How Microsoft Partners Drive Healthcare Transformation Through Collaboration
Welcome to IAMCP Profiles in Partnership, the podcast that showcases how Microsoft partners and IAMCP members boost their business by collaborating with other members and partners. I'm your cohost, Anthony Carrano, and in each episode, I sit down with some of the most innovative and successful partners in the Microsoft ecosystem. The International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners, otherwise known as IAMCP, is a global community where Microsoft partners connect, collaborate, grow. So whether you're looking for new customers, new markets, or new solutions, IAMCP helps you build the right relationships to scale your business. And today's story is a powerful example of what happens when partnership goes beyond revenue and drives real human impact.
Anthony Carrano:In this episode, we're joined by Ronelle Naidoo, Chief of Sales at Mint Group, Microsoft's South Africa Country Partner of the Year. Mint led a large scale digital transformation initiative across public hospitals in reducing patient wait times, connecting healthcare systems, and digitizing millions of records. But that's only half the story. They also hired and trained over 100 young people from local communities, turning a technology project into a workforce development engine. And they didn't do it alone.
Anthony Carrano:Through their Ubuntu Empowerment Program, they partnered with other Microsoft partners, shared scope, shared leadership, and proved that collaboration can scale both business and impact. In today's conversation, we unpack what high trust partnership, you know, networking really looks like, why you don't always need to be in the driver's seat, and how AI and customer expectations are reshaping the Microsoft partner landscape. If you're looking to build deeper partnerships, increase customer value, and future proof your Microsoft practice, this episode is for you. Let's dive in. Hey, Ronelle.
Anthony Carrano:Welcome back to the podcast. It's so good to see you again.
Ronelle Naidoo:It's so good to be back. Thanks for having me.
Anthony Carrano:I know. It's it's been a minute. I'm really excited to hear all just kind of the the great updates and of course, just some of the new and fresh insights that you have. So really glad to have you. For those who aren't familiar with you, why don't you start off and tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Mint.
Ronelle Naidoo:Sure, no problem. So my name is Ronelle Naidoo. I am the Chief of Sales for Mint Group. I've enrolled now for a few years and it's been super exciting to see how we have evolved as a business when we grew from our geo expansion into different areas and just trying to onboard different partners, working with different customers and growing our industry space. So it's been really exciting from a Mint point of view.
Ronelle Naidoo:And my side, I think the team's just grown, working closely with Microsoft and just growing on that. That's what's happened when you haven't had me online for a while. But, everything else the same. Creating tomorrow and causing some amazing chaos in the industry.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent. Excellent. I know we're here to kinda get into, the story, your your the the P2P story. But before we do, for those who aren't familiar with Mint, maybe can you share a little bit about the company?
Ronelle Naidoo:Sure. Mint's been around now. So Mint's a South African company founded by Carl and Trevor and a few other people. If I look at where we are now, the one thing that's stayed the same, I mean strategy changes for a lot of people, But we've always been about creating tomorrow using Microsoft technology. So we are Microsoft only partner.
Ronelle Naidoo:We've been around, like I said, for over twenty five years. We have many different competencies when it comes to Microsoft. Think Mint is one of the partners that knows the acronyms better than any of the other partners. I think we have got that Excel spreadsheet and we work on it quite a bit. But yes, we are three cloud partners, so we focus a lot on solution selling.
Ronelle Naidoo:So we're not really if you think about an ISV from a Microsoft perspective, it'd be something like that, but a little bit more. We also have, like, a licensing business where we take care of CSP and we work as a direct and indirect partner, working with many different partners and clients to see how we can assist from a licensing point of view. And then we look at solution selling and using the Microsoft technology to kind of solve problems for our clients. Our industries that we focus on. We spend a lot of time in healthcare.
Ronelle Naidoo:FSI is always going to be our baby. We have education and commercial as well. We do a little bit of work in mining and retail. But that's really from a not in-depth like we would with some of the other industries. So yes, so that's Mint.
Ronelle Naidoo:We are here, as I said, we are currently the Country Partner of the Year for South Africa for Microsoft. So that really shows about the investments that we've made as a business over the couple of years and what we do. And I don't think many partners can say that they focus only on Microsoft as a vendor, especially locally. So the fact that we've been doing that over the last couple of years and still being successful. I think we're really good.
Ronelle Naidoo:We've got some of the best people in the industry. And I think that really what makes us so great. So we don't call them resources. We call them people. So we've got the best people and I think they're, you know, when I when I go in a room with them and they get down and dirty with some of the technology, it's just amazing to see how passionate they are.
Ronelle Naidoo:So I think that's something about the Mintee's as well. We're very passionate about what we do. And I think that's what makes us one of the great partners in the the current industry.
Anthony Carrano:That's awesome. Thank you.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, Ronelle, I really enjoyed reading the the P2P story that we're we're about to cover. Can you tell us a little bit about the the client? You know, you don't have to give us any names, but you can can you tell us a little bit about the industry, the size of the company, the technology you were implementing, and maybe even the challenges that the client was facing?
