Andrew Morpeth (Lucidity)
Auckland-based managed services provider Lucidity is relishing the return of Andrew Morpeth, this time as a shareholder, to help it navigate a fast-changing market space.
An expert in unified communications (UC) and a Microsoft MVP, or "most valued professional", Morpeth last worked at Lucidity going on a decade ago.
Now, after building a successful UC and Skype for Business practice with Lexel Systems, Morpeth is back to run the Lucidity's professional services practice, coming on board late last year.
He is also bringing some new chops to Lucidity, having honed his skills as a consultant.
"I think IT of the future requires more of a consultative approach across the board, whether that is for support or to consulting and professional services delivery," Morpeth told Reseller News.
"The future is clearly cloud and Lucidity has a distinct advantage - we have been a cloud services provider for 17-years, long before the word existed."
That involved hosting Exchange, Skype for Business, remote desktop terminal services and more.
Now, with Microsoft not focusing on those server-based products, the market was all about the proven software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms with Microsoft being the foundation.
Lucidity has put a lot of development into building modern workplace solutions around Microsoft InTune, Azure Virtual Desktop and Teams Direct Routing for small and medium-sized businesses.
“We’ve been in the business nearly twenty years now, and the rate of change over the last 24 months is phenomenal," said Paul O’Brien, Lucidity founder and CEO.
There was now much more emphasis on customer outcomes and less on technology and keeping servers running.
"There are many excellent SaaS apps to do whatever people require in their role these days," O'Brien said. "It’s about getting customers on to the right technology, making sure they are secure, and helping them with change and adoption.”
Morpeth said for service providers, that requires a business centric approach to help customers get the best out of their technology and improve the user journey.
"That's the goal, it's to figure out how we get in front of the actual users and show them how to improve their efficiency and get things done faster and to use technology to their advantage," he said.
The world needed good MSP services more than ever, Morpeth said, and Lucidity aimed to grow in the mid-market space over the coming years.
Building a different sales pipeline was an area the company would be focusing on, to really home in on its target midsize company sweet spot.
Unique software is also part of the picture and the company is bringing some of its own to the table. It is offering a Lucidity 365 dashboard, for example, and last year it followed that up with an application called the Lucidity Client Manager, which is free to customers.
"We want to look at further developing solutions in this space and with Andrew’s software design knowledge, developing out more MSP tools are in our future," O'Brien said.
Gearing up for the 2022 financial year, the team is also recruiting to fill several new consultant and engineering roles to meet demand.
Lucidity was established in 2003 by O’Brien and Jarred Hogan, both ex Airline IT engineers, and now employs around 30 staff.
In 2019, Lucidity acquired XSYS IT, adding 77 customers to its roster
