Cloud Managed Networks has evolved through major market shifts – from early web and app services to cloud, networking, and cybersecurity. What key moments or challenges shaped this evolution, and how did those experiences influence the way you now partner with clients?
In the very early days, over 20 years ago now, we started a company called U214 to provide web and app support for clients that had been left in the lurch by our former employer. We viewed this as an opportunity to provide IT-related services in a way that was more responsive to clients’ needs. It was the beginning of our underlying approach, which is to focus on what clients want to achieve – the outcomes they desire – rather than letting tech take the driver’s seat, which was common practice in 1990s.
In 2010, it became clear that, as a result of escalating tech advances, which were keeping time with increasingly aggressive cybercrime activities, focus needed to shift to networking, cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity industry-wide. We were among the first of respected Canadian companies to make this necessary transition. As the initial step on the new journey, CMN became Meraki’s first official Canadian partner – and then worked hard to put Meraki on the map, which helped in it being purchased by Cisco. Our next major evolutionary moment came in 2014, when we acquired our first school board client. This was part of a strategic decision to focus on education, healthcare and municipalities. Today we serve +25 school boards, as well as multiple hospitals, libraries and municipalities.
This decision has greatly influenced how we partner with our clients – and that is the right word, “partner”. We do not view our relationships as “transactional”. Instead, we work closely with our clients and, with this focus on public sector, ensure that we stay abreast of new legislation, of what the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health are identifying as challenges and priorities, and trends that will impact organisations operating in the sectors. This enables us to provide recommendations that truly address client problems, while laying the foundation for tomorrow’s growth. To fully serve the public sector, we also became a member of all government buying vehicles such as Supply Ontario, and its equivalent in other provinces, as well as industry-specific vehicles such as the ECNO Vendor portal.
As the business grew, we started offering coast-to-coast service and opened an office in the US, too. At the same time, the rise of virtualization, the push toward hybrid and multi-cloud adoption, and the growing sophistication of cyber threats required continuous innovation in both infrastructure and strategy.
To enable CMN to truly provide resources and services that address all clients’ needs, we knew we needed to be manufacturer agnostic and so, in 2020, made the strategic decision to partner with all top tier manufacturers. This also meant that we needed to invest heavily in training our employees to ensure they stay on top of industry trends, as well as partner products and development – and to truly understand which solutions best address the evolving landscape. Most recently, CMN has integrated multiple disciplines, including acquiring new installation companies, so that it can provide a truly full-service experience for clients.
“One of the things that sets Cloud Managed Networks apart,” says Vicky Bagwalla, CMN Managing Partner and one of Cloud Managed Networks’ founders, “is that we fully support our clients. We do everything from beginning to end, and that is what you need from your cloud consultant/partner In short, having the consultants/planners, implementation and integration experts on the same team makes things go smoother, because there is no finger-pointing, or going back and forth. Not only will that save you time, but it can save significant amounts of money.”
You often describe CMN as a strategic technology partner rather than a traditional reseller. What does an “outcome-driven” IT partnership look like in practice, and how do you ensure technology investments translate into measurable business results?
First and foremost, we view ourselves as a member of our client’s team, rather than a vendor or supplier. This is an important distinction that impacts every aspect of how we work with our clients. It is also critical in helping us to build the trust that lays the foundation for all our client relationships.
For CMN, an outcome-driven IT partnership begins with more than becoming familiar with the tech stack. Understanding our clients’ current problems and challenges (not the same thing, despite common vernacular conventions), business/organisational goals, timelines and budgets is paramount to providing optimal solutions.
We work closely with key members of our client’s team from day one, to build a practical roadmap that links each IT capability, and/or new solution benefit, to clear KPIs (improved physical safety and cybersecurity, reduced facility costs, revenue lift, cost reduction, time-to-market, compliance posture, etc.).
By defining success criteria and assigning accountable stakeholders at CMN and within the client’s IT team and the broader organisation, decisions about architecture, procurement, and services are guided by the outcomes important to the client. To ensure investments actually move the needle, we bake measurement and governance into every phase. It starts with our in-house systems experts determining what is actually needed – and how much existing equipment is still capable of meeting the new outcomes desired. We do not believe in ripping out and replacing unnecessarily.
Next, our Account Executives will negotiate with manufacturers on our clients’ behalf – and because we are considered by many to be key partners, we are usually able to work out something that matches our clients’ budgets.
From there we look at milestones to be achieved, and determine outcome checkpoints. In the early days we check in frequently and, once everything is up and running as it should, hold quarterly business review meetings to compare performance against the baseline KPIs – and adjust as needed.
We also focus on continuous improvement and risk management, so benefits are truly achieved. This may include automated monitoring, periodic architecture health checks, root-cause analysis when things slip, and outcome-aligned commercial models (SLAs, etc.) Where needed we include implementation services—process redesign, change management, training, and integration—so technology adoption is not assumed but achieved.
