IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY IMPROVEMENT OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS FOR CLOUD SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY

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1 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY IMPROVEMENT OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS FOR CLOUD SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Business Management and Analytics programme at ISM University of Management and Economics in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Management by Kristina Zimblytė Advised by Prof.dr Viltė Auruškevičienė May 2015 Vilnius

2 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 2 Santrauka Zimblyte, K., Integruotos rinkodaros kumunikacijos tobulinimas UAB 1ClickFactory debesų kompiuterijos paslaugos [Rankraštis]: Bakalauro baigiamasis darbas. Verslo vadyba ir analitika. Vilnius, ISM Vadybos ir ekonomikos universitetas, Darbo tikslas. Parengti vadybinius sprendimus integruotos rinkodaros komunikacijos tobulinimui UAB 1ClickFactory debesų kompiuterijos paslaugoms. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti vidinę ir išorinę aplinką UAB 1ClickFactory debesų kompiuterijos paslaugoms 2. Atlikti empyrinį tyrimą, 3. Pateikti vadybinius sprendimus, kaip integruotos rinkodaros komunikacija gali būti patobulinta. Empirinio tyrimo metodologija. Duomenims surinkti buvo pritaikytas kokybinis empirinis tyrimas, atliekant asmeninius interviu su 13 potencialių UAB 1ClickFactory klientų, iš kurių visi yra Microsoft Dynamics partneriai. Radiniai. Atliekant tyrimą, buvo suprasta, kad svarbiausi paslaugos atributai yra lengvai suprantama kainodara, greitas klientų aptarnavimas, paslaugos paprastumas, greitumas ir kokybė. Tyrimas parodė, kad šia paslauga ateityje naudosis bene visi Microsoft Dynamics NAV valdymo sistemos vartotojai. Taip pat, tyrimas parodė, kad respondentai turi minimalias žinias apie šią paslauga, manoma, kad UAB 1ClickFactory gali edukuoti potencialius klientus apie šią naujovę ir jos privalumus per dienoraštinį tinklaraštį (angl. blog). Taip pat buvo iššsiaiškinta, kad respondentai naudojasi socialiniais tinklais bei yra aktyvus paieškos sistemose, todėl yra rekomenduojama UAB 1ClickFactory aktyvinti savo veiklą šiuose komunikacijos kanaluose. Be to, tyrimas parodė, kad dalyvavimas įvairiose Microsoft organizuojamuose renginiuose, tiesioginių rinkodaros priemonių naudojimas bei asmeninių pardavimų taktikos užtikrintų didesnę debesų kompiuterijos paslaugos sėkmę. Raktiniai žodžiai. Microsoft Dynamics NAV verslo valdymo sistema, debesų kompiuterija, integruotos rinkodaros komunikacija

3 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 3 Table of Contents Santrauka... 2 List of tables... 5 List of Figures... 6 Introduction... 7 Situation analysis... 8 Internal analysis... 8 General information of the company... 9 Marketing analysis External analysis Market analysis Market profitability Customer analysis Competitor analysis Macro environment analysis SWOT analysis Empirical research Empirical study methods Empirical study progress and results Results of empirical study... 41

4 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 4 Conclusions of the research findings Managerial Solutions Market Mission Message Media Money Measurement Conclusions References Appendixes... 90

5 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 5 List of tables Table 1 Microsoft Dynamics NAV market size and growth rates Table 2 M. Porter s forces (1980) market profitability table Table 3 Market segment of Microsoft Dynamics NAV customers Table 4 Segment motivation and unmet needs analysis Table 5 Strategic competitor group specification Table 6 Description of competitors Table 7 Description of Self-Provisioning service global competitors Table 9 Competitor strength grid Table 10 PEST analysis Table 11 SWOT analysis for Self-Provisioning service Table 12 Set of questions Table 13. Respondent qualification Table 14 Message attributes and citations from interviews Table 15 Media channels and citations from interviews Table 16 Key customer benefits and media channels integration Table 17 Reasons to believe and media channel integration Table 18 Integrated marketing communications budget Table 19 Measurement techniques... 81

6 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 6 List of Figures Figure 1 Product cycle description. Compiled by author Figure 2 Strategic grouping of competitors. Compiled by author Figure 3 Push strategy. Compiled by Kotler, Armstrong, Harris & Piercy, Figure 4 "AIDA concept. Compiled by Kotler, Armstrong, Harris & Piercy, Figure 5 Positioning statement. Compiled by author... 58

7 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 7 Introduction UAB 1ClickFactory is a software Development Company that delivers highly productive software to Microsoft Dynamics partners around the world. The organization continuously implements new technologies introduced in the industry, which enables Microsoft Dynamics partners to increase their productivity. As a result, such increase will accelerate Microsoft Dynamics Partners profit with end customer in a long term prospective. The offering includes cloud-computing services, which is recently evolved computer technology in the industry. In order to succeed in the market, despite of the service quality, the marketing is an essential success factor for the new service introduced by the company. As a result, due the cloud service novelty that UAB 1ClickFactory provides, the current integrated marketing communications that is used for reaching the potential clients is very weak. Thus, UAB 1ClickFactory is facing is the issue that many Microsoft Dynamics Partners are not aware of new service benefits. Therefore the problem is the following: how should the company improve the integrated marketing communications for cloud services? The aim of this thesis is to improve the integrated marketing communications for cloud services at UAB 1ClickFactory. In order to reach this goal, it is essential to follow the objectives: 1. To analyze the external and internal environment for the UAB 1ClickFactory cloud services 2. To conduct empirical research of cloud services potential clients in order to get depth knowledge and opinions about the relevant service features.

8 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 8 3. To provide managerial solutions of how integrated marketing communications of UAB 1ClickFactory cloud services for the period of 01/06/ /06/2016 can be improved. Research method: A qualitative empirical research method will be performed by deeply interviewing 13 Microsoft Dynamics partners who are target market for UAB 1ClickFactory. The practical value of the paper: the managerial solutions will be provided in order to improve the current integrated marketing communications for cloud services at UAB 1ClickFactory. The provided recommendations will arise the awareness among the potential clients and will ensure the revenue growth. Sequence of the thesis: the logical structure of the thesis is conducted as follows: firstly, the situation analysis provides the analysis of internal and external environment. The second part is qualitative empirical research that consists of the empirical research process and analysis of the results. Finally, the part of managerial solutions provides the improved integrated marketing communications tactics that should be implemented for cloud services at UAB 1ClickFactory. Situation analysis Internal analysis The primary goal of internal analysis is to determine what kind of weaknesses and strengths a company faces, it is very important to identify the performance of the company and where organization should improve from the internal environment assessment. (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner, McNamara, & Kim, 2004). This section includes description of general information of the company and marketing department analysis based on the service that is going to be focus of this thesis.

9 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 9 General information of the company UAB 1ClickFactory is a software development company, delivering productivity software and business development services to Microsoft Dynamics partners worldwide. Three Danish and one Lithuanian shareholder established the company in One of the Danish stakeholders, Søren Fink-Jensen, is currently the CEO in the organization. UAB 1ClickFactory Headquarter is located in Denmark, as well as it has sales offices in Benelux (Netherlands and Belgium), Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Spain and the US. Both development and management teams are located in Lithuania where all the implementations and service delivery is done. UAB 1ClickFactory subsidiaries in different countries are responsible for consulting new and existing Microsoft Dynamics partners in the local area, engaging with them as well as maintaining long-term business opportunities. Therefore, they are driving the representative approach of the company and are the connection between a partner of the specific area and development factory in Lithuania. At the moment, the company employs more than 70 experienced and competent consultants and developers with deep knowledge related to the Microsoft Dynamics solutions industry. The growth of the company rapidly increased from the very beginning. In 2013 UAB 1ClickFactory had over 2 million euros in revenues, and established engagements with approximately 400 Microsoft Dynamics partners around the world. UAB 1Clicfactory mission is to provide a competitive advantage for Microsoft Dynamics Partners by delivering qualified services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP software and business development. The vision of the company is to get all companies to run on the latest version of their software. UAB 1ClickFactory predicts delivering a number of Microsoft technologies that are going to support Microsoft Dynamics partners businesess with end-customers.

