Gartner has recognized Skaylink as a Representative Vendor in the 2024 Gartner Market Guide for Microsoft 365 Implementation and Support Services worldwide. With this comprehensive guide for Microsoft 365, Gartner is targeting procurement and supplier management leaders. As stated by Gartner, “Microsoft 365’s productivity suite (Office, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc.) optimizes productivity through collaboration and communications. Sourcing, procurement and vendor management leaders should use this guide to select service providers who can deliver business productivity goals.” Even though Gartner recognized several service providers for the European region in this report, Skaylink is the only recognized provider headquartered in Germany.
Market definition
As stated under Gartner’s Market definition, “Gartner defines the Microsoft 365 implementation and support services market as services provided by third-party systems integrators to support deployment, consolidation, management and optimization of Microsoft tools like Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, collaboration platforms and Copilot. In addition, these service integrators also provide readiness assessment, user directory preparation, network remediation, data migration, system integration, risk mitigation and organizational change management activities.”
Market overview
Gartner notes that, “The service provider market for Microsoft 365 is saturated with thousands of vendors globally, making the selection process difficult without clear criteria. Organizations often struggle to identify where service providers truly stand out, whether in technical expertise, industry knowledge, or other areas, hindering their ability to leverage these strengths effectively.”
Market direction
Gartner mentions, “Microsoft is a major player in the tech industry, with a large network of partners helping companies use its products. As per the 2023 Gartner Microsoft 365 Survey, 93% of the respondents currently use Microsoft 365. Survey results reflect Office Apps, Teams and Outlook as the most popular and valuable products.”
Challenges
Gartner states, “Organizations often struggle with Microsoft 365 solution adoption due to the lack of comprehensive strategies, adequate skills, robust governance frameworks, and well-defined policies and controls.” Gartner adds, “Nearly 66% of respondents in Gartner’s Microsoft 365 survey reported that their organizations use Microsoft 365 for either transformative or significant change. However, when selecting from among all offerings available, clients often lose sight of the desired business outcomes.”
General services
Gartner states, “They encompass planning the deployment, customizing settings to fit operational requirements, integrating with existing systems, assisting with data migration, providing user training for effective adoption and implementing security measures to protect organizational data and comply with regulations.” Gartner highlights, “Implementation services for Microsoft 365 include professional support in deploying, configuring and integrating Microsoft’s applications within an organization.”
Generative AI
Gartner states, “Microsoft continues to invest heavily in innovation (especially Copilots), security and industry-specific solutions. According to Microsoft, these innovations fuel growth across Microsoft 365, as evidenced by the 400 million paid Office 365 seats.”
Recommendations
Gartner advises in one of the key findings “Prioritize addressing the lack of comprehensive strategies, adequate skills, robust governance frameworks, well-defined policies and controls to overcome Microsoft 365 adoption challenges.”
Maybe Skaylink will be your partner on your Microsoft 365 journey?
If you’re looking for a partner for an upcoming Microsoft 365 project, we would be pleased to support you with our years of expertise, individual offers, and wide range of solutions.
If you’re interested, don’t hesitate to contact us. Our team will be happy to advise you promptly and without obligation on all possibilities!
Gartner, Market Guide for Microsoft 365 Implementation and Support Services, Biswajit Maity, Mark Ray, Matt Baldino, Tom Sieber, 16. September 2024
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