Sheldon Anthony IO

In-flight cloud-native services are services delivered to business customers while using a product or service, rather than before or after. For example, a car rental company can offer in-flight cloud-native services such as navigation, entertainment, or roadside assistance to its customers while driving the rented car. These services can be accessed through a mobile app or a dashboard interface and customized according to the customer’s preferences and needs. In-flight cloud-native services can create more engaging and satisfying customer experiences, as well as generate additional revenue streams for the business.

Cloud-native service providers should acknowledge that the technology services they offer are already in flight. It is imperative for technology service providers to recognize the significance of delivering exceptional in-flight value to their customers who have availed of their cloud-based services. The in-flight value encompasses every aspect of the customer’s experience during service delivery, which includes customer support, maintenance, upgrades, and the availability of value-added services. To enable a business customer to operate on them, they should provide feasible baseline-free operating minimums. By putting up barriers to entry such as credit card minimum entry criteria and trial periods, potential customers may not be willing or able to pay upfront without knowing the quality and value of the service being provided. This could lead to customers abandoning the service after the trial period ends or switching to a competitor's service that offers free operating minimums. It ultimately leads to an increase in your customer churn rate. While traditional methods have been successful in the past, it is important to recognize the immense potential of in-flight cloud-native services. Ultimately, businesses must decide whether they want to maintain the status quo or take a leap of faith and embrace the potential benefits of in-flight cloud-native services. At present, no business is able to offer any free cloud services due to the lack of internet accessibility around the world and we must always pay close attention to that cost incurred by our customers. Customers are paying for the ride and it's the duty of the service provider to make it worth the while.

Madwire®, a technology firm based in Colorado, has been dedicated to helping small businesses grow since 2009. They offer a comprehensive range of services for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) and franchises, including website building, payment processing, lead and customer management, scheduling, content marketing and multi-channel digital advertising campaigns. Prior to implementing Canva for Teams, Madwire® Creative Director Brittany Jackson and her 60-person team grappled with efficiency when collaborating online. The team of designers, web developers, videography specialists and project managers struggled with timely revisions for graphics and videos due to a complicated review process. This made it hard to turn content around quickly, resulting in lengthy wait times for client deliverables. Revisions at Madwire® would be submitted to a design queue. Then, designers often spent 15 minutes downloading large files plus time spent uploading edits to client folders. The team needed a more efficient solution to streamline collaboration and content management. And given the range of content Madwire® creates, from social media templates to video content, reducing their need for so many software licences would be a bonus. One of Madwire®'s biggest wins is using Canva's Brand Kit feature. This ensures a consistent and easy-to-apply aesthetic for the Madwire® team's branded content. They also create additional Brand Kits for their clients, storing unique brand colors, logos, and fonts. Madwire® has also seen about $18K of savings each month (and a towering $216K savings per year) by moving a few teams from other design platforms to Canva. One of the most notable savings came from reducing their dependence on traditional stock video and photo agencies. This has resulted in an 86% reduction in design software spending.^[1] 

Embracing in-flight cloud-native services may require significant upfront investment and a shift in mindset, which may be a daunting prospect for some cloud-native service providers. By providing in-flight cloud-native services, customers can experience the benefits and features of a service while using it, which can create a positive perception of the service's quality and value. This can increase a customer's willingness to pay as they can see the service's value proposition and return on investment. Moreover, seamless and continuous services can reduce the customer churn rate, leading to better customer retention. This, in turn, can improve the ability of the provider to upsell or cross-sell complementary services as customers can discover and access other relevant services that the provider offers. Hence, offering in-flight cloud-native services is an excellent strategy to enhance the customer experience, generate recurring revenue, and improve customer retention.

In the dynamic world of cloud computing, industry leaders are constantly innovating to provide more efficient and effective services to their customers. A new paradigm that these leaders are adopting is the delivery of cloud-native services that can be accessed on-demand, without the need for upfront installation, configuration, maintenance, or upfront payment. These services are designed to run seamlessly across different cloud environments, such as public, private, or hybrid clouds, and provide customers with faster, more reliable, and more scalable solutions than traditional approaches. By offering in-flight cloud-native services, market leaders can attract and retain customers while lowering the barriers to entry for using cloud-native services. To start using these services, customers usually only need to provide basic information such as their name, email address, and phone number. Additionally, companies often provide free minimum baseline services such as storage, computing, or bandwidth that customers can use without charge, enabling them to try out the services and experience their benefits before committing to a paid plan. Companies also use various strategies to retain their customers, such as providing customer support, feedback mechanisms, loyalty programs, and incentives for referrals. This not only helps companies to retain their existing customers but also encourages them to refer new customers to the company. Overall, the adoption of in-flight cloud-native services is a positive development that helps companies provide more efficient and effective services to their customers. By using various strategies for customer retention, companies can continue to grow while providing better services to their customers.