Ronelle Naidoo:Yes, I mean, part of the intro on Mint, I spoke about healthcare. So we focus quite a bit on healthcare and we look at how can we assist health care. There's so much going on from and especially if we look at South Africa as a developing country. You know, a lot of countries already have the digitization piece done and they have the digital technology. From a South African perspective, we've got great people with regards to wanting to do good, but sometimes we lack some of the resources and one of them being from a fund's perspective.
Ronelle Naidoo:So what we wanted to do was create a way for the citizens and for health care. When you go to some of these public hospitals that we have, right, they sit in queues from 6AM in the morning just to get their file retrieved and then only get seen by a doctor at around 12:00. That's a long time. So if any of us have, I'm talking about public health care now, you know, so if anyone has like an old granny or grandfather and you're thinking about them going to go and have a check up, they just sit there for hours. We were like, how?
Ronelle Naidoo:And I think we worked with an amazing CEO in the department from a health perspective as well. And what they wanted to do was how do we better this for our citizens? How do we create something that could be not just digitise, but change and impact the people of South Africa. So if I look at using technology to impact people's lives, you know, we talk about you have WhatsApp and you can communicate or you have like ChatGPT and stuff like that. This is from a healthcare perspective, I think it's such a bigger impact than anything else, especially when you're already going through something that is so emotional.
Ronelle Naidoo:When you are going to go and have a check up, it could be good, it could be bad, and now you are sitting there for hours waiting for your file. And then a lot of the time they can't find the file, meaning all your information has gone missing. So what this initially was, was we wanted to make that better with regards to from a timing side. So it started with us saying, okay, how do we reduce the time that people wait to find their files? And then it turned into something way much bigger than that, you know.
Ronelle Naidoo:It turned into something where we were like, there's data that they have. So if we take all the patient records and we digitize this data, we can pick up so much more information with regards to how many, you know, teenage pregnancies do we have in this particular area? How many COVID patients there were in this area? And okay, so there's kids that we've now picked up that we've seen for the last three to four weeks that have pneumonia. So what's happening?
Ronelle Naidoo:That type of data, I think it's valuable if I think about what we can do with it. So it became so much bigger. And because it became bigger, we decided that in true fashion, we can't do this alone. We needed to get people to come together to make sure that we deliver the best. Because as much as, and I think I've said this previously, it's a big pie and everybody can share from that pie.
Ronelle Naidoo:So for us, it was about the outcome that we had about digitizing the hospitals in Gauteng in South Africa and making sure that they could connect. Because what would happen is if Rudy goes to one hospital and in the next week he is in a different area, he cannot go and ask in the different area to say, Okay, I have been here. Can you pull my file? There is no way of them pulling your file because your file sits at one hospital. So what we wanted to do is if this is digitised and the hospitals are now connected from Johannesburg or even from an entire healthcare perspective in South Africa, you could go anywhere and we'll be able to get your file.
Ronelle Naidoo:So if you do have many illnesses and stuff like that, being able to have another doctor at any given time pick up and say, oh, you know what, I can't give Rudy this and this is what he had. So for us that was really really something that we super excited about. And I know you said you read the article but I don't think it really puts into perspective about how exciting and how what a game changer this is for us from a South African perspective. It sounds so small digitizing patient records, but it's just been so much more than just taking a piece of paper and digitizing it. It's literally changing the lives of citizens that cannot maybe afford private health care and have to go to you know some of our government hospitals and they really try.
Ronelle Naidoo:Our nurses try but they've got so many people. If you go and for example Google the hospital Chris Hani Baragwanath and you look at how many patients they get a day. You'd understand you know sometimes why this wait is so long when they have to go into these long corridors and try and find the patient's files. So sorry, I can get carried away talking about this because I am super passionate about it. But that is really how the project started and some of the ideas that we went on and some of the processes and the output that we wanted to give on this project.
Rudy Rodriguez:Okay. So what was the initial spark or need that led you to partner with another organization, okay, you know, to collaborate? And then how did you recognize it as an opportunity to work with that partner company and the opportunity that you had at the hospital to really deliver the solution?
Ronelle Naidoo:So at Mint, we have something called the Ubuntu Empowerment Programme. So I think everybody knows what Ubuntu means. South Africa says it all the time. We know about bringing people together and stuff like that. So we created this programme because and I think I mentioned it before, we realized that people buy from people, you know, and in the end of the day, we wanted to be able to scale during a time of, and I don't believe that I'm saying this again, but during a time of COVID when we were stuck, we still needed to sell.
Ronelle Naidoo:We still needed to have a business and get deals done and get people online and stuff like that. But how do you do that? And people were very uneasy with, teams and stuff like that at that time. A lot of people didn't even have it and didn't even know how to use it till then. So we started then saying, you know what, what about this partner?