10 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 10 UAB 1ClickFactory works exclusively through Microsoft Dynamics partners only. Therefore, Microsoft Dynamics partners always remain to be the owner and primary contact for their customers. The company s focus is on Microsoft Dynamics product line, which is enterprise resource planning (ERP) software applications and is highly used in many small and mid-sized businesses. These applications contribute to the effectiveness of the management, and as a result, the solution can enable more growth. The system is designed to manage key processes within the company. The software allows businesses to get detailed overview on what is happening in the company from various reports related to sales, marketing, production, warehouses etc. Microsoft is selling those products to businesses through Partner Network (Microsoft Dynamics Partners), which ensures to maintain and meet the mid-size companies needs and interest. By using the latest technologies and highly skilled development team, UAB 1ClickFactory" provides Microsoft Dynamics partners with the latest versions of this software upgrades and transfers technical and operational knowledge. This is related to the Microsoft Dynamics products and business development as well as helping Microsoft Dynamics Partners across the world to transform business to the cloud. In other words, UAB 1ClickFactory" provides the ability to deploy the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system on Microsoft Azure cloud server. Microsoft Dynamics ERP software upgrades are the service that UAB 1ClickFactory provides to Microsoft Dynamics partners to ensure they are supporting businesses with the latest versions of Microsoft Dynamics ERP software when Microsoft releases it. The upgrade requires a deep technical knowledge of development and resources that UAB 1ClickFactory is capable to provide. Therefore, this service generates the highest revenue for the company at the moment.

11 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 11 Knowledge transfer services are the training programs both related to Microsoft Partner s technical and business development sides. The company provides workshops that help partner business to keep up with the latest market trends and to ensure they are always aware of market changes. Some of the highest demand is for students Academy knowledge transfer service. Due to the limited supply of this specific Software applications IT specialists, UAB 1ClickFactory delivers one-month intensive training program for university graduates, IT students on their final, and newly Microsoft Dynamics Partner s hired team members with the purpose to provide Microsoft Dynamics ERP development skills and prepare new employees to join Micorosft Dynamics Partner organizations as junior programmers. Moreover, as UAB 1ClickFactory employed highly experienced Microsoft Dynamics leaders, the knowledge transfer activities also include consulting, business assessment and business benchmarking services for Microsoft Dynamics partners. Not long time ago, starting in April 2014, UAB 1ClickFactory began their new services that implement Software as a service delivery model. This means that the software is licensed on the subscription model and delivered over the Internet. This business opportunity provides the ability for Microsoft partners to simplify deployment and reduce acquisition costs. One of the services that UAB 1ClickFactory invests a lot of effort and resources in is Self-Provisioning for Microsoft Dynamics NAV on Azure service, which is an automated implementation of hosting the Microsoft Dynamics NAV software on Microsoft Azure cloud server. Another service that the company is currently running is Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade subscription. Microsoft partners engage with 1ClickFactory to get the upgrade of the software every time when Microsoft releases one. Such online services are subscriptionbased, meaning partners agree on the software usage for monthly engagements. As this new IT business perception is going to change overall technology concept in near future, UAB 1ClickFactory expects that taking this new business approach will double the current

12 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 12 revenue in the upcoming three years because of high interest from the market. However, due to the service concept novelty, the marketing department is not exactly aware of an effective integrated marketing communications with the potential clients that would ensure getting the highest profit from the market. Marketing analysis Marketing department analysis for the cloud service are going to be provided on the following, according to 7Ps service marketing mix. (Bitner, Wilson, & Gremler, 2012) Product. The software as a service business model includes software licensing on the subscription model and is delivered over the Internet. The subscription model is based on monthly engagements with the partners in order to simplify the deployment and usage of the software. The service that is going to be analysed in this thesis is cloud services that calls Self-Provisioning for NAV on Azure in Office 365 (Self-Provisioning). This service provides the possibility for the partner to have their customers Microsoft Dynamics NAV systems deployed on Microsoft Azure cloud server. The main value for the mid-size organizations is that they have an ability to use the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system across multiple devices via Internet (mobile phones, tablets, different internet browsers), such option provides the opportunity to maintain easier and faster management of the organization. The full cycle of how the Self-Provisioning service reaches the end- customer is shown in the Figure 2. Microsoft Dynamics Partner is the direct client for UAB 1ClickFactory, however, the end- customer is mid-size companies which have a need to use the ERP system internally. As the ability to host the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system on Microsoft Azure cloud server is very innovative and potentially profitable service in IT industry, Microsoft Dynamics Partners are interested to offer this service to both existing and new customers. As a result, Microsoft Dynamics Partner has two choices how they can provide such service to their customers:

13 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY Possibility to deploy the platform where Microsoft Dynamics NAV system is integrated in Microsoft Azure cloud server. However, such option requires a huge technical and financial effort that partner is not always capable of investing. 2. To contact UAB 1ClickFactory which provides the exact service that enables to upload any Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution to the Microsoft Azure cloud server. The platform is created in the way that Microsoft Dynamic partner would have all the possibilities to control and manage their customers by their own. The service is white label offering, meaning that the Microsoft Dynamics partners are able to put their own brand on the portal through which customer access the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system. Figure 1 Product cycle description. Compiled by author Price. The pricing system is based on a subscription model, meaning that Microsoft Dynamics partners are charged with a fixed price every month. The investment includes hosting services, support and all technical details that have been implemented in the service. Pricing is applied according to every partner s needs and their particular customer s Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution architecture. As the delivery of the service model is established by providing the access to use the service, the subscription based pricing model is

14 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 14 considered as the best one in many ways. Microsoft Dynamics Partner is in charge of adding any margin on the pricing in order to gain profit from such service. UAB 1ClickFactory expects to gain approximately 1000 EUR/month per each Microsoft Dynamics partner. The biggest advantage of subscription pricing model is that it guarantees the permanent revenue every month from the potential clients. Place. The service is delivered over Internet. As the service does not require specific steps and is not very expensive, there are several options where a partner can purchase the service: Order the service through UAB 1ClickFactory Partner portal by filling out the required information. It takes approximately 20 minutes. To purchase the service through the website, meaning that they need to fill out the specific request form that would be sent to the responsible person s mail box. An employee will contact the partner and provide him with the required steps to order the services. Promotion. At the moment UAB 1ClickFactory promotes the service only through the company s website, various conferences, sends direct mailings to Microsoft Dynamics Partners once in a while. As the service delivery model is new, there is no specific integrated marketing communications established in order to increase revenue of the service. People. People who are involved in the direct and the indirect delivery of the service are technical developers, technical support consultants and sales representatives. The following are responsible for commercial side of the service; meaning that they ensure the partner is satisfied, that the partner is aware of the pricing; and that the partner s need and expectations are met. Technical developers are maintaining the quality of the service, which in effect means that they control the technical side of the provided order. The technical consultants support the partners by answering all the questions related to the technical side of

15 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 15 the service and ensuring that the partner understands the purpose and the process of the service itself. Processes. The procedure of how the partner could reach the service consists of various ways. First of all, if the partner is new, he connects with the sales representative who together with the technical consultant presents the service online (using some virtual program), from both a commercial and a technical side. Afterwards, the access rights to 1ClickFactory Partner portal are given to him in order to begin using the service. During the usage, the sales representative contacts the partner once or twice during a month to ensure the overall satisfaction. Finally, at the beginning of the month, the partner receives an invoice of the delivered service. Physical evidence. The environment of the service delivery includes the professional service presentations, the full information of the company s website and consultations that are done by a competent Microsoft Dynamics NAV system specialist. There is also a possibility for the partner to learn about the service and its capabilities, and tactics on how to sell it to the end-customers through a lot of information provided by UAB 1ClickFactory. External analysis In order to identify threats and opportunities that company is facing at the moment, external analysis is needed. This part of the paper analyses UAB 1ClickFactory from market, customer, competitor and macro environment prospective. Market analysis Market identification. UAB 1ClickFactory is software Development Company that brings highly productive software services globally. At the moment their strongest focus is on the Self-Provisioning service. The idea is to provide a Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP system on Microsoft Azure cloud server. The core market is small and medium size IT

16 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 16 companies around the world that are currently using Microsoft Dynamics NAV systems in their businesses. Table 1 Microsoft Dynamics NAV market size and growth rates Year Market size 94, ,000 Change % n/a 8,5 % Source: Himatsingka, 2014 According to the Table 1 above, there is an 8.5 % increase in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV customer database from 2013 to Forecast expects that cloud computing Microsoft Dynamics ERP market will have an annual growth rate of 14.7 %. (Himatsingka, 2014) Submarkets. The Dynamics NAV system market could be divided into several submarkets that include Epicor ERP, Oracle E-business ERP, QAD Enterprise applications and SAP business solutions. All the listed ERP system vendors are moving their attention to the cloud and provide the possibility to host the system on the cloud server as well as Microsoft does. Although, every company chooses the ERP system according to the needs and sector, different ERP solutions have the impact on the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system consumption. As the financial data was not founded for described ERP vendors, according to Gartner s research that was done by evaluating the vendors in terms of ability to execute and completeness of vision elements. The ability to execute dimension describes vendors which provide the functionalities that would be needed to companies, pricing that is not complex enough and the positive responsiveness coming from the market. The term completeness of vision indicates the ability creating the appropriate strategies for the offering, implementing the correct sales and marketing actions, being eager to innovations as well as positioning to proper geographical industry areas. The vendor that is least meeting such range is QAD Enterprise Application, meaning that the revenue and interest should start declining soon. What is more, the most leading vendor in such industry recognized being SAP Business all-