In short, CMN acts as a collaborative extension of our clients’ IT teams – practical, accountable, and focused on delivering measurable business value, not just as a sellers of technology.
CMN has built deep expertise across sectors like education, healthcare, manufacturing, and the public sector. What common challenges do organizations face today across these industries, and how does CMN tailor solutions differently for each?
Whether it’s manufacturing or education, healthcare, municipalities, or any private or public sector firm for that matter, organisations face shared challenges such as limited budgets, legacy systems, cybersecurity risks, workforce shortages, and pressure to deliver better outcomes with fewer resources.
They also all manage sensitive data and operate in highly regulated environments, which makes reliability, compliance, and trust essential.
As a result, there are some basic “first steps” that all good IT providers consider, such as offering flexible, interoperable platforms that modernize legacy infrastructure, improve data sharing, and automated routine processes while maintaining strong security and compliance standards.
What needs to be different for each industry is the balance between usability, risk tolerance, and performance requirements.
As mentioned, however, we go beyond that. We learn what is most important in terms of desired client outcomes, and compare that with where our client is at the beginning of the journey. From there we start to consider what to recommend.
We also stay on top of key trends in the core industries in which we do business.
As a result, we know that regardless of what the client needs, education solutions must also prioritize accessibility, scalability, and user-friendly digital learning platforms that support students and teachers with varying levels of technical skill. We also know that education systems can often tolerate incremental change and benefit from low-cost, cloud-based tools, whereas healthcare clients require near-zero downtime and rigorous validation due to patient safety concerns and strict regulatory requirements. This applies to all aspects of the solution, including secure access to electronic health records, telemedicine, and clinical decision support.
For manufacturing, solutions must also provide efficiency, automation, and real-time analytics, such as IoT-enabled systems that optimize production, reduce downtime, and improve supply chain visibility.
In short, there is no cookie-cutter approach that will work – just understanding what is going on in an industry, responding to the challenges, all the while taking into account what clients actually need, and what they desire in terms of outcomes.
Security, cloud, networking, and physical security are increasingly converging. How do you see this convergence changing enterprise IT strategies over the next few years, and where does CMN see the biggest growth opportunities?
Simplicity, visibility, and built-in security started to become big decision drivers nearly 2 years ago. What this convergence means right now, is that many enterprises are changing how they think about IT, often having people from multiple functions providing input – and more firms looking at how IT can support business growth, instead of looking at business strategy separate from IT.
Within the IT departments themselves, we have seen a movement away from there being several separate systems to manage, to organisations moving towards integrated platforms to give them one view (single pane of glass) across users, devices, application networks, and even buildings. It’s expected that over the next few years, IT strategies will be less about owning and running infrastructure, and more about coordinating secure, reliable services across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
This convergence also means that teams that used to work separately – IT, cybersecurity, and facilities – will need to collaborate much more closely. Data from physical security systems such as cameras, access controls, and sensors is increasingly being treated like any other enterprise data, analyzed in the cloud and tied into security and operations workflows. On the networking side, companies are shifting toward software-defined and cloud-delivered models, where security is embedded directly into the network. The goal is fewer handoffs, more automation, and systems that can scale easily as work becomes more distributed.
For companies like us, the biggest opportunities lie in helping customers make this complexity more manageable. We expect there will be an increase in demand for cloud-native security services, platforms that unify networking and security, identity and access management, and AI-driven monitoring. We are already seeing a growing demand for solutions that integrate physical security with IT and cloud analytics, especially at the edge. This is something we anticipated couple years back and have aligned ourselves with the top manufacturing solutions providers in these areas.
Earlier we talked about organisations needing to be more productive with fewer resources. This trend is not likely to change anytime soon. As a result, many organisations no longer have the skills or capacity in house to design and/or run convergent limits on their own. This means we anticipate growth in the areas of managed services, integration expertise and industry-specific solutions, as companies look for partners who can deliver outcomes, not just technology.
With hundreds of clients, 60+ certified experts, and top-tier partnerships, what is the next phase of growth for Cloud Managed Networks – and what kind of organizations or partners are best positioned to grow alongside you?
As we look to expand our business, our next phase will include
- adding capabilities through growth in our own bench strength and through the acquisition of well-respected firms.
- continuing to work with key manufacturers. Before we enter into any agreement with new partners, we test-drive their equipment in house and put it through our own rigorous evaluation processes to ensure that our clients always receive robust solutions that will indeed meet their needs – efficiently and cost-effectively.
In terms of the types of organisations with which we like to work: Forward thinking, open to discussion, easy to work with and operate with integrity.
Yazmin Pascual is an experienced content writer specializing in B2B SaaS, cybersecurity, and eCommerce. She blends strategy and storytelling to transform complex ideas into content that is approachable and engaging. Outside of writing, she’s often exploring digital trends, shaping campaign ideas, or finding inspiration in great design and storytelling. Ypascual07@gmail.com
