Building a multi-cloud future on three decades of UK hosting heritage

A strong foundation meets a changing market

SOTA's historical strength lay in its infrastructure-heavy model. Unlike many managed service providers (MSPs) that have moved toward asset-light operations, SOTA owns and operates two UK data centers and core network infrastructure, including fiber assets across Kent and London. "We're unusual," says Smoker. "We own more of the stack, which means we can be more accountable across the board rather than just reselling services." That model has underpinned long-term customer retention — but it has also created inertia. As hyperscale platforms such as Microsoft Azure became dominant, customers increasingly expected hybrid or public cloud options alongside traditional hosting. "We were losing deals," Smoker admits. "If a customer wanted public cloud, we'd say, 'We can do it, but it's not really our thing.' That's no longer acceptable in today's market. We realized we needed to build real cloud capability — not just for growth, but to remain relevant.".

A strategic partnership for multi-cloud transformation

To accelerate its repositioning from private-cloud provider to a multi-cloud, customer-first organization, SOTA consolidated its licensing and partner ecosystem with SoftwareOne (formerly Crayon), moving both its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) and Service Provider Licence Agreement (SPLA) business under one roof. 

The decision was initially relationship driven. "It was based on trust," says Smoker. "I've worked with the team for years. But what we've found since is that we're getting far more out of the partner relationship than we ever did before." 

Together, the two companies built a joint go-to-market approach that lets SOTA approach its 400+ recurring customers in a more modern, holistic way — with the right workload on the right platform. Key elements include:

• Consolidated CSP and SPLA licensing under SoftwareOne
• Joint Azure cloud assessments to compare private vs. public total cost of ownership
• Microsoft partnership optimisation: rebate identification, partner scoring and marketing-fund access
• Engineer enablement and skilling towards Microsoft Cloud certifications
• Co-development of Azure Local (formerly Azure Stack HCI) for data-sovereign hybrid workloads

A platform for sustainable, multi-cloud growth

Within 12 to 18 months, SOTA has shifted from being almost exclusively private-cloud focused to operating as a credible multi-cloud partner, without abandoning what made the business successful in the first place. Beyond licensing, SoftwareOne has helped SOTA unlock value across its Microsoft relationship — identifying overlooked rebate opportunities, improving partner scoring and accessing marketing funds the business had not previously tapped into. "There were things we just didn't know," Smoker admits. "Now we're linking certifications, improving our partner score, and accessing benefits we weren't tapping into before." SoftwareOne has also supported SOTA's enablement and skilling programmes, helping engineers progress towards Microsoft Cloud certifications and strengthening overall cloud expertise. Crucially, SOTA's 400+ recurring customers now have a genuine choice of private, public or hybrid cloud — backed by a partner who can advise on what is right for each workload rather than what is convenient for the provider.