Microsoft Mentors

Grow to scale or grow to sustain?
The founder dilemma no one talks about enough.

Big vision. Bigger risks.
And a million micro-decisions in between.

This week’s Microsoft Mentors Live is a proper deep dive with Mitesh Chauhan — founder of LA Net.

We cover the gritty side of building a Microsoft services business from scratch:

• Wearing every hat — delivery, sales, accounting, hiring

• Training talent from scratch (and watching them outgrow you 👀)

• Walking away from easy revenue to protect your niche

The big question we kept circling back to:

➡️ Are you building to scale?
➡️ Or building to sustain?

Two very different mindsets.Two very different outcomes.
Neither wrong — but one will burn you out if you’re not honest about what you're really chasing.

🎙️ It’s one of my favourite chats so far — and a must-watch for anyone growing an MSP, Microsoft Partner, or technical consultancy.

£18m → £100m revenue

50 staff → 170 employees

And a Microsoft Practice they never meant to build.

This week on Microsoft Mentors, I sat down with Rob Quickenden, CTO at Cisilion — who shared how a “defensive move” to stop losing Cisco clients to Skype for Business accidentally became their biggest growth engine.

We unpacked:💥 How Cisilion evolved from a Cisco-first shop to a dual-vendor powerhouse
💥 Why Teams was the tipping point — not just for tech, but talent
💥 The very real challenge of staying relevant as a Partner while growing fast
💥 And what’s next with Copilot and AI.

It’s rare to hear a Microsoft Partner story told this honestly.

"We've signed 15 new customers, hired 7 people and will have achieved x2 Microsoft Solution Partner designation in the first 12 months!"

Today’s Microsoft Mentors episode features Chris, co-founder of Mondo Cloud, one of the UK’s newest Microsoft CSPs!

➡️ From running bars in a football stadium

➡️ To leading Cloud transformation in a £100M+ MSP

➡️ To launching Mondo Cloud from scratch last October

It’s a story of betting on yourself, building from the ground up, and putting service levels back where they belong, at the centre of the relationship.

We covered: 

✔️ The MSP acquisition cycle, and why service breaks post-M&A

✔️ How 365 leads into Azure (and what to watch for)

✔️ Start-up pain points, tech stacks, and Partner Centre nightmares

✔️ Why “first fix” is Mondo’s north star

✔️ And his biggest learnings as a brand new CSP

🎙️ Listen here on LinkedIn Live or on Spotify / YouTube

If you’ve ever had to fight Partner Centre… You’ll feel Chris' pain 😅

"With Azure, you've won an empty bucket... and the right to fill it with gold."

That line from James Marshall stuck with me.

Because it perfectly sums up how different selling Azure is compared to traditional IT services.

In the old model? You won a deal, delivered the solution, and moved on.

In Azure? Winning the deal is just the start. You’ve won the right to go deeper — to fill that bucket with value, consumption, and impact.

💡 But here’s the catch: most partners are only filling that bucket a quarter full.

They do the first migration… maybe a DR plan… and stop there. Then it’s on to the next shiny new customer.

James and I dug into:

• Why partners stall after the first project

• The mindset shift from acquisition to expansion

• How the best are using specialization, standardization, and data to scale

• The “Rule of 78” and why Q1 is way more important than Q4

• Why GenAI will follow the same journey infra engineers did with Azure

🔁 This episode was packed with insight for Microsoft Partners — especially those growing Azure practices in CSP.

If you’re building buckets and wondering how to fill them — or how to stop losing revenue through the holes — this one’s for you.

Ever wonder what actually happens at Microsoft's MVP Summit?

Azure MVP Jonathan D'Aloia gives us the low down...

Well, more of a feel for what it's all about... the event and MVP's are under NDA after all!

We covered a lot of ground though...

➡️ JD’s path to becoming an MVP, specialising in Infrastructure as Code with Bicep & Terraform

➡️ Real-world advice on building AI-ready data platforms using Azure Databricks, Fabric, and Synapse

➡️Tips for aspiring MVPs, how to start contributing, find your niche, and deal with imposter syndrome

➡️ What really happens at the MVP Summit: product feedback loops, deep dives with Microsoft product teams, and the power of in-person connection

➡️The story behind launching the Surrey Azure User Group

JD’s biggest takeaway?

Community is a game-changer. Whether it’s joining a user group, sharing knowledge online, or just connecting with others in the ecosystem... it all compounds.

🎧 Give this one a listen if you’re building solutions on Azure, eyeing the MVP program, or simply want to get a feel for what the MVP Summit is all about!

We'd planned 10 episode for Series 1, but guess what... we wanted to give you ONE more!

Not only that, but our first ever in person podcast with Curtis Milne, Microsoft Azure MVP for IaC and Liverpool's very first Microsoft MVP!

We talk about Curtis MVP journey, his passion for mentorship, IaC, Cloud Adoption Framework and much much more!

"The Microsoft Tech Community is in a rocky state in certain elements.. we're here to steady the ship"

This week on Microsoft Mentors: The Podcast, I'm joined by Ethan Sumner, CEO of DevEx Connect.

Ethan has been instrumental in the set up and growth of a number of Microsoft / DevOps Tech community groups.

He know first hand, just how difficult it can be to fund, maintain and grow users groups... the life blood of the tech community.

That's where DevEx Connect comes in... supporting community groups and brining the community together at global conferences!

AND if you're in the North West, you can experience DevEx Connect first hand next week (29th / 30th October).

I'll be there, Camera and Microphone in hand so what more reason do you need to get your tickets ASAP!