Ronelle Naidoo:You know, we had good conversations with them. And so we created this programme and this programme was really about partners that were EMEs. So like micro partners that have good relationships and stuff, but do not sit within the Microsoft as one of their managed partners. So we've onboarded quite a few partners within our space and onto this programme, and we then started upskilling them, working with them, and we started adding them onto our opportunities. And then they started adding us onto their opportunities.
Ronelle Naidoo:So some, we would prime and they would sub, and where they didn't have any of the skill sets, we would then go in. So they would have the relationships in there and they wanted to learn, but they didn't have competencies or they didn't have the certifications to get things done. We would come in as their partner and then we would work together and sell. So when this project came up, it was not even questioned that we will work together with some of our Ubuntu partners. We're about local communities here.
Ronelle Naidoo:We wanted to get the youth involved. And I think part of the case study that you read was we knew that we didn't want us to digitize and everybody realized that we are now creating robots and we're taking away people's jobs. We actually employed 100 youth that had no experience from the local communities to come in and help us digitize. And I think that's what people miss as well. In order to do this, you need people to do it.
Ronelle Naidoo:You know, it's not going to have like this to take over. So we were like, Okay, are MIT. We are a technology partner. We deliver solutions for Microsoft. We don't know how to manage, have these recruitment agencies and manage 100 youth.
Ronelle Naidoo:And I think everybody knows what youth are like. I think they're the same across the world. So we were like, how do we do this? We want to do youth. We want to upskill them.
Ronelle Naidoo:And that's when the idea popped in. Let's take one of our partners that have abilities to come and manage these youth, who want to train them and upscale them, work with us. And that's how the first partner came about. So I think we kind of mentioned one partner or two partners in the case study. But we had like three or four partners that we worked on this.
Ronelle Naidoo:And we tried to say, even though we could do everything, we split the pieces and we gave everybody a piece of it. And we were like, this is your area. This is where you're going to shine and you take care of that. And then we kind of took care of the overall project and made sure that the delivery was happening and the technology behind it and the architecture and the solution itself. But then we had partners come in that we were like, we sat down and we're like, who best fits this?
Ronelle Naidoo:And as much as we have this entire list of partners, they wanted to that kind of stood out with regards to being passionate about the health care industry and being able to want to do the same and similar things that we do. So there was a values that met on there. So the values that met, the passion that met, and the quality and the integrity piece that we knew we were going to just fit and it was going to be this good culture, not only for us, but for our client as well. And that's really how we went about it. It was just there was no doubt in our mind.
Ronelle Naidoo:And now that I continue to digitize throughout South Africa and different areas, when we're looking at justice and we're looking at the defense and stuff like that, I will never go in just as Mint even though we can deliver it and do it because I think it's very important for us to uplift some of the other partners and take them along this journey so that they can create the skill sets. And that's what I love about Mint. We talk about creating tomorrow. It's our tagline. And I think you can only create tomorrow with everybody and not just from a singular perspective. And I think that's why this project has also been so successful is because we've taken quite a few people along the journey with us.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, that's a great story. It's great being a mentor to other partners as well. So that's a wonderful, wonderful story. Can you tell us a time when this partnership didn't quite go as planned, you know, and maybe what you learned about resilience and leadership from that experience.
Ronelle Naidoo:Oh, yes. I mean, you know, you always have something that's ideal on a piece of paper. A is going to meet with B and then B is going to go to C. Then all of a sudden A goes directly to C and then you're sitting there and you're like, what just happened?
Ronelle Naidoo:And I spoke about employing 100 youth. Now I'm talking about youth that have never had a job before. That and I think we all know about entitlement and those type of things when it comes to any type of youngster today, that getting to work at 08:00 and understanding that they need to prep files. There's a process. It's a factory. You need to follow the process.
Ronelle Naidoo:And then it was I think the biggest challenge that we had to do is we had to take a few steps back. We had to do the cha cha, you know, because it was trying to say that they don't understand as much as we do. So we've got this idea that we need to just run and we need to get to that end. You know, there's our goal there. And these guys, we've brought them on board.
Ronelle Naidoo:And as much as we've given them training on what the project is, they don't have any experience. They don't understand that we have targets and we've got timelines and they've got to meet their daily goals and this. And so then the partnership between the partner, because I'd be like, you're not pushing them enough and you're not doing this and they're not meeting that. And then they'll be like, no, but we're trying and they're just not listening. And then we were like, listen, let's let's take a step back and let's empower them.
Ronelle Naidoo:So I think the big thing for me was that sometimes when you're on this journey and you're just running and you think everybody is with you at the same pace to stop and realize that we're not all on, you know, not every time you're to be on the same lane or you're not going to think about the same things and sometimes your expectations and what you are thinking as an output isn't what everybody is. And I think as long as you can meet in the middle, that's good enough. And I think that's where we did. We understood. We tried to understand the youth better and we tried to kind of speak in their language and bro and chill and everything that they say in today's And then the partnership, we kind of got that back where we said, Guys, we are not going to let this get to us.
