Ten African countries and over two thousands seats in the first year of operation

In less than one year of operation, In The Cloud Services, a specialist cloud provider has become one of Mimecast`s leading channel partners. In The Cloud Services has taken Mimecast into ten African countries and secured 2280 seats on the email management service with an additional 6000 seats currently in a pilot phase.

In The Cloud Services is the brainchild of Cathy Stodel, who started the entirely cloud-focused provider with fulfillment partner, Symbiotech, and technology vendor, Mimecast. The reason for selecting Mimecast was its market and technology maturity as well as the broad opportunity base that an email management services offer. “I am always looking for additional good solutions to add to the technology stack and integration so that my company can offer a comprehensive range of cloud services in the future,” says Stodel.

Paul Stafford, business development manager at Mimecast South Africa, puts In The Cloud Services` success down to the combination of experience and focus. “Cathy has more than a decade`s worth of experience in the IT industry and this, combined with her keen focus on cloud services, means her business can and will deliver on the commitments it makes to clients. The client list, which includes the likes of Engen affiliates in Africa, Old Mutual Investment Group Property Investments, Cape Union Mart, Spescom and the Democratic Alliance, is testament to Cathy and her team`s ability to deliver.”

After ten years as a corporate account manager at a leading South African ISP, Stodel chose to move away from connectivity and into the cloud. “I don`t need to tell anyone in IT that cloud computing is a global trend. The reason that I chose to start In The Cloud Services now is that the general resistance to cloud, which has characterized South African businesses` attitude to the technology, is starting to crumble – especially in the email space. This was the right year to start a completely cloud-focused services provider,” says Stodel.

“Email is the most logical first step when offering cloud services. It`s a tried and tested Software-as-a-Service solution that deals with all the pain of fragile and cumbersome email infrastructure,” says Stodel. “The fears around security and lost infrastructure investment are addressed by Mimecast. It offers a choice of a pure cloud solution or a hybrid model that enhances existing on-premise infrastructure rather than immediately taking the entire mail infrastructure into the cloud.”

“As a completely cloud-focused provider, In The Cloud Services is the first Mimecast partner of its kind in South Africa. Its success and growth in the first year of operation demonstrates that it`s more than possible to build a sustainable, profitable and growing business on the annuity revenue that cloud computing offers,” concludes Stafford..