Link to podcast and event in the comments 👍

We'll be back on LinkedIn Live in a couple of weeks once we finally work out this bloody tech issue!

Manchester Summit - DevEx Connect

COVID nearly killed in-person tech events!

But the Microsoft Cloud community wasn't having it... it was time for them to step in!

This week on Microsoft Mentors: The Podcast I'm joined by Nathan Sweeney.

Nathan in a MVP for Microsoft Azure, AzureAI and M365 Co-Pilot Lead at KPMG and co-founder of The South Coast Summit... one of the UK's largest community led Microsoft Tech conferences.

We delve in his career, the rapid emergence of Azure / M365 AI capabilities and of course, hear the true behind the scenes story of why South Coast Summit was launched and the work it takes to run it!

Listen here on Spotify, Linkedin Live or wherever you get your podcasts!

Me: What have you learnt from 27 years working with Microsoft Technologies?

Ed: Change is a constant inevitability!

This week on Microsoft Mentors: The Podcast, I'm joined by Ed O'Brien, Cloud Practice Director at Sopra Steria.

Starting out in IT in 1997, building Microsoft solutions has been a focus for Ed since day one.

Now he spends his time, building and scaling Cloud Practices to deliver cloud excellence for customers.

We dive into the change in the IT landscape over the course of Ed's career, the massive impact cloud can have for any organisation and how close we are to an AI takeover.

Tune in here on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast!

How the hell do you become a Head of Cloud by aged 30?

Ryan: Well, it started like this...

This week on Microsoft Mentors: The Podcast, I'm talking to Ryan Haraburda - Head of Cloud @ Tesco... all by aged 30.

Ryan's career has sky rocketed, from IT Apprentice to Head of Cloud in less than 15 years.

If you want a lesson in drive, determination, self-reflection and self-learning... grab a cuppa and listen up.

On LinkedIn Live or wherever you listen to your podcast ;)

No matter how skilled the individual team or how reputable the employer... mentorship still plays a MASSIVE part in your career development! 

This week on Microsoft Mentors: The Podcast, I'm joined by Richard Cheney - Azure Practice Lead at Cloud Direct (Azure Expert MSP). 

Richard's career in Microsoft technologies spans over a decade including over 7 working closely with Microsoft Partners to develop their Public Cloud proposition for Microsoft. 

My conversation with Richard hits right at the heart of what Microsoft mentors is all about... 

Having open conversation with the successful leaders in the Microsoft eco-system, so we can all learn from their experiences and offer mentorship at scale to the community! 

You don't have to be a techie to work in tech!

That's the biggest lesson from todays episode of Microsoft Mentors; The podcast with Paris King from Softcat!

We delve into Paris' first step into the Tech Industry in Softcat's graduate scheme, her progression through a number of different roles within their Microsoft business and ultimately to her current role as Head of Cloud Alliance and Customer Experience.

If you're interested in tech but don't want to be a hands-on techie... Paris' journey is a great example of other career paths within the IT Channel.

Security is, or at least should be, at the heart of all IT strategy... especially in the Cloud.

This week on Microsoft Mentors: The Podcast, I'm joined by Ru Campbell... Microsoft Security MVP and Microsoft Security Practice Lead at Microsoft Security Partner of the Year Winner ThreatScape.

We discuss Ru's route to becoming a Microsoft MVP, his role at Threatscape helping organisations overcome the challenges they face face in cybersecurity, the importance of leveraging the native security features within Microsoft licenses and the future of Microsoft security, including the move to passwordless authentication and the role of generative AI.

Ever wondered how you become a CTO?

This week on Microsoft Mentors: The Podacst, we unpick the career journey of Paul Bevis, CTO at Microsoft Solutions Partner, FSP.

We track Paul's career from Developer, through his time as a Technical/Solutions Architect and ultimately to his current role as CTO.

Paul gives us his insight into digital transformation, the rise of AI and how his position on Tech UK's Cloud Committee helps influence national policy on technology!

Alex Pearce shares his career journey in the tech industry, starting from his work experience at a hospital to becoming a network manager in a school.

He discusses the impact of cloud computing and Microsoft's free services on education.

Alex also talks us through his experience as a Microsoft MVP and the importance of community and knowledge sharing.

He then shares his transition from running his own business to joining Softcat as the Chief Strategist for Microsoft and Education.

The conversation explores the different aspects of Microsoft Copilot and how organizations can leverage its capabilities. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the various versions of Copilot and utilizing the features already available in Microsoft 365 licenses.

The conversation also highlights the significance of learning how to prompt Copilot effectively and the potential for AI to enhance productivity.

In this episode of Microsoft Mentors, we dive into the career of John Savill, one of the most recognisable names in the world of Microsoft Azure.

We discuss John's early passion for technology and how it has steered his career journey towards his current role in the Office of the CTO at Microsoft.

John started his YouTube channel as a hobby and it has now grown into one of the most widely cited sources of Azure knowledge in the world, acting as a platform for both John and the wider Microsoft community to stay up to date with the rapid rate of change in Microsoft Cloud technologies.

If you're passionate about Cloud and want to learn from the career journey of one of the biggest names in the Microsoft community, then put your headphones in and enjoy!

Chapters

00:00

Introduction and Early Spark in Technology

04:20

Transitioning from Hobby to Work

08:01

Becoming Involved with Microsoft Technologies

14:38

Joining Microsoft and Evolving Roles

23:01

Current Role in the Office of the CTO

25:23

John Savill's YouTube Channel

27:49

The Importance of Giving Back

29:44

Staying Up to Date with Cloud Technologies

38:11

The Collaborative and Engaged Microsoft Community