Ronelle Naidoo:Let us kind of set a proper job role for us that they understand because these kids have not gone to college. They've not gone to university. They haven't had any work experience. It's the first time they're trying to work in a team. And you're trying to work in a team and I think we all know that when you first work in a team and you're like, I'm better than this and you should do it my way and we're not going to scan this way and you've got to scan this way and you've got to write the documents this way.
Ronelle Naidoo:You must know you're dealing with patient files. So the way you take it out is the way you've got to put it back. It is in the sequence order. You cannot move that, especially when you're looking at like maternity files that are kept forever. So you know you've got to follow that process.
Ronelle Naidoo:And I think that was my biggest learning through this was that even though you feel everybody's on board and you've got your team on there, when you're working with other people, you're going to have to do that cha cha. And you're not going to just do it in the beginning, you're going to do it in the middle, you're to do it in the end, And you just have to be okay with it because I think that's what really makes also a successful project is understanding how to work with each other and that not everybody is the same.
Rudy Rodriguez:You know, I've been in this business a long time and have done some of the projects that you've mentioned. You just brought back a lot of memories. Some I thought I had erased. So thank you for the story.
Ronelle Naidoo:I'm not sure if I'm I should be sorry about that or happy that I brought back one or two of those. I always laugh. I love this project, but I complain to to my boss all the time, and I was like, you have to buy me dye for my hair. I have more gray hair now than I've ever had before.
Rudy Rodriguez:I lost mine.
Ronelle Naidoo:And then it's like, I've got to dye my hair. I never used to dye it. So yeah.
Anthony Carrano:That's funny. I'm just curious. You kept referencing youth. Like, what what are the age ranges of these youth?
Ronelle Naidoo:So in South Africa, you have different I mean, we you know, we're I spoke about this earlier, and I think everybody knows. We are a beautiful country. We have really successful people. Some of the most intelligent people come from South Africa and very smart people. And we have really smart youth that we work with, but unfortunately they come from backgrounds where they cannot afford to go to university or they cannot afford, you know, to go.
Ronelle Naidoo:So they come from our township areas. So what we did was we worked off a list of youth. And when I talk about youth some of them are 18. And some of them are 24. And they finished school and they don't have jobs yet.
Ronelle Naidoo:So we wanted them to to this be an entrance as a you know into the working experience and understand how it is. We do have one or two people are like that in their 28s and 29s and it's they from the community and they're really good and they couldn't get they don't have any jobs at this point in time. So we did take them. But when I mentioned youth, I'm talking about that 18 to 24 we have.
Anthony Carrano:That's, that's impressive. I mean, I'm just thinking because that's the age range of, well, at least two of my older sons and my younger, he's a little younger than that, but I'm thinking of his buddy, all their friends doing this type of work. That's impressive. That makes his story that much more impactful.
Ronelle Naidoo:So if you think it's about a youth today and you tell them, you know, follow these instructions, you know, they tend to not follow the instructions. They will give you what you wanted, but they're gonna do it their way. And I think their way because they feel that they know best. Right? And I mean, I've got a I've got a story.
Ronelle Naidoo:I've got my son that's turning 18 this year, and I still cannot understand him. I I cannot understand sometimes the logic on certain things. And my husband's like, just let it be. Let it go. And I'm like, I'm sitting here thinking about that song, let it go, and it's very hard to do because I'm like I wanna be like, but you can't do it that way. But then he's like, just leave it. And then when they do it and they finish something, they look at you like, I told you so, you know?
Anthony Carrano:Yeah, of course.
Ronelle Naidoo:But you can have done it for twelve months, you took a whole week to do it. But that's really what we dealt with. In the end, when you finish the hospital and if you look at the numbers that we've completed from a scanning perspective and the files that we've done, it is impressive. And that's really because how they came together. So it's always like when you start off something and then you've got to keep motivating them.
Ronelle Naidoo:And then I think about us in the workplace, you know, now and then you always need to have that, you know, that training that you get together with everybody and you're like Kumbaya you get excited and you're like, This is why I'm here and this is what I'm doing. So that's what we ended up doing in the project. We would always have touch bases with them. We would go and get some lunch and celebrate together. And whenever we hit a number, we would tell them, you know, this is what you have done.
Ronelle Naidoo:You've digitized these amount of patient records. This is the impact you're making. And then it slowly started getting better where they would, you know, have their moments. But it absolutely amazing to create opportunity for these youth. And the other thing is we have obviously signed phase two.
Ronelle Naidoo:We have moved into different hospitals. And I am so excited that we have managed to take at least ninety percent of that youth that we initially could only give like a one year contract to. And now they've got another three year contracts and they're moving and they're learning more. And we will be able to create you know income for them for another year or two.
Ronelle Naidoo:So that was really exciting for us so that we were very grateful to get that extension and move on to the next few hospitals. From the success of this project. And I think for them it's even better when you see the fact that you've, you know, you're creating opportunity for other people, as well as doing the project that you're doing, you know?
