Businesses today are facing wide and varied challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes taking measures to protect their staff, managing a highly distributed workforce during periods of lock-down and as staff seek to work from home generally, clients defaulting or downsizing, and supply chain disruption. With the ongoing challenges and uncertainties caused by COVID-19, many businesses are struggling to survive, let alone thrive.

While the world is hopeful that COVID-19 vaccines will help to stabilise things, given ongoing the mutation of the virus and the fact that some vaccines are more effective than others, it is safe to assume that it will be some time yet before things really settle down. Also, no doubt there will be lasting impacts on the world around us, and you could be excused for asking “what’s next?”.

Given the impact that COVID-19 has had on a global scale and the ongoing challenges that we are facing, it is important that you take appropriate steps to ensure that your business can weather the storm. Working with the right technology partners is critical and you need to ensure that your overall ICT solution will support your business effectively despite the sorts of challenges that are arising.

Here are three key reasons why Cloud Plus is a great company to partner with:

1. Offices in three great countries, including a brand new 1,000sqm office in Manila

We have offices in three counties included in The CEO Magazine’s Top 10 list of best countries to invest in or do business in for post-COVID. Australia, the Philippines, and the Czech Republic are ranked 6th, 7th, and 10th respectively in a study conducted by CEOWORLD of 80 countries according to their business and investment environments. Some of the factors considered were constitutional framework, education and research, market potential, and trade openness. This provides confidence that we have made smart choices to fuel our labour needs and as we expand internationally.

To support the growth of our team in Manila we have recently moved to a new 1,000sqm office in Mandaluyong fitted out to ensure that our team have everything they need. This includes comfortable workstations with acoustic dividers, a well-equipped gym with a shower, a fully functional kitchen with a coffee machine and fresh fruit every day, vending machines, various meeting rooms, and huddle / break areas. The second phase of the fit-out will deliver additional workstations and meeting rooms, as well as sleeping quarters to support staff working shifts or doing after-hours work.

2. We remained fully operational despite the impact of COVID-19

We are confident that we will succeed despite the difficult situation that the world is facing. Aside from having solid cash reserves, Cloud Plus has remained fully operational even with the continuing spread of COVID-19 while looking after our employees’ health and safety.

With our work-from-home policy for our teams in Europe, the Philippines, and Australia, we’re able to provide continuous and uninterrupted services to our Partners and Clients. We have also been taking appropriate safety measures if there’s a need to visit one of our datacentre locations or client sites. And we have put in place systems and processes to ensure the health and welfare of staff working out of our offices.

Of course, we have done more than just hold the line. Even during the most challenging periods of the pandemic, we were able to effectively recruit and place staff in Manila across a wide range of functions for both Cloud Plus and BPO Clients to fill gaps and fuel expansion. See the outsourcing page on our website for more information.

3. Our solutions enable businesses to survive and thrive, even in a crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of our Cloud Solution Framework, which enables us to deliver seamless and highly reliable solutions that can incorporate Data, Security, Hosting, Backup & Disaster Recovery, and Voice services.

Businesses have realised the importance of reliable Data Network Services as well as the peace of mind and secure remote access services made possible by our award-winning Managed Security Fabric offering.

Our best-in-class virtual hosting services powered by VMware vSphere offer the reliability and scalability you need in a crisis with the option of hosting in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane as appropriate.

Whether you host with us, in your office, in colocation, or with another cloud provider, our Backup & Disaster Recovery offerings will ensure that you can recover quickly and effectively from any challenges that arise.

And of course when you have staff working from home or on the road our  Unified Collaboration and Communication options deliver the features and capabilities you need. They feature both handset and softphone clients for desktop and mobile devices that can be used in the office or remotely with zero-touch provisioning and end-to-end encryption. Our softphone clients also have collaboration features that help overcome the new challenges that arise with a highly distributed workforce.

Our performance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has proven that Cloud Plus has established strategic, operational, and financial resilience that will enable us to survive and even thrive in the face of such significant threats. As the world continues to battle against COVID-19, Cloud Plus reaffirms its 100% Committed support for Partners and Clients towards enabling them to survive and thrive in their own right.

If you’re interested in partnering with Cloud Plus, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Channel Director, Mark Spencer, via mark.spencer@cloudplus.com or thru our Contact page. Building your business resilience may start here!

1. What is your role at Cloud Plus?

Financial Controller

2. How long have you been in that role?

5 years as Financial Controller, and for the 4 years preceding that I had various roles and titles within the Finance & Administration Team.

3. How did you get into the ICT industry?

Cloud Plus was my first role in the ICT industry. I met Jules back in 2012 whilst I was studying at a university in Brisbane, and the rest is history!

