Synoptek LLC, an information technology consulting and services provider, said early this month that it received a key Microsoft certification for the Irvine-based company’s push into Cloud computing services.
Synopek is one of fewer than 70 global partners to be certified as an expert managed services partner (MSP) for Microsoft Azure’s Cloud computing service. The certification signifies Synoptek’s expertise in cloud services, and designates it as a top global MSP to its Microsoft customers.
“It’s a big deal for us,” said Synoptek chief executive Tim Britt. “We’ve actually already seen better traction.”
Cloud computing is becoming increasingly important as companies use networks of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer. Azure was created to aid that shift.
Britt says the Microsoft certification is extra important because Synoptek’s Cloud business is doubling annually.
“It’s our fastest growing area as a business,” Britt told the Business Journal on Oct. 7. “We handle Google, AWS and Azure.”
He said the Azure certification “gives us more credibility particularly with larger customers that are more knowledgeable. It will be positive for our business.”
Azure is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centers.
Fastest-Growing
Synoptek ranked No. 11 on the Business Journal’s list of this year’s fastest-growing large private companies in Orange County, with revenue of $101.6 million for the 12 months ended June 30.
Synoptek offers IT management, consultancy, analytics, cloud computing and cybersecurity services to organizations worldwide. The company works with clients of all sizes—from mid-market to Fortune 100.
As an Azure Expert MSP, Synoptek can “proactively support customer business investments and guide them in all aspects of their cloud journey.”
At the same time, Synoptek is battling back from the pandemic that turned the world’s economy upside down.
Just six months ago, Syntopek was racing to help outfit hospitals for coronavirus patients.
“The good news is people are not being hospitalized at the rate that people forecasted back then. That has caused them to get more clarity on what they needed,” Britt said as he looks back toward the early stages of the pandemic.
‘Manic Monday’
After the pandemic stay-at-home orders started, Britt said he and his colleagues would start the week by facing a slew of cancellations on days that came to be known as “Manic Mondays.”
“We were pretty dire in April, May and June. We’ve recovered some of that.”
Britt said overall business is down 10% and 12% but it “will eventually come back.”
He sees Synoptek business reaching pre-pandemic levels next year.
The CEO says that “in some ways we’re grateful” that the financial hit from the crisis wasn’t worse, but said the pipeline of new deals is down 35% to 40%.
“There are some deals happening,” he said. “It’s just not at normal levels.’
Britt said large projects have been particularly hard-hit and “those are just not coming back yet.”
Synoptek hasn’t laid off people, in part due to the incentives not to do so when the company accepted money from the Paycheck Protection Program, according to Britt. He said about 10% of the workforce is in the office on any given day, with the rest working remotely.
In addition to its Irvine headquarters, Synoptek has offices in about a dozen cities including Denver, Sacramento, Chicago, New York; Saint John-New Brunswick in Canada; and in the Indian cities of Ahmedabad and Pune.