Anthony Carrano:Absolutely. And I mean, that's, I mean, obviously just the work, working, you know, the work you accomplish obviously with the hospital. I think if I read the story correctly, it was like processing times were reduced by like 40% which huge, huge, huge But then also, and and you might have mentioned this earlier, but if if you didn't, you know, in the story, for those that are listening, like when when when you're talking about, oh, yeah, we employed some youth. We're not talking about like, oh, hey, I got a room full of for people. It was like over a 100 young youth.
Anthony Carrano:I mean, that's that's that's a lot that's a lot, you know, in this age group, which is really impressive. And the fact that they're gaining, you know, those digital and operational skills that's not only impacts them in the here and now, they get they get money in their pockets, but the skills they're developing is I mean, you're you're you're gonna change the trajectory of their life, you know, by because they're gaining these real world skills. So that's that's that's fan that's pretty awesome. I am I am curious. I I know and I wanna kinda there's some other things I wanna get back to, but just to kinda close the loop like with the youth.
Anthony Carrano:What prompted y'all to approach, like think of like approaching youth employing this many youth to help with this project? What was like kind of the genesis of that? What were some of those conversations that triggered that?
Ronelle Naidoo:So to be honest, the entire credit for that goes through to the department and as well as the MEC of Health. She had this idea, I think she's really passionate about what she does, and she was like, if you, you've got to use youth. And that's really what kicked it off. We were like, youth? And I think when you look at us, you know, when you're in this entire deployment solution and you just want to get things done and then, you know, somebody throws the spanner in the works, we're like, oh my god, how are we going to do that?
Ronelle Naidoo:And then it was like this bubble that just exploded. And then she actually, it 100% came from the department where they wanted to create job opportunities and they wanted to create skills upliftment doing this project. So that credit for wanting to youth you know go in and try and use the youth came through from the MEC and the department. So that's why I said this project wasn't just about us going in and telling somebody you have a problem and we're here to solve it. It was something where we got it on the table and we were like, oh yeah, this and you can do that.
Ronelle Naidoo:And we're like, everybody put ideas together and it just became this explosive implementation that not one person can take the credit for because it was definitely a team effort across different people. And I think that's true partnership because it wasn't just a partnership between us and our partners, but it was between the end customer and us. We all had the same vision. Because sometimes you work with clients and, you know, they like, they have to just do this, you know, this is part of their roadmap and they have to do it, but it's not something that they're so passionate about. So, when you're working with a company that's so passionate about it and it's what they love and breathe, it makes it so much easier and so much more exciting to do a project like that.
Ronelle Naidoo:So, that's really how we came about wanting to use the youth And it's been the best decision. So we've, you know, taken that idea now. We've kind of replicated it in other areas. And it's it's really exciting to be able to do that.
Anthony Carrano:Nice. Nice. I appreciate you sharing that. That's fantastic. Let me ask you this, like in your experience, you know, with partnering, what does, what would you say is like, what does like high trust networking look like in practice? And how do you measure whether it's working?
Ronelle Naidoo:I think trust is something that I think if you have any relationship or any partnership, it's, and I know this sounds like you're gonna say, I know it's a real woman thing to say, but you kind of feel it, you know, and you kind of know when something's working or it's not working. But also when you get excited about the same things and when you share issues and then you like, it's easy to solve them, And when people say to you and you have a partner and you say, you know what, we've done this, this and this, and I don't agree with this, and they're like, I understand. I agree with you. What about if we do something like that? And for me, we've worked with a few partners before where we would sit in a boardroom and we would agree on something and then you'd go back and then you could just see that there was just no connection and it was just not working because everything we agreed on is not working out.
Ronelle Naidoo:So I think when you work with a partner and you just feel it and you're sitting there and you have the same excitement and passion about something, try it out. It's like when you're dating, you're never gonna know if it's gonna work or not. And then the next thing you know, you're gonna put a ring on it or you're gonna be like, run, you know? And and I think, yeah, I'm gonna bye, Felicia. So I I think that's how truly partnership is.
Ronelle Naidoo:We've worked on many partners before where we were like, you know, we're not going to do this again. And it's just because you just don't, it doesn't feel right. And when you're not happy in something, you know, when you're doing a project, especially with the projects like we do, everybody needs to be happy. And everybody needs to have an equal share to that table. And that's how we do it.
Ronelle Naidoo:It's never like oh Mint is leading this project and we're going to decide on everything. We you never do that. You give everybody the opportunity to speak at the table. And when you're speaking at the table and everybody has the similar answers and the similar questions and stuff, you know it's just gelling and it's going to work. You win some, you lose some, and it's all about chances, I think.
Ronelle Naidoo:And I think that's really what partnership is about. Sometimes you see it on paper, like we spoke about it, and be like, this is an ideal fit. You know, you guys do this and you do that, and it's an ideal fit. And then you kind of come together. And Microsoft's been really great at that, where they try to merge partners and then the partners are like, no, not going to work.