17 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 17 in-on. According to Gartner analysts, this systems meets all the requirements of the market in order to be the successful Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system provider. The growth potential is identified for the Epicor ERP solution in the future, as the vendor at the moment improved their overall strategies and gets constant interest from the market. (Hestermann, Montgomery, Pang, & Guay, 2014) Essential Success factors. It is very significant to measure what success factors affect the ERP systems to be successful and meet the challenges of changing environment. Therefore, the current and future benefits that affect the vendors of Microsoft Dynamics NAV systems are provided. Current success factors Product. Due to a wide range of ERP systems in the market and the aim to succeed, the vendor needs to present the software which is accessible to adapt and modify, as well as easy to use and integrate any analytics applications. The overall simplicity is the key of the ERP system to satisfy the customer. Customer experience. The ERP system vendor s ability to drive business value to the users and providing a well customer experience are critical elements of each vendor to be able to succeed in the industry. If the vendor designed the system in the way that it requires less resource investment from the customer and it delivers technical and business support efficiency and flexibility, the company could be sure to get the interested customers. Future success factors Innovation. In order to stay a leader in the market, the vendor has to be eager to innovate and continually adapt to the market. Identifying the current trends, needs, technology changes and improvements should be the essential factors to be successful in the market.

18 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 18 Marketing strategy. Brand awareness, relationship marketing and ability to meet the right customers as well as their need in the system offering are the elements that would guarantee the long term interest from the customer side. (Hestermann, Montgomery, Pang, & Guay, 2014) Distribution system. The main and only one channel that various companies can purchase the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system is Microsoft Dynamics partner network. At the moment Microsoft Corporation is working with more than 700 Microsoft Dynamics partners around the world. Such partner network already is working with 102,000 customers globally with the result of increasing the revenues of Microsoft Dynamics ERP products for Microsoft each year more and more. The reasons why Microsoft decided to reach potential Microsoft Dynamics NAV customers through partner network is the ability to laminate the risks as well as it is a better way to create close relationship with customer that would encourage to buy more Microsoft products. Microsoft Corporation inspires partners to sell the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system by authorizing them with Silver and Gold certificates according to the partner results. Such certificates enables partners to receive better conditions from Microsoft as well as create the greater reputation and trust from the customer side. Moreover, Microsoft is supporting the partners very closely by developing various communities, organizing distinct conferences, events, trainings and helping to reach the results that would satisfy all parties. As UAB 1ClickFactory is working and communicating about the services and offerings only through Microsoft Dynamics partners, it is the key channel to reach the Microsoft Dynamics ERP customers and offer Microsoft Dynamics partner the opportunity to deploy their Microsoft Dynamics NAV customers on Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

19 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 19 Market profitability The table below analyses the threats for UAB 1ClickFactory company from the 5 perspectives of Michael Porter s 5 forces competitive advantage model. (Porter, 2008) The following factors have positive and negative impact on the Microsoft Dynamics partner network market by offering to upload their Microsoft Dynamics NAV customers database on the Microsoft Azure cloud server. Table 2 M. Porter s forces (1980) market profitability table 5 Porter forces Low threat Medium threat High threat New entrants The need of high initial capital investments Medium brand awareness for the organization The new idea for a service with some unique fuctional integrations There is a need of Advanced technology resources The need of Dynamics NAV system experience Experience in cloud computing business If the brand of entrant is already well- known in the market Attracting new entrants because of the market novelty The service differentiation is low Experience in both cloud and ERP system business

20 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 20 Suppliers The substitution of cloud datacenter ( in our case Microsoft Azure ) is high The concentration of supplier on the distributor is medium There are not many suppliers if the functionality of Microsoft Azure breaks. The agreement with Microsoft is longterm The coopoeration behaviour of the supplier to the distributor is medium Supplier failure on the datacenter would impact the organization in negative way Industry competitors Not many players in the market Relatively small amount of competitors having a strong experience in Dynamics NAV system programing Opponents do not have close relationship with the Microsoft for the supporting benefits Developing better marketing strategy Integrating the functionalities that would cause the explosion in the market Developing the pricing system that would be most cost efficient for the client comparing with other competitors Not many competent IT specialists because of the new service in the market Substitutes The costs are high for customer in order to develop own data center. There might be some substitutes in foreign countires which own deeper knowledge in Dynamics NAV system and cloud computing

21 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 21 Buyers The switching costs is very high (depending on the customer business) The concentration of the buyers is medium The hosting on the cloud does not include a large part of business costs The buyer (Microsoft Dynamics partner) is price sensitive, therefore it can be sticked with the lowest price in the market Source: Developed by author Possibility of bakward integration (developing the cloud platform within integration of Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Azure cloud datacenter.) According to the Table 2 above, the highest risks are coming from the new entrants and suppliers. As the service is relative new, there are not a lot of players in the market that offer similar service as UAB 1ClickFactory. Due to the fact that the supplier is a huge player in the market, companies dependent on the technology products that are provided by the vendor. As a result the relationship is close with the supplier, however it might have negative impact in case of vendor s failure in some areas. Buyers and Substitutes dimensions are not that risky in relation to suppliers and new entrants, but the attention should be taken to buyer s force, as they have the wide range of choice not only by selecting different provider but also implementing the backward integration of the service. Customer analysis According to Microsoft Corporation developed research, in 2014 there were 102,000 thousand companies, which are using Microsoft Dynamics NAV system globally. The majority of customers are worldwide small size companies and medium size companies.

22 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 22 Although the positioning strategy for Microsoft Dynamics NAV system is small and medium size enterprises, there is 5 % of customers from the large size companies (Table 3). Table 3 Market segment of Microsoft Dynamics NAV customers Segment The size of the market Description World-wide small size 51000(52%) All the companies with less companies than 100 employees World-wide medium size companies (43%) All the companies with less than employees World-wide large size companies 5100 (5%) All the companies with less more than 400 employees Source: Microsoft Corporation research Each segment of the market has its own motivation to buy Microsoft Dynamics NAV system. On the Table 4 below there is a list of key factors that affect buying behaviour towards Microsoft Dynamics NAV system. In addition, the needs that are coming from customer side and are not met by the Microsoft Dynamics NAV vendor are indicated in the table below. Table 4 Segment motivation and unmet needs analysis Segment Segment motivation Segment unmet needs World-wide small- medium size companies Adopted to small-medium market capitalization companies Simplicity Data safety Intuitive user interfaces Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SharePoint and more Easy to use Availability in wide range of countries No need for additional investment in upgrading the system when the new version releases System is always fast and accessible World-wide large size companies Low cost in relation to other ERP system vendors in the market System is fast no matter how many users are in it

23 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 23 Simplicity of the system Data safety Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SharePoint and more Enough significant functionality integrations for large size enterprises No need for additional investment in upgrading the system when the new system releases Source: Developed by the author Availability in wide range of countries As the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system is developed particular for small and medium size enterprises, such segments are motivated to buy as well have less complains about the system. However, the most complains are identified in requirement to invest in the upgrade and maintenance of Microsoft Dynamics NAV system. Competitor analysis The competitors of Self-provisioning service are the companies, which provide the possibilities to host Microsoft Dynamics NAV system on Microsoft Azure cloud platform. The target market is all Microsoft Dynamics Partners that is Microsoft Dynamics NAV system distributing channel to business enterprises. Figure 2 Strategic grouping of competitors. Compiled by author

24 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 24 The strategic map that is shown in Figure 2 above is analysing the competitors in the global market by the following dimensions: The level of market segmentation and the level of technology. The organizations that are listed from the middle to high level of technology have high experience and expertise in Microsoft Dynamics NAV products or competence in cloud hosting services, whereas the companies from the middle to the low technology level are the new players in the cloud business or do not have expertise in Microsoft Dynamics NAV products. From the perspective of market segmentation level, the organizations that are placed from the middle to high market segmentation level are focusing on Microsoft Partners world-wide and the organizations listed from the middle to the low market segmentation level are less practicing on serving only Microsoft partners as their market is all IT companies (including Microsoft partners) that are end-customer for Microsoft Dynamics NAV product. What is more, these companies are better known in some specific geographic area (for example U.S), although they segment their services to IT companies globally. The market size of competitors was grouped in terms of the dimensions described in the Figure 2. The highest percentage of the market goes for strategic group focusing on high technological and high market segmentation; therefore UAB 1Clickfactory and SaaS Plaza mark the largest proportion of the market. The Table 5 below defines the specification of competitor strategic groups and market size and Table 6 provides the description of all the competitors identified. Table 5 Strategic competitor group specification Strategic competitor group High technological and high market segmentation level High technological and low market segmentation level Main companies included in the group 1ClickFactory, SaaS Plaza 55% Strategic SaaS, Rose ASP 35% Market size %

