Category: STAB

Fintech companies have always been concerned about sustainability and are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and adopt sustainable practices. These companies are leading the way by leveraging the power of cloud computing to promote sustainability by opting for 100% cloud-based architectures to host their infrastructure.  

Fintech industry is actively investing in sustainability to build a greener eco-system by bringing sustainable solutions in critical fintech operations like: 

1. Eco-friendly payment options through digital wallets to reduce paper and plastic waste, promoting sustainable transaction processing capabilities and e-signature options 
2. Green loans option to help incentivize people toward sustainable development by offering lesser interest rate on certain loans 
3. Greener Investment are a new norm for industry leaders and capitalists, as they are constantly evaluating technologies that are working towards sustainable future by addressing environmental challenges 
4. AI/ML-based financial analytics is another big area of focus for fintech industries to achieve sustainability goals through automated and personalized investment advice by leveraging cloud infrastructure & mobile applications 

Cloud computing acts as the foremost catalyst and enabler for the fintech industry and provides capabilities across most of the solution areas. Cloud infrastructure facilitates numerous benefits for fintech like reduced energy consumption, carbon emissions, and overall environmental impact. As per data, it’s stated that with the cloud, financial entities can reduce carbon emissions by 95% compared to those hosted on local on-prem systems.  

For instance, Tandem is a UK-based bank that is on a mission to become the UK’s first green digital bank by leveraging cloud technologies to power its green digital banking products. Many other fintech companies are going beyond this, enhancing their environmental impact through innovative technologies. These include its safe, scalable platform and the digital app, which enable clients to get funding efficiently. 

Apart from the fintech companies, customers are also concerned with the environmental impact of their spending decisions, including the financial services they use. It is estimated that over 72% of consumers and small business clients are interested in environmental sustainability.  

By the end of 2025, the global market size of fintech is expected to reach $124.3 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 23.84%. Therefore, fintech companies are increasingly leveraging cloud technology to enhance their sustainability efforts. Here are some ways they are doing so: 

1. Reduced Carbon Footprint

By moving their infrastructure to the cloud, fintech companies can reduce their carbon footprint. The cloud allows for the consolidation of physical infrastructure, which can reduce the energy consumption required to maintain servers and data centers. 

2. Energy Efficiency

Cloud service providers are investing in energy-efficient hardware and data centers. This means that fintech companies can benefit from these efficiencies and reduce their own energy consumption. 

3. Scalability

Cloud technology provides fintech companies with the ability to scale their infrastructure quickly and efficiently. This means that they can meet their customers’ needs without the need for physical infrastructure expansion, which can be costly and environmentally impactful. 

4. Data Analytics

Fintech companies can leverage cloud-based data analytics to gain insights into their customers’ behavior and preferences. This allows them to offer personalized services that meet their customers’ needs, reducing the environmental impact of unnecessary transactions. 

5. Higher Utilization Rate

When fintech companies use their own data stores and hardware sits idle, it creates poor efficiency and has more negative impact on the environment. It is also estimated that servers that are older than 4 years consume 65% of energy and only contribute to 4% of the performance with fast-paced technology. However, public cloud servers are typically 2 to 4 times more efficient than traditional data centers. 

Overall, the cloud is a powerful tool for fintech companies to reduce their environmental impact and become more sustainable. By leveraging the cloud, fintech companies can enhance their operations, reduce costs, and improve the customer experience while also reducing their carbon footprint. 

As sustainability continues to be a top priority for businesses and consumers alike, fintech companies will play a key role in driving the adoption of sustainable practices across the industry. The trend of fintech companies leveraging cloud computing for sustainability is here to stay, and it is crucial for the future of industry and the planet. 

At G7 CR, we believe in creating an enduring infrastructure to achieve net zero goals by transforming enterprises through Microsoft’s energy efficient data centers, emission impact dashboards and smart factories to further contribute to 2.5M carbon negative, 1.3M water positive, zero waste, 24PB of environmental ecosystem availability. 

G7 CR helped one of the largest Telco Service providers migrate to Microsoft Azure and reduce their Cloud spend by 30%. We will also help you take a first-class journey to the cloud with a hardware buyback program. Exchange your hardware for up to 125% of the market value and avail to facilitate a transition to the cloud redefining DC transformation and driving innovation. 