Ronelle Naidoo:My values, your values, what I want my outcomes to be. So I honestly think it's like a trial and error phase that you go through and sometimes it works and then sometimes it doesn't. And when it doesn't, it should not stop you from wanting to go and partner again. Because sometimes people, I've been burnt and I'm not going to do that again and I'm not going to I'm not going to go down this road again and it's like, no, you can't do that. You cannot cut yourself. You've gotta give everybody that equal opportunity. And that partner could most likely partner very well with someone else. Not everybody. What do we always say? Not everyone's ice cream. So you're not gonna be liked by you know, not everyone is gonna like you, and you're not gonna fit, and and it and it's okay.
Anthony Carrano:That's good. It doesn't surprise me that you the way you share that because there's definitely strong, like, the the human element. I mean, Mint is a, you know, is a is a stellar technology company, but just that that human human centric approach to everything that you do, it's it's it just runs throughout. So I'm I'm not surprised that's how you shared you answered that.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, I'm gonna change topics just a little bit because, you know, the IT industry is changing quite a bit right now. Just a little bit. Right? So with with, AI and the automation that's taking place right now, it's reshaping the partner landscape. What's one area where you see partners both leveraging and or underestimating the opportunity or the risk?
Ronelle Naidoo:With AI?
Rudy Rodriguez:With AI. Yeah.
Ronelle Naidoo:So I think from, I mean, even we went through that phase of like, really what is AI? How is AI going to fit in? Everybody's talking about it. And then you kind of realize that you're using it all the time and you, you know, you kind of, it's already been included in quite a few things. But, if I think about Mint and if I look at one or two other partners within the IAMCP, obviously we run the chapter here and we go through that.
Ronelle Naidoo:And I think the loss of opportunity is the uncertainty of what it means to actually work with it. Is it going to take away some of the other solutions that you've created? What about the other workloads that you've done? Where do I fit in there? How am I going to tie back into what we've Are my skill sets going to be there?
Ronelle Naidoo:Do I have the right skill sets? How do I learn? How do I adapt to being able to do that? What does it mean? And I think it's really about change and it's about and I think that's where a lot of the partners that we've seen and when we have that shift internally from a sales team, I can talk about Mint.
Ronelle Naidoo:It was about you know you've got to do it we've got to take it to our clients if we're not going to do it somebody else is and I really think it was that change about wanting to change and wanting to be able to do something different because AI is really different. We've done many different things before, but AI is so unpredictable. It's not like you can actually go and sell AI on its own because what you know what I mean? So I think that is it because AI means different things to different people. And I think it's about the change and I think it's about the impact that it's going to make to an individual and to the company and to the sales process.
Ronelle Naidoo:And I think that's why a lot of people kind of look at it differently, but it's evolved, right? I think that question would have been even a different answer that I would have given you because I would have still been sitting in that about one, you know, do we add it in? I've just done another proposal now where I was like, you know, we're going to do this, but a massive piece about it is about the AI integration. And that was the story. But a couple of years, you know, a month or two online, maybe even twelve months ago, because I forgot we already in January, I would have never added that in there.
Ronelle Naidoo:It was this is what you wanted and it's just going to be that. So I do think it's just around what it means to people and how it impacts them. And also not everybody is technical, right? So when you're not technical, then you don't understand something and you have these technical guys that want to come and bombard you with everything and you're a business person. Like I said, it's very unpredictable.
Ronelle Naidoo:It doesn't have a beginning and an end really, because it just keeps changing all the time. So it's also hard for people to come and just accept and understand. So I think once you have a strategy, which is important, you've got to have a strategy and you've got to have a change enablement and you've got to take people along the journey. And also you've got to make sure everybody understands what it really means in order for companies to be able to sell it to other companies and make them feel okay about it. And that it's not gonna take over everything. It's just gonna help you do your work. It's gonna help you. It's gonna empower you to do better.
Rudy Rodriguez:So, Ronelle, as technology and customer expectations evolve, how do you see the balance between technical innovation, let's say, relationships and customer value shifting over the next few years?
Ronelle Naidoo:So from a technical point of view, I think if I look at the innovation, look at how, I mean, as a technology company and we have really smart people that we work with and the excitement that it has. I think before you would be able to kind of, you know, go into a field and that's my field. You know, my field is going to be that I learn Dynamics and I'm going to learn everything in dynamics. But with everything now getting integrated with each other, the shift is happening where you're going to have to open up to be able to look at your skill sets across the board so that you know how everything's going to tie into each other. And I think that's really what Microsoft wanted to kind of create as well, is how does all their workloads link into each other?
Ronelle Naidoo:So we've seen that shift already internally where we've had people focus normally just on an Azure side of things that are now spreading and trying to understand other areas and getting certifications and understanding how that So that's a big shift, and especially from a technical point of view. And then if I look at a partnership, and I think that makes it a little bit different as well. Because you always partner with people to say, okay, have A and B and you can fit in with C, you know, and then we make this perfect partnership because I'm really good at A and B and you are great at doing this. And now with everybody trying to learn new things and do things, it's like, where do we fit in as a partnership? What do I do? What do you do? How make do sure that we are both successful at the same time?