25 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 25 Low technological and high market segmentation level PRF Cooper Parry IT 10% Low technological and low - - market segmentation level Source: UAB 1ClickFactory internal analysis data Table 6 Description of competitors Competitor Description Strategic The company that is official Microsoft partner was founded in As soon SaaS as Microsoft released the ability to host Dynamics NAV system on Microsoft Azure cloud, it became the cloud leader for hosting Dynamics NAV on Windows Azure cloud in U.S market. As they are focusing on IT companies worldwide, they are known better in U.S market. Strategic SaaS are working with all the companies that are using any kind of Microsoft technology and are interested to host it in the cloud. Microsoft Azure is one of their data centers they are providing to businesses. (Source: SaaS Plaza Rose ASP SaaS Plaza is official Microsoft partner that was founded in 2000 with the aim to focus only on cloud computing services. Today their main market is Microsoft Dynamics Partners world-wide who are provided with Dynamics ERP (NAV and AX) hosted on Microsoft Windows Azure and their own data centers. They are global leading Cloud Dynamics provider and at the moment organization is working with more than 200 Microsoft Dynamics partners and running 1,250 Microsoft Dynamics applications globally. In addition, SaaS Plaza owns their private cloud platforms in Europe, U.S and Asia. (Source: The organization was founded in 2000 as the reseller with 25 years of Dynamics ERP products experience. The company is hosting the Dynamics products on cloud and recently it started to do it on Microsoft Windows Azure. Their focus is on all the Dynamics products, it owns data centers worldwide and the main customers are the IT companies and Microsoft Dynamics partners. The region they do business the most is U.S & Canada, but after they have implemented the ability to host the Dynamics products on Microsoft Azure cloud datacenter, they started to expand their market to Europe.(Source: Puff cooper parry it The organization is an official Microsoft Partner that is focusing on various IT solutions (not only Microsoft technologies) that could be provided for IT companies. Recently they have started to Provide the cloud computing services, mainly focusing on Microsoft Azure cloud datacenter. The potential market is all the IT companies as well as Microsoft Dynamics partners who are focusing on Dynamics ERP products. In addition, they are also offer other accounting systems (not only Dynamics NAV), IT helpdesk and support. The company is located in United Kingdom with the focus to the customers from the Central and Eastern Europe. (Source: Source: Developed by author

26 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 26 On the Table 7 below, the analysis of strengths, weaknesses and strategies of each competitor has been taken separately, however the company itself - UAB 1ClickFactory is excluded as the strengths and weaknesses will be analysed in SWOT analysis in section 3 of this report. Table 7 Description of Self-Provisioning service global competitors Competitor Strengths Weaknesses Strategic SaaS Have experience in cloud computing and software as a service industry for 6 years Provides more than one data centers hosting locations Provides additional complex IT Solutions to their clients Brand awareness Strong marketing strategy Focusing on hosting all the Microsoft technologies. Low brand awareness in Central Eastern European region Sells to both end-customer and Microsoft partners Less focus on Microsoft Windows Azure in relation to other data centers SaaS Plaza 15 year experience in the cloud 6 year focusing on cloud services for Microsoft Dynamics partners. 80 Microsoft Dynamics IT engineers globally All inclusive 24/7 global support to the clients. Focusing on all the Microsoft Dynamics systems, including NAV, AX, and CRM etc. Strong marketing strategy Associated with innovations Focusing on more cloud data centers than only Microsoft Windows Azure Complex pricing system No experience in Microsoft Dynamics solutions

27 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 27 Rose ASP Puff cooper parry it Experience in Dynamics ERP products for 25 years Experience in cloud computing Providing 24/7 support for the clients Owns their Data centers Microsoft certified silver and gold Dynamics partner. Focusing only on Microsoft Azure cloud datacenter Deep knowledge of all the ERP systems in the market Brand awareness in UK Weak marketing strategy Less experience with Microsoft Azure cloud datacenter Not clear market segmentation Competing with Microsoft Dynamics partners although they are their market as well Complex pricing for hosting Dynamics ERP products on Microsoft Windows Azure Low awareness in Central & Eastern European countries Sells to both end-customer and Microsoft partners New player in the market with limited knowledge of cloud computing Weak marketing strategy Source: Developed by author In order to finalize competitor analysis the competitor strength grid was developed in Table 9. According to analysis, two main players in the market are UAB 1ClickFactory and SaaS Plaza, both organizations have almost equal evaluations scores in terms of crucial success factors. The least three evaluated are Strategic SaaS, Rose ASP and Puff Cooper Parry it companies which are not strong enough in communicating with target customer, ability to adapt to the market needs and do not have right competence of Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems.

28 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 28 Table 8 Competitor strength grid Easy and simple usage of service Strong integrated marketing communication plan Providing consistent support for customers Ability to adapt to the market needs Competence in Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems 1Clickfactory Strategic SaaS SaaS Plaza Rose ASP Puff cooper parry it Total Source: Developed by author Macro environment analysis The Macro environment analysis is the essential part of external analysis as it clearly describes all the environmental key factors that have the impact on the business success. In order to analyse the macro environment for Self-Provisioning service strategy, the PEST framework has been used. This framework is recommended to use in order to identify how external factors of Political, Economic, Social and Technological environment affects organization. (ebooks, 2013) The analysis of the macro environment, that UAB 1Clickfactory cannot control are described in Table 10. Table 9 PEST analysis Area Main tendencies Impact on company s strategy Political Legal and government The government requirements for hosting the restrictions, privacy database in the local data policies and regulations center for some geographical should be taken into areas ( for example Germany account by considering and Russia) the market expansion in Time period

29 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 29 Tendency to have European Union financial support for developing new technologies some countries. Such rules could have the impact on organization by imitating the adoption and development of the solution. Therefore, UAB 1ClickFactory is required to make the additional investments in order to address such issues. If the projects of having the EUR financial support would be confirmed,uab 1ClickF actory would decrease the overall expenses Economical Reducing research and development (R&D) in the company because of economic recession In order to be the preferred software development company, a competitive advantage by continuously upgrade and develop new products is needed. However, an economic recession can lower the revenues in the cloud computing sector. Small companies like UAB 1ClickFactory are more sensitive to macroeconomic conditions. An implication of the lower revenues is that they may need to reduce R&D to improve their bottom line Social The need of experienced and qualified IT specialists for the service that is relatively new in the market and it s about to grow rapidly As such technological solutions require IT specialists that are experienced and competent, UAB 1ClickFactory has constantly to invest into the employee training as well as recruiting the

30 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 30 employees that would bring value to the company. Technological Source: Developed by author The increased interest from the potential users of the service The possibility to lose the experienced and competent IT professionals Continuous upgrades in ERP systems and especially in cloud computing business as it is outgoing tendency in technology industry The tendency would impact UAB 1ClickFactory revenue and create the gap for more investment into the service There is always a possibility of losing the valued employees in the company. This way, UAB 1ClickFactory needs to clearly pay attention to the employees and create the best conditions to work in. Due to constant technological industry changes, organization needs to provide the service within recent technological upgrades, productivity, maintenance, reliability, mobility, security and others factors that are related with the service quality and performance itself To summarize the analysis of PEST environment key factors, it is clear that all the elements have a huge impact on the UAB 1ClickFactory service strategy. Due to The changing environment of business, it is required for managers of organizations to have deep knowledge and skills, so that the business would succeed and adapt to every change. Such skills include thinking outside of the box, more creatively and manage human resources in more efficient way. (Starling, 1988). Therefore, it is significant to draw the attention to each

31 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 31 of the dimensions, so that organization would keep their position in the market as well as satisfy the existing clients and gets new ones interested. SWOT analysis In order to evaluate the internal and external factors from both positive and negative sides, the SWOT analysis of the company has to be conducted. This analysis might help to identify the further steps that will be needed to achieve certain objectives of organization. SWOT analysis is built by concentrating into two categories: internal and external factors. (Aaker, 2014) Therefore, Table 11 below emphasizes internal factors, meaning main weaknesses that should be minimized, strengths that has to be developed further as well as external factors such as opportunities and threats which UAB 1Clickfactory should face in order to succeed with Self-Provisioning service in the market. Table 10 SWOT analysis for Self-Provisioning service STRENGTHS Strong experience in Microsoft Dynamics NAV business and system s programming, developing Close relationship with the supplier (Microsoft Corporation) The pricing of the service is attractive and easy to understand Quick response to the new and existing clients 24/7 client support High level of brand awareness in the market Well-developed customer base Strong core of the IT engineers Fast decision making and flexibility WEAKNESSES Weak integrated marketing communication with the clients Low experience in cloud computing service Not many Microsoft Dynamics Partners have knowledge of Self-Provisioning service that UAB 1ClickFactory provides