A report issued by Microsoft Corp shows that the Microsoft cloud is as much as 93% more energy efficient and as much as 98% more carbon-efficient than on-premises solutions. Contact us to know more about how you can achieve sustainability by leveraging Azure. Write to us at cloudexperts@g7cr.com today and get a 1:1 consultation from our cloud experts. 

The world of technology is constantly evolving, and businesses must keep up with the latest trends to remain competitive. One of the most recent developments is the emergence of Web 3.0, which promises to revolutionize the way SaaS businesses leverage the internet. 

For a Software as a Service (SaaS) business, understanding the potential impact of Web3 is crucial to stay ahead of the curve. In this blog post, we will explore the top 5 areas where Web3 apps and SaaS can orchestrate together and act as an enabler for almost all industries. 

From decentralized cloud computing to smart contracts and interoperability, we will explore the latest developments in Web3 and what they mean for SaaS ventures when it comes to growing and scaling their businesses. One of the most compelling use cases of enabling Web3 with SaaS is streamlining finances involved in SaaS marketing. As we all know, SaaS Marketing costs are always a concern for organizations. And thus, implementing financial incentives using Web3 apps in SaaS products can add a lot of benefits like reduced marketing costs and streamlined budgets.  

Here are some of the examples of incentivizing SaaS Marketing Strategy with financial Web3 apps: 

1. Exclusive, token only access for consuming the content, platform or channels 
2. NFTs for people authentication, attendance monitoring and avatar creation 
3. Tokens and incentives for digital marketing engagements 
4. Incentivization for customer success, loyalty and referral programs, etc. 
5. Rewards for being a part of like-minded community or ecosystem 

So, if you are a product company or SaaS provider and looking to understand how to leverage Web3 apps to streamline your customer experiences and provide a unified solution, here are some of the ways Web3 can be pivoted around with leading cloud providers like Microsoft.

1. Decentralized Cloud Computing

With Web3, SaaS companies can leverage decentralized cloud computing networks that are powered by blockchain technology. It is the accessibility of cloud computing resources over decentralized computer nodes, where no one entity has central control in the network. Decentralized cloud computing allows for distributed computing power and storage, which can reduce costs and increase scalability for SaaS companies.

2. Tokenization of Cloud Resources

The process of creating a surrogate value (a token) and used in place of the original data or information is known as tokenization. Web3 enables tokenizing cloud resources, such as computing power, storage, and bandwidth. 

SaaS companies can leverage this trend by using tokens as a means of payment for cloud resources to create unique value propositions and reward systems for their customers. According to CoinMarketCap, there are over 11,000 cryptocurrencies listed as of March 2023.

3. Smart Contracts for Cloud Resource Allocation

Smart contracts can be used to automate the allocation of cloud resources based on a specific criterion, such as workload demand, price, and availability. ISVs can use smart contracts to optimize their resource allocation and focus on reducing cloud resource costs.

4. Improved Security and Privacy

Web3 technologies use a decentralized architecture where data is distributed across multiple nodes in a network rather than being stored on a central server. This makes it harder for hackers to breach the system and steal or corrupt data, as there is no single point of failure. Also, Web3 technologies use advanced encryption and security protocols to ensure that data is secure. SaaS companies can leverage this trend by building decentralized applications that allow users to control their own data and identity. 

5. Interoperability Between Cloud Platforms

Web3 enables interoperability between different cloud platforms, which can facilitate the exchange of data and value between different platforms. According to Deloitte, interoperability will be a key driver of blockchain adoption in the coming years. SaaS companies can leverage this trend by building applications that can seamlessly integrate with multiple cloud platforms, increasing their reach and accessibility among customers. 

The emergence of Web3 has brought about significant changes in the way ISVs interact with technology and do businesses online. Adopting these trends could provide SaaS businesses with opportunities to enhance their product offerings, improve security, increase transparency, and build user trust.  

Understanding and implementing Web3 trends can help ISVs stay competitive and relevant in an ever-evolving digital landscape. By leveraging the power of Web3, SaaS businesses can unlock new avenues for growth and innovation in the years to come. 