Ronelle Naidoo:So the shift of understanding how we work better together, that is definitely coming up as well. Because a lot of the partners that I work with currently that never wanted to go into certain areas are now having to go into that areas and expand on that within it was never part of their strategy. But in order to stay relevant and in order to be active, you have to do that.
Ronelle Naidoo:It's no longer where something's just going to be fixed and you know, I can sell this product and it's going to be there forever. Things are changing all the time that even from a partnership perspective, if we look at the different partners, everything's evolving. So none of the partners are staying the same. And that is why when I started, I said, Mint is one of the partners that are only focused on Microsoft still. And I think that's a big thing as well.
Ronelle Naidoo:So we obviously have to look at partnerships broader and kind of expose that. And from a client perspective, they're getting smarter. They're hiring smarter people. Their expectations are changing. You becoming the trusted advisor to somebody that's already being advised. You know?
Ronelle Naidoo:So you're going in and they wanna basically say, do you know this is you know, before you'd be like, I want this. And they would be like, I want a Ferrari. You know? Now they come to you and they're like, I want a Ferrari, but I want a Ferrari with, like, eight doors, and it needs to be two colors. And this needs to be that. And I know that you can have you know? So it's like their expectations have changed. They're using smarter and bigger words because they are now in the know. They have knowledge at their fingertips.
Ronelle Naidoo:There's no longer a thing where you can go in as a partnership and just tell a customer what to do. You now have to do what we were supposed to do from the start, is listen and then kind of expand as to how you're doing it. So I think the shift is important for everybody, but I think mostly for our clients and our customers as I see how they are expanding into. And I see it we're seeing it currently. Your sales cycles change.
Ronelle Naidoo:If it was six months, it's now becoming longer because you have to go through more processes to make sure that they sign. And that's just because of ChatGPT and everything in AI and everything that they have that is so easy to use that they kind of go and ask it first. They have this idea. And sometimes we all know that ChatGPT can be wrong and they can guide you in the incorrect direction. So when you go there to try and be the trusted advisor and with all your experience that you have and you're telling this client, but you cannot do that because of these reasons, They're like, no, we can do it because of that.
Ronelle Naidoo:So that cycle has gone longer. So there's a massive shift that's happening. And I think you have to be relevant. You have to make sure that you're up to date with everything going on. You have to be open to new ideas.
Ronelle Naidoo:And I think partner to partner is the best way to do it because you know, there's learnings that we all have. I'm sure if I spend some time with you, there's clients and deals you've done where if we can, you know, that I could do some learnings from and I could be like, Okay, I shouldn't do things this way. And it's just being about open. So I think as the shift happens, we have to be open to change. We have to really and it's hard here because you always want to you say it's like, don't accept change to accept change.
Ronelle Naidoo:It's it's hard, especially if you've been doing something the same thing for so long. You kind of revert back to that. So, I hope that answers the question.
Rudy Rodriguez:Oh, it really does. It really does. I appreciate it.
Anthony Carrano:So I know, you know, earlier you talked a little bit about, you know, when, just when evaluating partners, you know, important things are around like alignment, easy to work with, and and and feelings, and I like maybe if we can unpack a little bit more like when partnering with another company, you know, and maybe not necessarily what criteria, but like like either decision making process or framework like do you use to determine whether our partnership will truly complement like your strengths and deliver, you know, greater value to the customer?
Ronelle Naidoo:Yeah. So we always look at, we have lots of frameworks in place that we have internally, and we have lots of documentation that we go through that we share with our partner, with our non negotiables, and this is what we're going to do, These are our expectations. And then we kind of go into a workshop with them to review that. So at any given time when partners want to get on board, it'll be one of work. We don't just say, here's an opportunity.
Ronelle Naidoo:Can we go after It's a process with regards to going in and then we sit around the table and we workshop on that and we take them through the non negotiables. We take them through the documentation that we have and we ask them what's their expectations because it's a partnership. So even though we want to put down our framework, a lot of them have their own NDAs and teaming agreements and those type of things that we go in. And I think once you do the paperwork, I still think the human piece comes to it because you're working with each other. So I think once you're in a room with each other and you kind of figure out is this going to work or not. But yeah, one thing that I have learned is that having all your documentation, having everything in there is very important at the same time.
Anthony Carrano:That's good. And my last question is, if another partner listening today wanted to replicate your success, what's like either like the one principle or mindset shift you tell them to adopt first?
Ronelle Naidoo:So I think if there's one thing that I could say that we've learned from this is that it's okay to not be in the driving seat. Is it the driving seat or you know it is that right? Am I saying the right one? Or you don't have to be in control of the steering wheel all the time. I think that's very important when you want to go into a deal like this.