32 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 32 OPPORTUNITIES Sales automatization Mass customizing Investment opportunities into other Microsoft Dynamics products to be deployed on Microsoft Azure Innovations and trends coming from customer side THREATS Threat of new entrants Strong development of competitors Supplier increases the prices Supplier failures on the service that cause negative experience with the client Backward integration of the service Source: Developed by author UAB 1ClickFactory has a strong position towards quality side of Self- Provisioning service. Because of a long experience in Microsoft Dynamics NAV system developing as well as having employees who have the deep knowledge in terms of program s different sides, UAB 1ClickFactory could really be named a strong leader in the market. Despite this, management side of the service is productive as well. Employees are supporting and responding to clients with in a timely and executable manner. As UAB 1ClickFactory is in the market for 6 years already, the brand awareness among Microsoft Dynamics Partners is well known; therefore organization is capable of building the new service awareness using an existing customer base. Regarding the opportunities that UAB 1ClickFactory should take into the account, increasing sales numbers rapidly would be the one as the service is new in market and clients are interested to learn more about it. Also, to improve the service itself by implementing the new functionalities and capabilities in the service as well as to broaden the offering with the opportunities to host different Microsoft Dynamics products (not only Dynamics NAV) on Microsoft Azure cloud server. However, there are threats that UAB 1ClickFactory should be aware of. The most dangerous ones are the risk of new entrants and improvements on competitors side. As the service differentiation is not strong enough and the service and barely new in market, there is a threat of new comers. What is more, the service itself is very dependent on supplier, if

33 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 33 supplier fails in some points, UAB 1ClickFactory loses its position and reputation among the clients. In addition, the client is able to implement backward integration of service, however, it does not ensure the service quality and capabilities that UAB 1ClickFactory is offering. Finally, the most important weaknesses that company faces at the moment includes weak integrated marketing communications for a new Self- Provisioning service. UAB 1ClickFactory is not aware of the communication methods with the clients that would ensure higher revenues. The reason of such weakness is that company is not competent in terms of cloud computing from the business prospective, meaning the right marketing tools have not been conducted. Empirical research Empirical study methods Introduction of the empirical research. Due to the problem identification at UAB 1ClickFactory that was determined as how company should improve the integrated marketing communications for cloud services, empirical research is essential thing of finding the ways of how the communication with potential clients should progress. As Self- Provisioning service is new in the market, it is very important to get the insights and impressions towards the service directly from the Microsoft Dynamics partners. According to the knowledge gained during the empirical research, meaningful improvements of integrated marketing communications for cloud services at UAB 1ClickFactory will be accomplished. The sequence of the thesis consists of aim and objectives identification, relevant theoretical background presentation that will be related with the research study, research and data collection methods and what kind of research instruments and sampling procedures will be used. Finally, study findings will be analysed and granted.

34 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 34 Research Aim and Objectives. Aim of the empirical research is to gain relevant knowledge from clients about the efficient factors that would improve the integrated marketing communications for the cloud services. The objectives of the empirical research are the following: 1. To identify who will be target market of the improved integrated marketing communications for cloud services. 2. To find out the objectives of integrated marketing communications that is going to be improved. 3. To identify the message that is going to be communicated in order to improve the integrated communications for cloud services. 4. To identify the most preferred ways to convey the message in the most efficient way for the reason to improve the integrated marketing communications. Theoretical background of the research. In order to gain most of knowledge and impact from the research, the essential planning process should be prepared. The planning model of 6M will be adopted to the questionnaire of the research with the purpose to create crucial improvements of integrated marketing communications for cloud services. (Dolan, 2000) Each element of 6M model has to be addressed by marketing managers in order to prepare successful integrated marketing communications. Therefore, the components of this particular model is described in detail below: 1. Market. The element describes the appropriate audience of who need to receive the message that is going to be created. According to definition of the right target market, the decision of the communication message (what to say) as well as communication channel (how the message will be delivered) will be made. Therefore, it is very important to define who will be the best target audience that

35 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 35 would influence the results of integrated marketing communications for cloud services the most. 2. Mission. Setting up the objectives of successful integrated marketing communications is crucial factor. By defining the goal of what is going to be achieved through integrated marketing communications, is necessary. Later on, such goals have the impact on the message, channels as well as budget. By setting goals, it helps rapidly in measuring the results and effectiveness after the integrated marketing communications are established. (Pelsmacker, Guens, & Bergh, 2007) 3. Message. The content of the message is a consequence of chosen media, target audience, as well the objectives. The topic is the most meaningful factor by reaching the success of the campaign. It is very important the message to be integrated with all the communications channels. The message itself should be developed as positioning statement, meaning providing the target audience, service category, benefits and reasoning to believe that organization is actually providing the described benefits. (Rossiter & Percy, 1985) 4. Media. This section describes which communications vehicles have to be used in order to deliver the message to the target market. Every customer has its own preferred channels and the ways in which clients can reply to the messages, therefore message senders should think carefully how to reach the potential clients that would lead to the integrated marketing communication success. (Batra, Myers, & Aaker, 1995) 5. Money. This component of 6M marketing communication plan describes how much budget should be allocated for integrated marketing communications development. Marketing team should think about introducing the efficient budget

36 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 36 that would provide the realistic figures to meet the set integrated marketing communication goals. (Brassington & Pettitt, 2006) 6. Measurement. The final stage is to assess the integrated marketing communications. According to Rowley (1998) it is necessary to discover the effects of the integrated communications by analysing the sales results achieved or any other available measures. Therefore, the observed results have to be evaluated in order to implement the adjustments of the future strategies. (Rice & Atkin, 2012) Research method and data collection method. As the aim of the research focus on gaining deeper understanding, insights, overall view from potential clients towards cloud services, qualitative research method was chosen. Qualitative research is not just what people think but why they think (Willis, 2013) The reasons why this method was selected is that qualitative research provides depth and detail picture of how clients react in certain situations as well as how they feel about their activities. Also, such method stimulates openness among respondents and therefore it is very important in finding the solutions of how integrated marketing communications for cloud services at UAB 1ClickFactory should be improved. (Miles & Huberman, 1994) The type of qualitative data collection method that was chosen for the research is depth interview. The interviews will be conducted on one-to-one basis. The reason why this particular method was selected is the importance of getting answers from the potential clients without any external interference, encouraging the information exchange and contacting respondents in personal and direct manner. After this particular data collection, it is expected to gain the most knowledge from the research. As UAB 1ClickFactory is working with Microsoft Dynamics partners from around the world, the interviews will be delivered online using Microsoft Lync or Skype

37 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 37 applications. All the fifteen questions that are going to be asked during the interview are open questions, which grants the flexibility and mobility. Research sample and sampling methodology. As the questions are structured and open, a sample of 15 respondents have been chosen in order to accomplish the research findings. The target market are Microsoft Dynamics partners from around the world who are already using Self-Provisioning service as well as Microsoft Dynamics Partner who showed some interest towards 1ClickFactory service, however, they are not using the service yet due to various reasons. Research instrumental justification. The questions for interviews refers to Dolan s integrated marketing communication 6M planning model. (Dolan, 2000) The specific questions were prepared in terms of Media, Message, Mission and Market set. However, Money and Measurement parts were not included in the research instrumental justification, as it will be discussed further in managerial decisions section of this thesis. The set of questions, which are going to be asked during the interview, are described in the Table 12. Table 11 Set of questions Question group Market Message Questions 1. Who would be the decision maker regarding the service of hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Microsoft Azure in your organization? 2. What is your view regarding service of hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution on Microsoft Azure? 3. What is the future of hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Microsoft Azure? Why? 4. What would encourage your existing customers to move their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Azure? Why? 5. What would encourage your new customers to move their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Azure? Why? 6. What are the reasons of your customers not moving their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions into Microsoft Azure cloud?