As Web3 is adding new values to SaaS companies, it’s required for stakeholders and decision-makers to avail of its advantages to achieve the common goal and get ready to become a part of this revolutionary community. G7 CR is actively working with Web3-enabled SaaS ventures in partnership with Microsoft on several growth and scale motions, like STAB – SaaS Success Program. Connect with us to learn more about the program and leverage the power of Web3 for your SaaS business.

In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, technology has become a critical component of business success. This is the reason SaaS businesses are now increasing their cloud consumption to gain a competitive advantage. According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets, the global cloud computing market size was valued at $371.4 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $1,105.3 billion by 2026, with a CAGR of 18% during the forecast period of 2021-2026. 

Microsoft Azure, a powerful cloud computing platform, offers a wide range of services that can help organizations create new business values. From improving operational efficiency to enabling new revenue streams, Azure has the potential to transform the way ISVs operate. 

This article will explore how ISVs can leverage the power of Microsoft Azure to create new business value and stay ahead in a constantly evolving marketplace.

1. Leverage Scalable Infrastructure of Azure

ISVs can leverage the power of Azure’s infrastructure to quickly and easily scale their applications to meet the needs of their customers. Azure offers a range of services, such as virtual machines, containers, and serverless computing, that can help ISVs with scalable and flexible cloud solutions. 

2. Take Advantage of AI and Machine Learning Services

Azure offers a range of AI and machine learning services that ISVs can use to enhance their applications. For example, ISVs can use Azure Cognitive Services to add speech, vision, and language understanding capabilities to their applications, or use Azure Machine Learning to build custom machine learning models. 

3. Integrate with Other Microsoft Services

ISVs can also create new business value by integrating their applications with other Microsoft services, such as Office 365 or Dynamics 365. This can help them provide a more complete solution to their customers and create new revenue streams. 

4. Use Azure for Data Management and Analytics

Azure offers a range of data management and analytics services that ISVs can use to gain insights from their data. For example, ISVs can use Azure SQL Database to store and manage their data or use Azure Data Factory to create data pipelines for ETL (extract, transform, and load) tasks. 

5. Sell Through Azure Commercial Marketplace

ISVs can also publish their solutions on the Azure Marketplace, which is a central hub for cloud-based solutions. This can help them reach a wider audience and create new business opportunities. According to Microsoft, companies that list their products in the Azure Marketplace can see up to 27% more leads compared to those that do not. 

ISVs have complete access to the 4 million monthly active users and 1 billion Microsoft customers, including 95% of the Fortune 500, allowing them to increase revenue through the commercial market in a flexible manner. 

Businesses that leverage Microsoft Azure’s capabilities can create new business value by reducing operational costs, improving customer engagement, increasing productivity, and expanding their reach in the marketplace. Adopting Azure as part of their digital transformation strategy, businesses can gain a competitive edge in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. 

At G7 CR Technologies, we recognize the immense potential of cloud marketplaces for ISVs. That is why we have launched the ISV Success Program – STAB (Sales, Technical and Business). An exclusive initiative to help ISVs grow their businesses through the commercial cloud marketplace, proven GTM programs, and SLA-backed technology support and investments. STAB encompasses below: 

1. Robust GTM Program for increased demand generation and sales 
2. Technology & cloud investments to enrich software and applications 
3. Business empowerment to enable credibility & global expansion 

Why STAB and G7 CR Technologies? 

STAB gives an opportunity for ISVs to connect with Microsoft GTM Experts, scale through the B2B marketplace, and sell in global markets. G7 CR acts as a catalyst that helps ISVs accelerate their journey to the commercial marketplace, right from listing to streamlining operations to completing B2B sales transactions. G7 CR will also advise businesses in obtaining industry standard certifications like ISO and others, which are essential for brand credibility and compliance. Here are the following key benefits of leveraging the STAB program. 

1. Uplift demand generation and fuel growth with 2x logo acquisition and 3x global reach 
2. Harness global visibility through Microsoft B2B Cloud Marketplace 
3. Influence sales and branding through credible PR & media coverage 
4. Reimagine possibilities and innovations to become the next unicorn 
5. Optimized cloud spending, reduced cost, and time to market 

With STAB – ISV Success Program, we want to help ISVs achieve their growth milestones faster. G7CR has been an exclusive gold partner & most recognized ISV Specialist Partner of Microsoft and has won Microsoft Country Partner Award for two consecutive years. Apply for the program today.

As ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) continue to grow and scale, it can be challenging to manage cloud expenses and achieve an effective ROI. It is found that most organizations waste about 30% of their cloud resources due to ineffective optimization practices. According to Flexera’s 2022 State of the Cloud Report, the cloud expenses crossed the budget by 24% on average.

ISVs continuously seek ways to reduce infrastructure and storage cost. And thus, having a cloud provider which can provide in-depth cloud cost and consumption insights is a must. Microsoft gives an opportunity to ISVs to reduce their IT costs by migrating or moving their workloads to the Azure cloud. 

Azure helps customers save on infrastructure and energy costs, improve operational efficiency and productivity. When ISVs migrate or build products on Azure, they get various tools, offers, and tailored recommendations to manage and optimize cloud costs. In short, ISVs can achieve: 

1. Visibility and draw cost insights using monitoring and analytics. 
2. Maximum efficiency out of their cloud environment. 
3. Provision resources that are optimized for cost. 

Here are the 5 ways for ISVs to optimize their cloud costs.

1. Shut Down Unused Resources

When migrating to Azure, ISVs get Azure Advisor, which helps them identify idle virtual machines (VMs), ExpressRoute circuits, and other resources in order to save costs, increase efficiency, and accelerate growth with Azure. 

Moreover, ISVs get actionable recommendations for optimizing their resources and helping them choose which resources to shut down and which to keep.

2. Right-size Underused Resources

There are some situations when resources are not fully used as per their capacity. Hence, it is essential for an ISV to identify such underused resources. With Azure Advisor, ISVs can find underutilized resources by monitoring the usage patterns of their Azure resources. 

Moreover, they will get actionable recommendations to deallocate the virtual machine, resize the disk, or turn off instances when they are not needed to reduce your costs. This will also help ISVs improve the performance of their Azure environment. 

3. Reserve Instances for Consistent Workloads

It is a cost-saving offering that allows ISVs to save money on their Azure virtual machine (VM) usage costs. When an ISV purchases a Reserved Instance for a consistent workload, they can save up to 72% compared to pay-as-you-go pricing. 

A consistent workload refers to a scenario where virtual machines run consistently, 24/7, for a 1- or 3-year period. By making a low upfront payment, ISVs can commit to a consistent use pattern and receive a significant discount on the cost of their VMs. 

4. Take Advantage of the Azure Hybrid Benefit

The Azure Hybrid Benefit is a cost-saving feature that allows ISVs to use existing Windows Server and SQL Server licenses on Azure and save on their virtual machine costs. 

This means that instead of paying the full cost of running these servers on Azure, ISVs can apply for their existing licenses and pay only for the underlying infrastructure. 

5. Setup Budgets and Allocate Costs to Teams and Projects

Microsoft Cost Management is a unique cloud-based solution of Azure that helps ISVs manage and optimize their cloud spending. It allows them to set up budgets and allocate costs to different departments, projects, or cost centers within the organization.  

This helps ISVs to ensure that spending is aligned with their organizational goals. Moreover, ISVs can make informed decisions about how to allocate their resources effectively and efficiently. 

How G7 CR Can Help ISVs Migrate to Azure 

If you are an ISV and looking to optimize cloud costs, G7 CR can help you drive the transition with zero business impact. We use a strategic approach in order to lift and shift or redeployment. With deep cloud expertise, we advise you on the right cloud approach that fits your need, considering key business aspects like scale, security, and manageability. 

Considering the challenges ISVs face in order to grow and scale, G7 CR has launched STAB – ISV Growth Program in partnership with Microsoft. So far, STAB has helped about 95% of our ISVs grow 3X in revenue. G7 CR helps ISVs migrate to Azure and launch their B2B SaaS offering in Azure cloud marketplace. This enables ISVs to transact with 4M monthly active users and 1 billion Microsoft customers including 95% of Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, G7 CR also makes a series of investments as Service Point Credits. Join the ISV Growth Program and scale up through 2x logo acquisition and 3x global reach. 

