The demand for hybrid and multi-cloud environments should feature prominently on MSP’s growth forecasts, according to ANS’ Head of Pre-Sales, Ant Holland, talking to IT Europa ahead of its upcoming High Growth 50: Cloud report. Here, Holland discusses how the channel must position itself to capitalise on the cloud opportunity as customers reconsider their early investments and hunt for transparency.
Manchester-based ANS’ observations on cloud spending echo the wider industry with an acknowledgment that organisations are increasingly reconsidering their cloud strategies and opting for a blend of Software as a Service, public & private cloud in the form of hybrid solutions. “This is being driven by considerations around flexibility, data sovereignty, security, and cost management,” said Holland.
As a result, ANS Group’s own private cloud offering, built on VMware, Cisco and HPE, saw 14% growth last year, winning in industries such as healthcare and finance where demands for reliability and security are high. Notably, it is the only UK-based accredited private cloud platform with Assured Status from the government and police, and it meets framework requirements for the MOD’s Secure by Design.
The £120m revenue company expects further double-digit growth on its cloud platforms in 2026. Holland noted: “This is driven by increasing demand for cloud services, particularly in the hybrid, and multi-cloud, environment, with significant growth forecast in data and AI services.”
The latter is an area where ANS sees significant value in investment. “Our customer base and beyond is beginning to realise the importance of making sure their data is correctly positioned, secured and governed, before they can generate real value from the perspective of AI,” Holland added. “This, as a result, has become the new top priority for most organisations we’re speaking to. We’re entrenched in a wide variety of projects to deliver work in this space at the moment.”
Holland highlighted that there is still many organisations making their first foray into cloud technology that need proper guidance. “This has become ever more prevalent with challenges in procuring equipment like GPUs over the last five years,” he added. “Its immediate availability in Cloud makes it the obvious choice when it comes to flexibility, particularly where high-capacity workloads such as AI are using compute in limited bursts.”
Therefore, Holland encourages MSPs to truly embrace flexibility. “Offering a true end-to-end hybrid cloud model means MSPs can support customers on their journey transitioning to cloud while enabling them to pick best of breed technologies and the right mix of public and private cloud services to suit their business use cases.”
Alongside its Private Cloud platform, ANS partners with AWS, is an Azure Expert MSP partner for Microsoft, and won Microsoft’s UK Service Partner of the Year award in 2024. It has won significant public cloud contracts with Sheffield City Council and Manchester City Council. It is also a recognised Sovereign Cloud Provider.
Flexibility also requires catering for the ever-growing demand for multi-cloud, according to Holland. He said: “Businesses are increasingly opting for multi-cloud environments to ensure flexibility and optimise costs. By collaborating with multiple cloud providers, companies empower customers to adopt the best technologies suited to their specific goals.”
He emphasised that finding the right solutions for customers requires a focus on the journey and not the destination. “Finding the right solution for a customer often takes time and this may result in several different technical stopovers,” he said. “We often find ourselves working with our customers, not just on an initial migration of resources into a cloud platform, which may only take a matter of weeks, but on a multiyear transformation programme which could see customers taking their software and data from on-premises, into hosted cloud solutions, onto Virtual Machines in Cloud, then into cloud native solutions.”
According to Holland, ANS leverages a Pre-Sales Consultancy-led ‘Navigator’ for this process to understand where a customer is on their journey, what an organisation is looking to achieve over the coming years and interpret the financial landscape the business is currently in. Holland added: “Once we’ve done this, we work together to establish a commercial and technical view of our proposed changes, alongside a board-ready report covering our plan of action and an overall Total Cost of Ownership.
“Where appropriate, we’ve been able to work with customers to find a way of bridging the gaps between private and public cloud implementations to deliver the most cost-effective blend of the two, rather than expecting them to select only one.”
Fueling the machine
A sticking point for most MSPs growing their cloud practice continues to be attracting and retaining top-tier talent. In fact, IDC indicated that more than 90% of organisations will face IT skills shortages by 2026. ANS’s cloud workforce includes six Microsoft MVPs and one Regional Director and continues to grow.
This has been fueled by a two-pronged approach, says Holland. To mitigate the challenges of sourcing specialised talent, the company has nurtured its in-house team and collaborated with educational institutions to develop future professionals. It's Academy, which offers Ofsted ‘outstanding’ accredited apprenticeships, has seen 334 graduates since 2013, 85% of whom have moved into promoted positions with a 79% distinction rate. To retain staff, ANS has invested in training programmes, certifications, and fostering an environment of continuous learning for its workforce.
By fueling a broad cloud portfolio that suits its customers’ diverse needs and self-sourcing a constantly evolving workforce, ANS has positioned itself at the forefront of the industry, and as a partner for customers with an appetite for using AI in the future. Holland added: “ANS remains committed to delivering innovative cloud solutions and driving business transformation for its clients. By focusing on customer success, talent recruitment and leveraging cutting-edge technologies, ANS continues to establish itself as a leader in the cloud space.”