4. What do you enjoy most about the ICT industry?

I like to learn about new technology. I learn new things all the time through my work, my own research, and from speaking to a variety of people.

5. What did you do before Cloud Plus?

I worked at Barclays Bank in the UK and had various jobs in New Zealand and Australia before settling in Brisbane to finish university.

6. What’s the best thing about working at Cloud Plus?

The helpfulness of everyone I work with.

7. What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?

Watching, playing, and talking about sport. Drinking beer and putting the kids to sleep so I can do those other things in peace J

8. What is the first music tape/CD/record you ever purchased?

One of the first I remember was Boom! Shake The Room, the Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff classic J

9. Best holiday destination?

Thailand

10. Favourite movie?

Kingpin

11. Looking to the future… In five years I will be

Edging closer to 40 years old, unbelievable! By then I hope to have been integral in Cloud Plus achieving another major burst of growth, with various major initiatives planned. And I’m still relying on winning the lottery, so I can retire early.

CRN (Computer Reseller News) have just published their Channel Chiefs Directory for 2021, which includes our very own Mark Spencer, Channel Director at Cloud Plus.

Launched in 2016, The CRN Channel Chiefs is an annual list of the Australian channel chiefs and the partner-focused business leaders who drive the local partner strategies for the world’s leading technology vendors. The list ties into the CRN Channel Academy site, a resource hub highlighting channel program strategy and thought leadership across the Australian channel.

With over 28 years of experience working in high-technology channel sales and in-depth knowledge of all aspects of channel business from international vendor alliances to local distribution and small business, Mark has been leading the charge in sales at Cloud Plus since joining the company in September 2020. He is passionate about advances in technology, people, and best practice and is committed to helping our Partners thrive. He’s also a top bloke, which always helps!

Mark Spencer
Channel Director, Cloud Plus

What kinds of partners are you looking for?

Typically MSP’s that are looking to expand the range of services they offer and significantly increase their monthly recurring revenue. They will recognise the value offered by a solution based on our Cloud Solution Framework (Voice, Data, Security, Hosting, Backup & DR), as it is a pre-integrated suite of services that just works. They will appreciate the fact that they can call our support team and get straight through to someone who can attend to any issues they are having. And they will get comfort from the fact that Cloud Plus is 100% Channel and that our entire team is 100% Committed to enabling and supporting the channel.

Check out the other business leaders that made it to the list here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call that legacy phone systems are no longer suitable for an increasingly distributed and demanding work environment. Voice is a critical business function and staff need to be able to work efficiently from anywhere with access to features that support effective teamwork.

This webinar will provide you a high-level overview of the comprehensive range of voice services in our Cloud Solution Framework. We have everything required to cater to the needs of businesses large and small, regardless of industry segment. This includes SIP trunks, hosted PBX / UCC options, Microsoft Teams Direct Routing and integration options, and inbound services (13/1300/1800 numbers).

Title: Redefine Business Communications with Cloud Plus
Speaker: Jules Rumsey, Chief Executive Officer of Cloud Plus
Who Should Attend: Business Owners, Senior Management, IT  Managers, Procurement, and Sales / Presales Resources from MSP’s.

Topics covered:

1) IP Voice: Our enterprise-grade SIP trunk service
2) MS Teams Support: Native Direct Routing and integration with Managed UCC
3) Managed UCC Options: Three flavours to suit the needs of all sizes / types of business
4) Remote Working: Functions to enable your team to work effectively from anywhere
5) MS Teams, MUCC or Both: Comparison of features and integration options
6) Inbound Services: Drive

Get access to the recording here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to revisit how they operate if they want to endure and ideally thrive despite the challenges that have arisen. It is now clear that business agility and resilience should be key objectives in order to be able to quickly adapt and overcome obstacles as they arise.

This webinar will provide an overview of Staff Plus, Cloud Plus’ tailored offshoring service, and how it can help you attain business agility, resiliency and growth. Join our CEO, Jules Rumsey, as he talks about operational and staffing challenges faced by Australian businesses and how Staff Plus helps to overcome them.

Title: Achieve Business Agility, Resilience, and Growth with Staff Plus
Speaker: Jules Rumsey, Chief Executive Officer of Cloud Plus
Who Should Watch: Business Owners, Senior Management, Consultants, Recruiters, Procurement, Human Resource, and Hiring Managers

Topics covered:
1. Common challenges when hiring direct in the current market
2. Benefits of offshoring in enabling business agility, resilience, and growth
3. Staff Plus process and how easy it makes it to build out your team
4. Sample Staffing Services Proposal
5. Why the Philippines is a great choice for offshoring services

Get access to the recording here.