The idea behind doing more with less on Azure is to achieve optimized cost, resilience, and growth for ISVs (independent software vendors). With constant tech evolution, ISVs always need to stay abreast in order to navigate through changing markets and accelerate growth. 

As businesses are now looking forward to becoming more innovative and flexible, Microsoft Azure is offering expert help, guidance, cloud credits, and joint GTM opportunities to ISVs to scale faster. Doing more on Azure is all about getting more value from your IT investments with less cost and disruption. 

Below are some of the values that ISVs can leverage with #domorewithless: 

1. Be data-driven and optimize with Azure 
2. Deliver efficiency with automation and AI
3. Innovate with a cloud developer platform 
4. Re-energize your workforce with Microsoft 365 
5. Protect everything, everyone, everywhere 

Also, let’s take a quick glance at the stats of how ISVs are achieving more with less on Azure. 

1. 16% average savings of direct infrastructure-related costs with Azure 
2. 37% average three-year cost savings when you run equivalent workloads on Azure 
3. 54% potential total cost of ownership savings on Azure versus running on-premises 

This initiative is brought to ensure ISVs hosted on Microsoft Azure can future-proof their businesses and do more with less. The three pillars of this initiative are something that helps ISVs emerge much stronger. 

1. Migrate and Save

With Azure, ISVs can save on energy and data center costs and gain more efficiency across their cloud environment. Moreover, Azure can help ISVs reduce costs by taking advantage of its scalable, automated, and managed services, as well as its pay-as-you-go and reserved instance pricing model. 

1. With pay-as-you-go rates, you can save up to 85% when you choose to migrate Windows and SQL Server licenses with the Azure Hybrid Benefit. 
2. With Azure, you can manage escalating energy costs efficiently while reducing your energy usage and carbon emissions. 
3. Azure lets you save on IT infrastructure costs as well and helps you improve operational efficiency and maintain agility. 

2. Optimize Cloud Spending

Being of Microsoft Azure gives ISVs the flexibility to optimize their cloud spending. This means you can forecast cloud costs, perform cost management, and improve agility by increasing the efficiency of your cloud investments.

1. According to a study, organizations saved up to 34% on Azure spending just in one year of usage by leveraging Microsoft Cost Management to understand, monitor, and forecast cloud costs. 
2. With the Azure savings plan, ISVs can optimize their savings automatically and reduce costs. 
3. Additionally, this helps in increasing security and improving reliability. In fact, with Azure Advisor, you can also ensure that your workloads are well-architected. 
4. Leveraging Azure Arc helps you manage your on-premises, edge, and multi-cloud environments efficiently.

3. Reinvest to Accelerate Growth

The aim behind doing more with less is to ensure that ISVs reinvest their savings to become more resilient and drive innovation in their SaaS businesses. Also, this cycle of reinvestment will continue in order to accelerate business growth. 

1. Save costs by minimizing downtime and data loss. Also, this ensures that you are able to secure your hybrid and multi-cloud environments with the help of backup and data recovery. 
2. With this, you achieve a 93% reduction in unplanned downtime. Azure Site Recovery and Azure Backup will help you achieve this. 
3. Azure AI services and Azure App Service will help you leverage the developer skills in order to drive growth and modernize applications. 
4. Moreover, you can focus on developing sustainable and innovative solutions. This will reduce your carbon footprint and create value for the business. 

Leveraging these benefits as early as possible will ensure you are ahead of your competitors and able to deliver the best services to the customers. In this endeavor, G7 CR is helping CXOs achieve more with STAB, designed in partnership with Microsoft. STAB is a unique program that will help ISVs get access to 2X logo growth with a 3X geographic reach. Contact G7 CR or comment below to understand how you can be a part of this initiative to achieve more cost savings, more resilience, and more growth. 

Cloud computing eventually enables independent software vendors (ISVs) to scale their services and resources as needed with the help of the pay-as-you-go pricing model. Moreover, it increases agility and enriches their software solution. Overall, this allows ISVs to deliver their software solutions to customers faster, more efficiently, and more cost-effectively.