38 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 38 Mission 7. How 1ClickFactory could help partners to improve the communication with customers in order to move their customer Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution into Microsoft Azure? 8. How 1ClickFactory Self-Provisioning service marketing communication could be improved in order to reach more partners and make a better impact? Media 9. If you would be running 1ClickFactory, what are the three things you would do in order to improve the value proposition for Self-Provisioning service? Why? 10. Where do you search the information about hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Microsoft Azure? Source: Developed by author 11. Which information channel of hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution on Microsoft Azure service have/had the most impact on you as a partner? 12. What channels or marketing activities are the most effective when you are communicating with customers in order to sell the service? 13. Do you use telemarketing activities in your organization in order to sell services to your customers? 14. Do you think telemarking activities is the effective way for communicating about the 1ClickFactory Self-Provisioning service with the partners? 15. What kind of impact on your decision making have the selfresearch about the service? 16. What kind of impact on your decision making have the communication with company s representative? Data analysis methods. According to Miles and Huberman (1994) there are three ways of how the qualitative data of the research has to be analysed, as a result, the following steps were chosen to observe the research data of this thesis:

39 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY Data reduction: The mess of qualitative data should be reduced and organized, meaning to discard all irrelevant information that was received during the interview with the respondent. 2. Data display. The data that was received from each respondent should be displayed in form of tables or graphical formats. Note that the tables of the data received from each respondent are displayed in appendix Conclusion drawing/verification. Summarizing the findings of performed interviews with the respondents should develop conclusions of the study. Empirical study progress and results Progress of empirical study. The duration of research process was 2.5 weeks and was conducted during the period of The total amount of scheduled interviews was 15, however only 13 interviews were conducted. The 15 s that were send to respondents in order to schedule the interview, s consisted of kindly request to hear the opinion about the service and also the reason to have the interview was explained. All the 15 respondents kindly agreed to have the online interview in order to express their opinion about the service and also to provide suggestions of how UAB 1ClickFactory could improve the communications for the service. The reason why 2 individuals refused to participate in the empirical research was that they work in technical department; therefore they are not aware of any activities and effective ways of sales and marketing departments. All the participants of the research were asked to provide the most suitable time and date to have the interview, so that online meeting would not disturb their daily activities. Some of the respondents suggested to have the interview during their working hours, some of them suggested having after work. Also, as the respondents were from different countries and the time differs in some countries, some interviews were conducted even at late evening (two interviews were planned at 19:00 in the evening).

40 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 40 The number of 11 from total 13 interviews was managed through Microsoft Lync program and other 2 through Skype program. Before the beginning of the interview, the purpose of the interview and the following process were introduced and explained. After each interview, the with greetings and gratitude for participation was sent to each participant. All of the interviews were recorded after asking the respondents if they agree to have the interview documented. The average duration of each interview was 40 minutes. The longest online call was 1.5 hour and the reason for such length is that two of the respondents were interested to hear more about UAB 1ClickFactory services, for example pricing and other features of the Self-Provisioning service. The following respondents only heard about UAB 1Clickfactory service and knew the concept, but they have never had the introductory call from UAB 1ClickFactory representative. The individuals that were interviewed are currently running manager s positions in sales department, meaning they have direct interactions with end-customer during the whole sales cycle. Moreover, 3 of the respondents were technical consultants, however they are responsible for presales activities, so their opinion was very valuable as well. The interviewed Microsoft Dynamics Partners were from the following countries with the positions that are stated in the Table 13. Table 12. Respondent qualification Position Account manager Head of Sales Department Managing Director Technical consultant Technical consultant Director Business area manager Business manager Account manager Business intelligence manager ERP business manager Marketing manager Technical consultant Country United Kingdom Latvia South Africa Belgium Hungary Russia Sweden Sweden Portugal Lithuania Austria Netherlands United Kingdom

41 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 41 Results of empirical study In order to provide the finding from the empirical research, the answers to each question were analysed and the summary is provided as follows: Market Who would be the decision maker regarding the service of hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Microsoft Azure in your organization? The answers from the 13 respondents were very similar. There were 2 most common answers are management team (4 of 13) or CEO (4 of 13). Individuals state that these kind of business decisions as starting a new business strategy with providing the possibility to host Microsoft Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure cloud server are made by the managers of the company including IT manager and other managers as well. There were 2 respondents who think that the decision maker for this services are IT department. The reason of this answer is that they feel IT responsible for Azure implementation either they want to do it by their selves or find the vendor. Three respondents stated that the decision should be made by CEO and IT manager, as this combines the new business strategy, meaning a new product is included in offering and implementation of a new IT infrastructure, so that IT department would be ready to assist their customers with support of new cloud service offering. Message What is your view regarding service of hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution on Microsoft Azure? The opinions about the overall view of the possibility to host Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution on Microsoft Azure cloud server were expressed in three ways. The most common statement (7 of 13 respondents), was that it is the future of technology, as it will create more possibilities to win more businesses with end-customers. Cloud computing is a new shift in technology world, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions are not the exception.

42 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 42 Majority of Microsoft Dynamics partners said that Microsoft Corporation did a great job by creating their own data server and the combination of this data server and Microsoft Dynamics NAV product creates better trust and performance in end-customer s mind. One of the respondents (respondent 7) provided an interesting comparison: It is like a marriage. They both Microsoft products and it is a fabulous integration. Four of the respondents were very happy about this possibility provided from Microsoft, however, they think it still has some bugs, as difficult pricing and the awareness in customer mind is not created, therefore they find difficulties in promoting as the market of customers who are using Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution are not aware of such possibility yet. As a result, they need to find the vendor (as UAB 1ClickFactory ) which would provide the solution and decrease some risks (as pricing) that partners are facing at the moment. Moreover, there were some of the respondents (2 from 13) who think it is a Microsoft vision, and they push all Microsoft partners to go with this strategy, although not very good guidelines from Microsoft have been made in order to be successful with this hosting service. What is the future of hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Microsoft Azure? Why? All the individuals predict that is the future of Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions definitely. However, there were some different answers behind this statement. Most frequent answer (6 of 13) was that it will be the future for sure, but Microsoft should think of the ways how to improve the server, and make it more partner friendly than it is now. Respondents stated improvements such integrations with other systems (Microsoft CRM), better Microsoft Azure marketing, support and overall better guidelines of cloud computing technology. One of the research participant provided an interesting comparison with fax: I m thinking historically, 15 years ago, a lot of companies were using fax, everybody uses s a normal communication right now. So it will be with the cloud the same. Some of the

43 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 43 respondents (4 of 13) stated that all the customers who are using Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution or who will be using in the future, will have the integration with Microsoft Azure cloud server as well. One of the respondents (respondent 13) think that in 5 years prospective, 60 % of all the Microsoft Dynamics NAV customers will move their solutions on Microsoft Azure data center. Moreover, there were ones (3 of 13) who think that only all small and midsize enterprises will have such integration of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Azure. All the companies which are happy with the Microsoft Dynamics NAV infrastructure, which have their own server, hard- drive etc. will not be motivated to have it hosted on the cloud. What would encourage your existing customers to move their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Azure? Why? Majority of respondents (9 of 13) promote the possibility to host their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution on Azure to existing customers in the way that they will create massive savings on the budget, meaning no maintenance work on hardware, outsourcing infrastructure. All the system is already set up and they can replace IT resources without any investment. Microsoft takes care of all the needed maintenance. Moreover, they underline the features of such service: reaching the information on any device, accessing information anywhere in the world if there is an internet connection, also the integration of Office 365 package makes a better impact. There were some respondents (4 of 13) who do not promote this service to existing customers. Their experience shows that customers are very happy with current system, as the huge investments were made and they are not motivated to change the infrastructure.

44 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 44 What would encourage your new customers to move their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Azure? Why? Most of participants (10 of 13) of empirical research expressed their opinion that they encourage new customers in explaining the price benefits and how much they will win when the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution will be hosted on Azure. All of them state that it is much easier to convince new customers than existing ones, and the wining rate is much higher with such customers. According to one respondent, by comparing the investment in hardware and investment in renting the Microsoft Azure server on cloud, the proposal becomes very attractive. They state that the subscription pricing system is very promising, and the fact that customer will pay only for the exact number of users encourages customers to move their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions to Microsoft Azure server. Also, the same respondents admitted to underlying the overall benefits of service, such as the availability on all the locations and devices. However, by answering to this question, 3 respondents expressed their opinion differently, one thinks that the way of promoting the service to new customers does not differ from the promotion to existing customers, the arguments are the same. Moreover, another respondent (respondent 13) stated that their organization receives the interest directly from the demand, they have not done any promotion activities yet to new customers. He explained that most of the new customers are very educated these days and their expectations is to have their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution integrated in cloud no matter what (respondent 10). What is more, there was another different opinion expressed from the Microsoft Dynamics Partner (respondent 7), saying We tell the story about Office 365 integration and that Microsoft is pushing everybody to be on Azure and that in the future everybody will be on Microsoft Azure eventually, and that works basically.

