is an experienced, multiple award-winning startup CEO across multiple industries, including telecom, IT, and biotech. John is highly skilled in managed services, channel development, business IT systems, and sales process. He is a financial professional (CPA) with a strong track record of building dynamic, vibrant company culture in several startups. John is passionate about technology and helping our partners succeed.
As Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Pax8, Klaus Dimmler provides the vision and technical strategy for the company and its innovations. He guides the development of many diverse technologies that drive the next-generation distribution of cloud products and services by transforming silos created by multiple vendors into seamlessly managed IT solutions for partners on every level- automated provisioning, unified recurring billing, intelligent integration, product life cycle management, analytics, and unified dashboards.
Ryan Walsh, Chief Product Officer, Channel Chief, and Co-founder at Pax8, has almost 20 years of comprehensive experience helping cloud technology companies navigate and thrive in the channel. After spending time as VP of product management for MX Logic and then leading the cloud product team at McAfee, Ryan partnered with Street in founding Pax8. His expert knowledge has been invaluable to vendors, partners, and Pax8’s overall success. Ryan’s dedication to helping MSPs build a successful cloud practice is evident in his discerning process for vetting new technologies, ensuring Pax8’s line card comprises of only top-tier, channel-friendly vendors.
Sharing their opinion on the importance of adopting modern technologies within a business, the leadership team says, “AI, big data, and machine learning offer considerable opportunities to improve user experiences. The integrations, synergies, and orchestration provided through these technologies create advanced automation that will streamline many of today’s manual processes. The data they capture allows for deeper visibility into customer buying habits and usage patterns. These insights can be applied across several platforms and used for many functionalities, enabling a more strategic approach to sales, marketing, and client management activities. Embedding the technology into company processes will not eliminate jobs but enable employees to be more efficient and impactful. As these modern technologies evolve, more companies will begin adapting them, creating an intelligent and powerful channel ecosystem.”
Overcoming Adversities
Employees’ health and safety are top priorities at Pax8. Powered by the technology it sells, Pax8 pivoted to an entirely remote workplace when the pandemic hit and established unique and innovative programs to keep employees engaged and their spirits lifted. Weekly communications updated employees with important information and stories shared from the leadership team provided an optimistic outlook. “We created virtual cooking classes, book clubs, and happy hours, and more, ensuring our employees stayed connected,” says the team at Pax8.
During these challenging times, Pax8’s technologies and capabilities enabled its partner community and their clients to succeed throughout the pandemic. In addition to the company’s cloud solutions, its enablement events presented partners with the best solutions for establishing their clients’ remote workplaces and educated them on the capabilities for increasing security and virtual collaboration.
“The rise in remote workplaces produced phenomenal results for the cloud technology industry in 2020, with hyper-growth expected in 2021. We will continue equipping our partners with the latest knowledge and advanced resources, empowering them to capitalize on this great opportunity,” says Street.
Bequeathing the Keys to Excellence
When asked about what his advice would be to aspiring entrepreneurs aiming to venture into the cloud tech space, Street said, “to succeed in the cloud technology space, new entrepreneurs should provide value-focused solutions. The IT channel is transforming as companies rely more on cloud technology, requiring additional support from their IT provider.”
“As these providers continue offering more cloud solutions, the number of associated managed services is also increasing. The traditional transactional sales model is outdated, replaced by a consultative, comprehensive solutions approach. Instead of being a repairman for clients and fixing problems as they arise, future success requires becoming the architect and establishing technology solutions to enable their productivity, efficiency, and security. Whether clients are MSPs, vendors, or end-users, providing exceptional value and a great experience are how to succeed in the modern channel,” he added.
Voyaging toward New Horizons
For John Street and his team, 2021 began with the exciting acquisition of Wirehive, a forward-thinking cloud hosting and consultancy company headquartered in the United Kingdom, and the launch of Pax8 UK, the company’s first international office on its global expansion roadmap.
The Pax8 leadership team is actively pursuing opportunities to expand globally and is making investments to support the company’s scale. Recently, the team secured a large round of funding that will enable its expansion into additional markets.
“We are investing in talent throughout the organization to continue providing exceptional support as Pax8, and its solution offerings grow. We continually evaluate and invest in new technologies for internal operations, enhancing the company’s efficiency. And we constantly develop new programs and innovative solutions to drive our partners’ growth and success,” the team concluded.
Ryan Walsh, KlausDimmler, John Street
