In 2020, businesses across the globe faced many challenges and changes. The year demonstrated how important it is for workforces to be agile and adaptable to a new way of working that consists of cloud-enabled remote technologies that make organizations more available and productive. When FNTS began providing a more flexible work environment, we witnessed first-hand how important cloud technology is in our ability to seamlessly serve clients, and in giving clients the ability to work from anywhere. Looking ahead to 2021, our commitment continues to helping organizations adopt and deploy cloud capabilities that will increase efficiencies, enhance the customer experience and reduce IT expenses and complexity.
The surge in remote work underscored the importance of ensuring the reliability and security of the work-from-anywhere approach. As a Microsoft Gold partner, FNTS helps clients adapt to remote work models through FNTS’ Desktop-as-a-Service powered by Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) in the Microsoft Azure Cloud. This comprehensive desktop and application virtualization service provides business continuity by enabling remote capabilities and resource access regardless of location, device or time of day. FNTS manages WVD deployments, maintenance, upgrades, data backup and storage.
Desktop-as-a-Service also simplifies infrastructure management by providing optional built-in security features and reducing operational costs through autoscaling. FNTS has achieved certifications and Advanced Specialization with this offering that assists clients who want to leverage virtual desktop technology in the cloud.
FNTS has supported cloud technologies for several years and understands that one-size doesn’t fit all. Some of the most highly regulated organizations need a tailored cloud solution to meet security, compliance, performance and other industry needs. That’s why we recently launched the FNTS Financial Services Cloud and the FNTS Healthcare Cloud. By already including the security components required within each industry, it keeps our clients two steps ahead from a regulatory perspective. It also makes managing their infrastructure easier.
Our investments in cloud and virtual server technology in the new year will be enhanced by the launch of FNTS Cloud 2.0, which leverages all the capabilities of the VMware stack, including software defined networking (NSX), software defined storage (vSAN), V-Realize Operations (VROPS) and vCloud Director (VCD). Through this suite of tools, FNTS will provide faster deployment times with automation, which streamlines provisioning and enhances self-service capabilities for our clients. We also are making enhancements to our monitoring tools and completing general system upgrades to provide additional capacity along with the latest and greatest features for clients to leverage.
There are many capabilities within the cloud, but if organizations lack in-house expertise, or don’t manage it diligently, expenses in the cloud can inflate quickly. FNTS explores a client’s unique business objectives and finds the most effective cloud technology for its business model. FNTS then helps clients build up the skillsets and abilities to become more knowledgeable in adopting cloud technology. During implementation and beyond migration, FNTS fills the gaps by working alongside clients and building mutually beneficial partnerships that enable them to gain additional cloud knowledge over time.
As threats become more complex, having a zero-trust security posture with layered security solutions is paramount for today’s businesses. Throughout the pandemic, FNTS consulted with clients about the benefits of leveraging Disaster Recovery-as-a -Service (DRaaS) options to provide them with greater peace of mind and a more robust data protection and recovery approach. FNTS has expanded its DRaaS offerings with packaged solutions allowing clients to recover in the Azure Cloud or FNTS Cloud. All DRaaS packages provide for replication and automated recovery activities, reducing downtime and disruption in the event of a disaster. This automation streamlines disaster recovery testing, giving companies the ability to validate their disaster recovery plan and activities.
FNTS prides itself on the deep partnerships it has with Microsoft, IBM, VMware, Dell EMC and Palo Alto, allowing us to be on the leading edge of new offerings, service developments and certifications/ specializations that differentiate our offerings from the competition. Over the past few years, these partnerships have become more strategic as we’ve developed business and marketing strategies to ensure our sales teams are aligned in building relationships with prospective clients. We engage with these partners to ensure we are current with their technology roadmap and new enhancements, and we invest in certifications and training for our technical teams with these respective technologies.
FNTS also leverages marketing funds to help offset implementation fees and migration activity for our customers. An example of this is leveraging Microsoft’s Azure Assessment service, which provides additional clarity and direction for a prospective client on how we will successfully implement and migrate their environment to Azure, as a no-cost engagement. We are excited to see how these types of promotions and funding assist our clients in their cloud journeys.
Our 2021 initiatives are focused on how we can provide more value to customers and help them optimize technology investments. Our continuous improvement efforts produce exciting results and future enhancements around better self-service tools, in addition to quicker deployment and response times, and improved reporting and visibility.
When it comes to our agile service delivery approach, we enhanced our customer scorecards and reporting capabilities to ensure our team of experts are actively advising clients with recommendations and improvements to optimize their infrastructure. We will continue these initiatives in 2021 with focus on our technology centers of excellence and our delivery teams to ensure we are proactively advising clients on improvements within their environments to help them save money or enhance their capabilities. In addition, we are enhancing our ServiceNow suite of tools, providing additional forms and views for clients, so they are able to get more information from ServiceNow and perform self-service tasks more easily.
We consider each of our team members to be a trusted advisor to our clients, and we are making investments in our team. We expanded our technical team in 2020, growing our staff by over 10%, continuing to add to our depth and breadth of talent throughout the organization. We also made a concerted effort to grow our sales team, adding to its cloud expertise and expanding its footprint throughout the country. These individuals will expand our ability to attract clients nationwide for FNTS Cloud, Azure Cloud and IBM Cloud offerings. We also will continue to consult with clients on mainframe modernization activities to determine how they can leverage the cloud.
We are excited to see what 2021 will bring. Growth in cloud technology and virtual platforms will continue to be very strong as more companies adopt the cloud and want to get out of owning and operating data centers. We also anticipate growth in container technology as it becomes more mainstream, providing additional options for clients as they modernize their infrastructure and applications.