Ronelle Naidoo:Normally you'd be like, I'm priming and you're going to sub and this is the scope of work and this is how you're going to do it. But when you're doing a deal like this that involves people, it involves processes and it involves such massive change, it's okay to not always want to say that this is the way and being able to have a way where you can work together and figure it out together. And I think that's important, that word of who we are and who you are and what do we become together. And I think the expectation of not wanting to just be in the driving seat all the time, it's okay. And also, like I mentioned before, the cha cha, you know, going to take a few steps forward, going back again and then doing it together.
Ronelle Naidoo:And I think the one big learning I took out of this as well from a personal point of view that is these big projects it's not it may look amazing on paper but it takes a lot out of you as well. So you have to be passionate about it and you have to finish what you started. You've got to be able to say I'm going to finish what I started and as tough as it gets, as emotional as it gets when you're going through that, to see it through and make sure that you understand that you know are not bigger than the outcome. I think that was one of the biggest things because sometimes it got really tough and you'd be like can I hand this over and you're like no you can't you know? So I think that was one of the big things that it was that I learned. And also communication. I think another last word that I would say is communication. Communication is key for us there.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent, excellent. A lot of great nuggets there. I really appreciate that. That was fantastic. Well, this has really been enjoyable.
Anthony Carrano:We've gained a lot of great insights from you. And so thank you for being on. For those who would like to find out more about mint or reach out and connect, you know, with you and learn more, what are some of the best ways to connect with you guys?
Ronelle Naidoo:So yeah, we have our website which you can go through or you can grab me on LinkedIn. Very easy to find. Ronelle Naidoo, you'll see Mint on there. So just pop me a message and happy to connect with you and see how we can support.
Anthony Carrano:Excellent. We'll have all the information, the links in the show notes as well. So, well, great. Well, Ronelle, thank you for being on. Appreciate you and enjoy the rest of your day.
Ronelle Naidoo:Thank you so much, Thanks, Rudy. Take care.
Rudy Rodriguez:Thank you. You as well. Take care.
Anthony Carrano:Wow, that was a great episode. I really enjoyed having Ronelle, you know, back on. You know, it's really fascinating, Rudy, just when as we talk with so many, know, just different, you know, partners, you know, here in this tech space. You know, what's really refreshing is just to hear just that the the human approach, you know, that, you know, that, that Ronelle and Mint, you know, bring to everything where just seeing from like the opening lines about, you know, yes, we're, you know, a Microsoft only shop and, you know, just their areas of specialization their tech proficiencies, but just the emphasis on, you know, we've truly got the, you know, the best people to the qualities that they look for, you know, with partners, when she was just, you know, just talking about like, you know, the people side of it, right? The alignment, the easy to work with, the ability to communicate, and then just kinda topping it off with, you know, when they get into their partnerships, you know, focusing on what, and I love this line, what we can become together. And I just thought that was just really refreshing, just to hear.
Rudy Rodriguez:Yeah. No, absolutely. It was a great story. I've known, about Mint going way back to 2014, 2015 when one of their founders, Carl, came to Austin as they were starting their geo expansion process. And Ronelle just reinforced one of the stories he told me a long time ago about how they like being mentors to other partners.
Rudy Rodriguez:In fact, they call it the Ubuntu process and you heard that in the story. And that's a great opportunity and process within an organization to have an established process to reach out and uplift other partners. So that's great not only for Mints, but also for the community. And so the story really reinforced that in how they did that, providing partners, you know, and, you know, citizens of South Africa with an opportunity for a one year contract. And for what they learned on that job, then they were able to turn that into another three year contract.
Rudy Rodriguez:So that's great, great community opportunity. So I really appreciate that that they follow the principles of IAMCP about partnering and they have a formal process for it. That's a great story. That was a great Yeah,
Anthony Carrano:absolutely. I mean, you know, they're truly about, and this thing that really resonated with me is truly about, you know, using technology to improve people's lives, right? So to the points that you were just talking about, like with the Ubuntu, the hiring all those young people to, I mean, just the story itself where, you know, really, you know, working, you know, on the digital transformation, you know, for hospitals and how that's gonna improve, you know, the quality of patient care, but also the, you know, the work experience for the people in the hospital, you know, and then you're gonna see, you know, just better, you know, better outcomes. So it was definitely really refreshing and enjoyable to hear about how, you know, they're truly utilizing tech to, you know, to make the world a better place and really impact, you know, all the people's lives, you know, very positively. So that was just an awesome story.
Rudy Rodriguez:Well, thank you for listening today and thank you for joining us on this episode of IAMCP Profiles in Partnership powered by Dunamis Marketing. We hope you enjoyed this podcast and find it useful and inspiring. If you did, please subscribe, rate, and review us on your favorite podcast platform. One of the best ways to partner for success is to join IAMCP, a community of Microsoft partners who help each other grow and thrive. IAMCP members can find and connect with other partners locally and globally and access exclusive resources and opportunities.
Rudy Rodriguez:Whether you're looking for new customers, new markets, or new solutions, IAMCP can help you achieve your goals. To learn more, visit the website at www.iamcp.org.