However, with this shift comes an increased risk of cyber threats. According to Check Point’s 2022 Cloud Security Report, 27% of organizations have experienced a security incident in their public cloud infrastructure within the last 12 months.

Therefore, ISVs must prioritize the security of their cloud-based applications and data to protect their customers and their own reputation.

As a leading cloud solution service provider, we will share the top cloud security practices that ISVs must implement to ensure the safety of their cloud environments. This will help ISVs safeguard cloud environments and provide the best software services.

1. Secure Access to Cloud

Although most cloud service providers like Microsoft have their own ways of safeguarding the infrastructure, you are still responsible for protecting the cloud user accounts and access to sensitive data for your company.

1. Improve password management or implement a centralized password management solution in your organization to lower the risk of account compromise and credential theft.
2. Regularly update and patch all systems, including cloud infrastructure and connected devices.
3. Implement multifactor authentication to ensure it is much harder for unauthorized users to gain access.
4. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to secure communications between users and the cloud.

2. Meet IT Compliance Requirements

Being an ISV, you need to safeguard consumer data and improve the security of sensitive data. Therefore, you must focus on meeting cybersecurity compliances with standards, laws, and regulations. Without the appropriate security controls and IT compliance tools in your cloud infrastructure, your company could lose millions of dollars in fines in case of a data breach.

Most of the time, the compliance requirements are aligned with the prominent cloud providers. So, you just need to ensure that your own data security and processing procedures are compliant. To make this compliance audit process easier, consider hiring a data protection officer (DPO) or contacting a cloud solution provider like G7 CR Technologies.

We, being specialized and experienced in cybersecurity and IT compliance, can help you meet the requirements of standards, rules, and regulations.

3. Respond to Security Breaches Efficiently

You can indeed reduce the losses from a data breach if you quickly identify, contain, and eliminate cybersecurity risks. The longer a threat survives in your cloud environment, the more data an attacker can destroy.

Hence, consider creating an incident response plan in order to guarantee that your cybersecurity team can respond effectively to a crisis. Roles and processes must be clearly defined in this strategy to handle various unlikely scenarios.

You can also choose to use Microsoft Defender for cloud to effectively identify and respond to cybersecurity concerns in your cloud infrastructure. Microsoft Defender helps you with the following:

1. Real-time protection by scanning and monitoring devices against malware, ransomware, and other threats.
2. Automatic updates ensure that devices are always protected against the latest threats.
3. MFA in Microsoft Defender helps prevent unauthorized access to devices and accounts by requiring additional authentication beyond a simple username and password.
4. Security for multiple devices, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices.

4. Implement Intrusion Detection and Prevention Technology

One of the best cloud security tools available today is intrusion prevention and detection systems (IDPS). Analyzing network data for telltale signals of a sophisticated attack is practically impossible without IDPS. Real-time notifications and round-the-clock monitoring depend on these tools.

Their network traffic monitoring, analysis, and response capabilities cover both on-premises and public cloud settings. IDPS systems add threats to a log, notify administrators of unexpected activity, and block threats when they come across anomaly-based, protocol-based, or signature-based threats so that admins have time to take appropriate action.

5. Choose a Trusted Cloud Solution Provider

People often do not think much before finalizing a cloud solution provider. However, it is essential for ISVs to work with a reputable cloud provider that continuously provides the greatest built-in security mechanisms and complies with regulatory requirements. Choosing a trusted cloud solution provider will help you with the following:

1. Security measures to protect your data, such as encryption and regular security updates
2. Compliances and regulations to help your organization meet its compliance requirements
3. Necessary infrastructure to ensure your data remains within the geographical boundaries and is not subject to other countries’ laws
4. Scalability, reliability, support, integration, and certifications

How G7 CR Can Help

As ISVs move their applications and data to the cloud, it is essential to implement robust security measures to protect against cyber threats. Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that security is an ongoing process, and it is crucial to regularly review and update security measures to stay ahead of evolving threats.

This is where you need to work with a trusted cloud solution provider like G7 CR Technologies. In this endeavor, G7 CR is partnered with Microsoft to enable ISVs to confidently serve their customers and protect their own businesses by taking the necessary steps to secure their cloud environments.