January 06, 2020

January 6, 2020 | Mathew Stava | CEO

It’s my pleasure to kick off the new year and wish you all – customers, soon-to-be customers, and friends – a very successful and rewarding 2020. For the past few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on Spinnaker Support in the new year. I wanted to take a few minutes of your time to share these thoughts.

My 2020 Predictions

Given what we’ve seen in 2019, here are a few of my predictions for the new year:

  1. Demand for third-party support and managed services will continue to expand and grow. In December, a Gartner research report predicted: “The third-party software support market will grow from $351 million in 2019 to $1.05 billion by 2023 — a 200% increase.”[i] We witnessed firsthand the increased demand in 2019, and we expect it to continue – and even quicken pace – this year.
  2. The vendor push to the Cloud will continue to backfire. Almost monthly in 2019, the media featured a new survey or research report highlighting the challenges Oracle and SAP are facing as they attempt to impel their long-time customers to adopt their new ERPs, HCMs, and Cloud products and services (here’s a recent example for SAP). I don’t see this changing, and to a large extent, this is fueling my prediction #1.
  3. More large, global enterprises will be considering third-party support. In 2019, we saw an influx of inquiries and new business from some of the largest companies in the world. These organizations are already familiar with third-party support and recognize our ability to provide highly competent, worldwide support. I take this trend as further evidence that third-party support is now considered an established and trusted option for all businesses, no matter the size.
  4. More companies will come to us to consolidate services. Since inception, we’ve offered managed services either with – or separate from – our third-party software support. More customers are choosing to reduce the number of vendors they work with and merge their services under Spinnaker Support. Our reputation for flexibility and deep Oracle and SAP technical expertise will continue to provide customers with the right mix of services they need to advance their business roadmaps.

My 2020 Promises

Beyond the above predictions, I can make certain promises for 2020:

  1. We will be expanding our workforce. 2019 brought us many larger customers and our highest retention rate ever. To accommodate so much business, 2020 will see us add new employees to all departments and regional offices. Expect some new, friendly faces.
  2. We will continue to invest heavily in our IBM partnership. In 2019, we were elated to have been selected by IBM as their exclusive third-party software support partner. To date, we’ve trained over 250 of their resources, and we see this initiative as an important component of our business going forward.
  3. We will make some big announcements in Q1 and Q2. We’re always considering new resources, services, and benefits we can bring to add value to our customers. In March, we’ll release our annual 2019 performance results, but we also have other exciting announcements on new strategic initiatives that will drive us in 2020 and well beyond.

My Appreciation

As ever, I am overwhelmed by the faith and trust our customers place in us as a business partner. We’re proud of our consistently high annual overall satisfaction rating (98.6% for 2018), and the loyalty of our long-term customers.

If you’re an existing customer, on behalf of our global team, thank you for your business, trust, and willingness to recommend Spinnaker Support. If you’re considering Spinnaker Support, we’re excited to begin conversations in 2020 regarding your particular needs and how we can support your enterprise technology. Best wishes for a prosperous new year to you all.

 

 

[i] Gartner, “Predicts 2020: Negotiate Software and Cloud Contracts to Manage Marketplace Growth and Reduce Legacy Costs,” 18 December, 2019, Jo Liversidge, Frances Karamouzis, Rob Wilkes, David Groombridge, James Smith, Christiaan Murphy, Dolores Ianni

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