45 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 45 What are the reasons of your customers not moving their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions into Microsoft Azure cloud? As all the respondents stated more than one reason, the analysis will be provided in relation of reasons not number of respondents. Almost all the respondents stated two main reasons of what kind of risks customers are seeing and why they do not want to move to Microsoft Azure server. The first one is trust and lack of knowledge about cloud, meaning customers do not feel secure of uploading all the important company s data into cloud, customers are afraid that their data will be lost. Another common reason was a fair of bad performance and availability. Customers believe that if system is connected through internet, it is possible to have low quality performance and system availability. One of the partners complains that many customers do not have a good internet connection provider (some customers are located outside of cities), and that is a very common reason not to adapt Microsoft Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure services. Some of the Microsoft Dynamics Partners (2 of 13) think that sometimes it is hard to sell subscription based pricing, for example some customers have high number of users, and if they have their own hardware, it becomes cheaper than buying licenses for each subscriber. Also, respondents (3 of 13) underline the risk of legal issues, partners who stated this reasons have the customers in Germany or Russia. The law is very strict in those countries, meaning the data center has to be in the same country and the government does not allow to have it in other countries. They think that if they have their own server, you are in full of control and there is no risk to lose any important data.

46 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 46 Mission How 1ClickFactory could help partners to improve the communication with customers in order to move their customer Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution into Microsoft Azure? The answers were distributed as follows: majority of respondents (6 of 13) stated that it would be very helpful to receive some marketing templates, better support of Azure knowledge sharing, providing some tools as return on investment calculations in order for partners to win more businesses with customers. Another common suggestion (3 of 13) was to be more active in social networking, posting more blog posts with relevant topics both for partners and customers. Also, uploading more videos on YouTube that would be focusing on relevant technical and commercial topics as well. Therefore, it would ensure the interest coming from the market for Microsoft Azure services. Some of Microsoft Dynamics partners (2 of 13) said that UAB 1ClickFactory should not go this way and think of marketing activities in order to help partners to reach more customers. They thought it is a responsibility for Microsoft and UAB 1ClickFactory is not well known in the market of end-customers. How 1ClickFactory Self-Provisioning service marketing communication could be improved in order to reach more partners and make a better impact? There were 2 most frequent suggestions from Microsoft Dynamics partners. First of all, respondents (6 of 13) are suggesting to expand the awareness through digital marketing, such LinkedIn, Blogs, Twitter, improving website and make better search engine optimization on google as well to contact partners with direct marketing etc. They say that nowadays when the digital marketing optimization is very important. Another common answer (5 of 13) was to participate in more partner events that Microsoft is organizing as Directions EMEA

47 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 47 conference that is organized every year etc. What is more, two respondents stated that UAB 1ClickFactory does a great job with communications and there is no need of any improvements. If you would be running 1ClickFactory, what are the three things you would do in order to improve the value proposition for Self-Provisioning service? Why? Majority of respondents provided similar insights about the ways to improve the value propositions for Self-Provisioning service. The most common suggestion was to broaden the service itself, for example integrate some other systems in the offering so that the service would include more possibilities for partner and customer. Also, frequent answer was in order to be more successful with the service, the pricing should be more flexible for partner, meaning the lower prices the more space is given for partner to add margin. Moreover, partners are suggesting to participate more in conferences, public events, for example to come to Microsoft Dynamics Partner organized events and conferences for customers and present the service to them. What is more, partners are suggesting to have some sales promotion as free trails in order to give the opportunity for customer to try the service. What is more, some partners are suggesting to be more active in marketing as they have noticed that UAB 1ClickFactory competitors are more focusing on marketing than UAB 1ClickFactory does. Media Where do you search the information about hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions on Microsoft Azure? Majority of respondents mentioned that the most powerful channels of Microsoft Azure services are Microsoft Corporations, including organized conferences, as Directions EMEA conference, Microsoft Dynamics communities where all the needed information is provided from Microsoft and partners interact with each other. Also, one of the common

48 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 48 answers was channel of all social media networks, as some Microsoft Dynamics communities groups in LinkedIn and Google. Two individuals (respondent 10 and respondent 8) mentioned that all the needed information they have received from 1ClickFactory representatives. Which information channel of hosting Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution on Microsoft Azure service have/had the most impact on you as a partner? According to participants in empirical research, the most powerful channels are Microsoft Dynamics communities, Microsoft representatives that support partners with any kind of question. Also, social media networks are very powerful channel as well, reading posts on LinkedIn, Twitter interactions etc. Moreover, most of the partners mentioned that positive references from other partners or Microsoft representatives are the most powerful ones. What channels or marketing activities are the most effective when you are communicating with customers in order to sell the service? Respondents provided many ways of how they interact with the customers. Majority of them are using personal selling, meaning meets the customer and spends the whole day by figuring their needs and providing the needed services that would solve customer s current issues. Also almost all of the individuals organize the customer events couple times a year, so that customers would be aware of all the Microsoft Partner s activities. Respondents believe it is the most effective way. The second place goes for digital marketing, most of Microsoft Dynamics partners state that no magazines, no newspapers, no TV. And all these done by twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. Therefore, it means that nowadays the one of the most powerful marketing is online marketing, including direct mailing, YouTube channels, social media networks, and this marketing strategy is very effective especially for IT enterprises.

49 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 49 Do you use telemarketing activities in your organization in order to sell services to your customers? Most of the respondents (7 of 13) admit their organization is using telemarketing activities, however they say that it is not an often activity, because calling up customers couple times a year makes it more effective. The similar number of respondents (4 of 13) say that they have been using telemarketing activities some time ago, but they have found it is not a useful tool to win more businesses, they prefer face-to-face meetings and searching prospects by during nurturing and digital marketing. There are some respondents (2 of 13) who have never used telemarketing activities in the organization and are not planning to implement such marketing in the future. Do you think telemarking activities is the effective way for communicating about the 1ClickFactory Self-Provisioning service with the partners? Most of the partners (8 of 13) admitted that it is not an effective way to promote Self-Provisioning service. The reason is that it is a good way to get the contacts of partners, but not building the relationship with them, another reason was that Microsoft Dynamics Partners believe it is an old-fashion way and there are many other ways (digital, nurturing marketing) of how UAB 1ClickFactory could reach more partners and become more successful. Some of the Microsoft Dynamics partners looked from their personal perspective and said that they do not like to receive such calls and those calls make them nervous. Moreover, there were respondents (5 of 13) who thought it is a very good way and it would bring more leads to UAB 1ClickFactory. Their opinion is that receiving a call from the vendor is a great opportunity to ask questions and get more knowledge about the service, also due to very busy time, they admitted sometimes missing s, so calling up and reminding about the is a good way not missing attractive offerings.

50 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 50 What kind of impact on your decision making have the self-research about the service? The most frequent answer (8 of 13) from respondents was that self-research before contacting company s representative has a huge impact on decision making. Their explanation was that as nowadays individuals can find everything on the internet, IT market is not the exception. One Microsoft Dynamics Partner (respondent 10) admits if the information that was found on the internet does not provide proof that company is worth their time and money, they are not going to contact the representative. However, some individuals say that they are not using internet a lot, instead of browsing and spending a lot of time on the internet, they prefer contacting company s representative and receive all the information they need. What is more, they trust references and they think there are so many sales and marketing written materials on internet which could really create a wrong image about the company itself. What kind of impact on your decision making have the communication with company s representative? Almost all the participants of empirical research state that it is very important how company s representative communicates with the client, how he or she is able to show the value and the benefits of the service. They admit, it is very important to show the simplicity of the service so that it would be easy to understand. What is more, providing the maximum support and showing the knowledge and competence ensures the trust and reliance from client s side. Finally, if company s representative presents the service that would solve the most of the issues, a client will definitely will make a positive decision.

51 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 51 Conclusions of the research findings After analysing and clarifying findings of the depth interviews with 13 respondents, the conclusions have been made according to the four objectives that were set before the research delivery. The target market of the improved integrated marketing communications for cloud services would be focusing mainly on management team of each organization; both CEO and IT can make CEO or decision manager. The objectives of integrated marketing communications that is going to be improved can be identified as helping partners to bring Microsoft Azure cloud interest and awareness for customers that are using Microsoft Dynamics NAV system. Also Microsoft Dynamics Partners stated that improving digital marketing tools, meaning providing valuable information via Internet, receiving marketing assets from UAB 1ClickFactory team in order to reach more customers, would improve UAB 1ClickFactory communication with partners in better way. Moreover, another important objective that Microsoft Dynamics Partners stated is that improved communications has to bring more Microsoft Dynamics Partners who will be interested to use the service and promote it to their customers. The message that is going to be communicated in order to improve the integrated communications for cloud services will be mainly concentrating in combining the most important points of the service that were found out during the research with respondents. The attributes of the message are described in the Table 14.

52 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 52 Table 13 Message attributes and citations from interviews Message Attributes Microsoft Azure cloud server is the future for all Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP systems around the world Self-Provisioning for Microsoft Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure service brings the massive savings on the budget Respondent citations We believe that is the future for ERP distribution (Respondent 1); It is the future of all the platform, all services that are going to be in place in next years (Respondent 2); It s like a normal marriage. Microsoft Dynamics NAV on Microsoft cloud sever, what would be better? (Respondent 7); Everybody will have to be sure that NAV will be on Azure and all the Microsoft Partners needs to decide how they are going to adapt this to the offering for customers. (Respondent 10) It is a massive savings on budget when you think about saving money on installation on IT networks (Respondent 1); Instead of investing on all those maintenance, you can just pay fixed per user and have the ERP (Respondent 4); No maintenance on hard- and software, what is more- no investments (Respondent 6) Self-Provisioning for Microsoft Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure allows to connect anytime and anywhere Moving to Microsoft Azure cloud server is a way to trust and feel secure in cloud computing They can access any information on any device. They can access that information anywhere in the world if they have internet connection (Respondent 1); Availability on all the locations, all the devices. (Respondent 2); It is a good deal also thinking as business solution improvement (Respondent 7); Also some customers really don t trust cloud security issues and so on. (Respondent 7); Security as they cannot control security. But usually it is better than organizing it themselves (Respondent 5); It is a question of customer trust and previous experience with this kind of service. (Respondent 2); They are scared that data center is not in the physical location close to them (Respondent 6);

53 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 53 Self-Provisioning for Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure service delivers better performance and availability of the Microsoft Dynamics NAV system Self-Provisioning for Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure and in Office 365 service is easy, simple and fast solution for your successful cloud business Source: Developed by author The customer cares only about security, speed and service availability (Respondent 2); They are afraid of not connecting to the solution when they want to (Respondent 6); It is something that we all have to think of, we have to show that cloud is also safe and it won t fail (Respondent 8) I hope Microsoft will simplify it and they will show how you should do this (Respondent 7); I think the service should be ease to sell, easy to understand, I need to able to resell it customers easily. (Respondent 4); I like the your service as it is easy to use (Respondent 1); The service needs to be easy to understand and not complicated (Respondent 11); You need to ensure the simplicity (Respondent 4); After the research delivery and analysis, most preferred ways to convey the integrated marketing communication message were identified. The channels that would improve the interaction with Microsoft Dynamics partners in better way are described in the following Table 15. Table 14 Media channels and citations from interviews Channels Microsoft organized events for Microsoft Dynamics partners Organized events for Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP system customers by Microsoft Dynamics Partners Respondent citations Conferences, Directions had a huge impact on my Azure knowledge (Respondent 1); Conferences, meeting face to face are the most powerful ones. (Respondent 6); Directions EMEA conference (Respondent 9); Actually I heard about Azure in Directions EMEA conference (Respondent 11) Also we organize some events for customers, where we do some demonstrations (Respondent 1); In the past we used to organize partner days for new and existing customers and we do it at the moment as well ( Respondent 6);. Also customer events, we organize them as well, so when you are not in official environment,

54 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 54 it s much easier to do business (Respondent 11); Microsoft Dynamics online communities Social media networks Search engines Interaction with competent Microsoft Azure cloud and Microsoft Dynamics NAV specialists Direct mailings with valuable information Receiving calls from the competent Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Dynamics NAV specialists Microsoft RAMP and GR community, where all the information is. (Respondent 4); Also - Internet. (Respondent 3); Microsoft Partner communities are the most powerful for sure (Respondent 6); Dynamics communities And all these done by twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn (Respondent 5); I use some communities in LinkedIn and so on (Respondent 5); But of course all the social networks, LinkedIn, like one of your blog post. (Respondent 7); Social media, including LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter (Respondent 11) Google, it is the biggest search engine that I use a lot. (Respondent 1); I use search engines, google and so on (Respondent 5) Google and other search engines (Respondent 3) When we start communicating with the representative I evaluate the knowledge and competence they have towards particular service or product. (Respondent 1); I like to have straight answer from competent people. (Respondent 7); Showing that they are important for us and providing the support, that what creates the loyalty. (Respondent 13); Also, direct marketing, but need to understand what you will be telling to partners. (Respondent 1); is the main channel (Respondent 5) Yes I think. Approach the partner directly. Make an appointment with them and tell the benefits of 1Click for customers. (Respondent 5); when I receive some call I have the opportunity to discuss it with the supplier and see if it is valuable offer. (Respondent 13); For us is it is effective, it s hard to say, but it is a must. For example to ask them how they are doing, what is their future goals and so on. (Respondent 9)

55 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 55 References Source: Developed by author We got to know your services from another Microsoft partner (GAC business solutions). They are currently using your service. (Respondent 6); So the channel is Microsoft, we get many recommendations and references from them. And I trust them. (Respondent 9); One partner recommended you as a good supplier. (Respondent 13) To summarize all the findings, the qualitative research method of depth interviews data collection with Microsoft Dynamics partners provided valuable information about marketing communication planning model that consist of target market of whom the communication is going to be addressed, mission that includes the objectives of improved integrated marketing communications, improved message that is going to be communicated as well as improved ways of how the message will be transferred. Based on the received findings, the managerial recommendations will be prepared further by implementing the improvements of integrated marketing communications for cloud services at UAB 1Clickfactory. Managerial Solutions In order to improve the integrated marketing communications for cloud services at UAB 1Clickfactory, managerial solutions will be based on Robert J. Dolan s 6M marketing communications model. (Dolan, 2000) The recommendations will be given according to following areas: Market, Mission, Message, Media, Money and Measurement. Each section will cover specific actions to be taken for upcoming year of 1ClickFactory activities. Market As UAB 1ClickFactory strategy is to support only Microsoft Dynamics Partners and show them that UAB 1ClickFactory is not competing with them, the promotion mix strategy that is going to be adopted to the integrated marketing communications for cloud services is push strategy. Producer directs the marketing activities to channel members to

56 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 56 promote the service to final customers. (Kotler, Armstrong, Harris, & Piercy, 2013) In this case, UAB 1ClickFactory promotes the cloud services to Microsoft Dynamics Partners so that they would carry the product and would be responsible of promotion activities to the end customer of Microsoft Dynamics NAV system. Figure 3 Push strategy. Compiled by Kotler, Armstrong, Harris & Piercy, 2011 The target market of the integrated marketing communications will be Microsoft Dynamics Partners which are not using Self-Provisioning service including all the Microsoft Dynamics Partners which have never been using cloud services for their Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions and Microsoft Dynamics Partners which are not satisfied with the current or past vendor of the service (current competitors of UAB 1Clickfactory ). The Self-Provisioning service affects the whole company strategy, meaning Microsoft Dynamics Partners are required to develop not only marketing strategy but also it can change the IT department structure and activities. According to Microsoft Dynamics Partners feedback, implementation of Self-Provisioning service will lower the investment into IT resources rapidly, what is more, IT department will drive the responsibility to provide the required support to customers towards this particular service. Therefore, the IT manager is one of the decision makers towards purchasing cloud services from UAB 1ClickFactory. Moreover, CEO, Sales manager and Business Development manager of the company are the potential segment as well, as they are responsible for business development and service extension to their customers. To sum up, the potential target market are the organizations which are Microsoft Dynamics Partners. People in the organizations who are responsible for

57 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 57 the decision making regarding cooperation with UAB 1CLickFactory are running IT manager, CEO, Sales manager or Business Development manager roles in the company. Mission According to empirical research findings, all the aims that partners have stated during the interviews could be defined as one. Therefore, the main objective of improved integrated marketing communications is to move customers through all the buying cycle. The communicator, in this case UAB 1ClickFactory has to understand where target customers stands and where he should move next. There are six stages that Microsoft Dynamics Partner needs to pass including Awareness, Knowledge, Liking, Preference, Conviction and Purchase (Figure 4). The ultimate goal is to have 75 Microsoft Dynamics Partners who will start using Self-Provisioning service. Therefore, the communication vehicles should be developed in the way to reach a goal of moving the Microsoft Partner through all the stages until the purchase will be made as well as the goal will be accomplished. (Kotler, Armstrong, Harris, & Piercy, 2013) Figure 4 "AIDA concept. Compiled by Kotler, Armstrong, Harris & Piercy, 2011 Message The message content that is going to be integrated in marketing communications channels is developed according to Rossiter and Percy (1985) professors positioning statement, which includes parts of target market, category, customer benefit, reasons to believe and the competitors. The sections were covered by empirical research findings as it was stated in the Table 14. The positioning statement is described in the following Figure 5:

58 IMPROVEMENT OF IMC FOR CLOUDS SERVICES AT UAB 1CLICKFACTORY 58 Figure 5 Positioning statement. Compiled by author Key customer benefit of Microsoft Azure cloud server is the future for all Microsoft Dynamics NAV systems around the world is a reason to believe from the service category prospective. As the service is barely new in the market, Microsoft Dynamics Partners must