Innovation, growth and collaboration: BlakYaks' in year three

Three years ago, BlakYaks was launched with a clear mission: to support our clients to adopt cloud native technologies and transition away from legacy infrastructure. We take immense pride in our ability to craft innovative Azure serverless solutions, addressing customer challenges with high-quality Azure engineering. 

From the beginning, our primary objective was to build a business committed to:

• A deep and narrow focus on Azure cloud native solutions. 

•  Streamlining platform lifecycles through automation. 

• Cultivating enduring client relationships built on trust. 

• Growing a team of specialists with top accreditations. 

Since March 2021, our solutions have gained real traction with clients wanting to leverage the benefits of containerisation, IaC and robust automation as guiding principles and key pillars of their digital / cloud transformation.   

Today, we're renowned for our responsive, straightforward, and agile customer-centric approach, thanks to our tight-knit team. Moreover, we take pride in our flat organisational structure, which fosters collaboration and innovation while providing an environment where fresh talent can thrive and hone their skills. 

While we celebrate the success of our current approach, we know that there's always room for improvement. As technology evolves and our customers' needs shift, we’re constantly developing new IP and patterns to enhance our offerings and maintain our competitive edge.  

The future is bright and we’re enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue delivering even better outcomes for our clients. 

What have we been up to in the last year? 

Over the last 36 months, our journey has been marked by rapid growth and continuous evolution, we are expanding our herd and bringing new cloud native services to market. Here are some key business highlights from the last 12 months:

BUSINESS  

Innovation and R&D are important to our business, and we have put a lot of effort into maturing our service portfolio. We have:

• Grown our client base across multiple sectors.

• Expanded and matured our solution portfolio within our Professional Services and Managed services (SpecOps).

• Added AI to the enterprise services we offer.

• Developed new BlakYaks Azure Pre-engineered Azure Quality Solutions (PAQS). These pre-built solutions are suited for customers who prioritise accelerated delivery and quality outcomes and benefit from “off-the-shelf” full features, rapid implementation and high-quality outcomes. Current PAQS portfolio includes:

  • DevOps & IaC Bootstrap: Rapidly maturing Azure platform automation methods.

  • Azure Landing Zones: Shaping enterprise-grade Azure landing zone with robust foundations​.

  • Enterprise Container Platforms: Delivering Azure-hosted ECP ready for production services.​ 

  • Azure OpenAI Rapid Start: Seeding Azure-hosted OpenAI service for safer business use. 

  • Azure Developer Enablement: Accelerated deployment of developer environments through self-service. 

  • ADO to GitHub: Transitioning seamlessly from Azure DevOps to GitHub for enhanced workflow efficiency.

CERTIFICATIONS

• Over the past year, our team has earned two additional Microsoft Solutions Partner Designations: Data & AI and Security.

• We have attained the Kubernetes on Microsoft Azure Specialisation, showcasing our expertise in this area and become an official Kubernetes Certified Service Provider (KCSP)

• BlakYaks is a Microsoft Azure Innovate Partner.

• Additionally, we have successfully obtained Cyber Essentials + certifications, demonstrating our commitment to cybersecurity best practices.

TEAM GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT 

• Our team is rapidly expanding (40 people), averaging 1.2 new team members per month, thanks to our hybrid/remote work model, and we moved to new and larger offices in Shoreditch, London.  

• We have made some strategic business and technical hires. 

• The success of our Technical Academy is evident, with the graduation of the inaugural BlakYaks Academy cohort and their integration into our professional services team. 

BRAND 

• New website design and layout improving user experience. 

• We are working with external agencies for brand growth and expanded market reach. 

• Our first in-person event at DevOps Live was a great success, marking a significant milestone for our company.  

• We were finalists at the 'Lloyds Bank British Excellence Awards' in the 'New Business of the Year' category, proving our early success and industry impact. 

• We launched our podcast ‘YakChat’, dedicated to all things Azure cloud native, and are now planning Season 2 with special guests! Listen to it now on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. 

• Launched 'Have you Herd?', our new LinkedIn newsletter, providing valuable Azure insights and updates to our professional network. 

• We were honoured to be invited as a Specialist Partner at various Microsoft events, underscoring our expertise and collaboration with industry leaders: 

  • Co-hosted with Microsoft - App Innovation Event for High Tech ISV's (March) "Building Future Digital Products as an ISV on Azure".

  • Guest speakers at Alpine F1 Event for FSI clients - "Microsoft VIP Day at BWT Alpine F1 Team Technology Centre". 

  • Invited to meet with Microsoft WW GBB App Innovation Leads - John Yokim, (Global Sales Leader - Digital & App Innovation), and Mohammad Nofal, (EMEA App Innovation Lead - Global Black Belt). 

  • Profiled by David Smith, Microsoft VP WW Channel Sales on International Women’s Day. 

COMPANY CULTURE

• We have been certified as a Great Place to Work® for the second consecutive year with a 98% average team rating on the GPTW® survey. 

• We ranked 9th among 105 organisations in the recent UK’s Best Workplaces™ 2024 List, published by GPTW®.  

• BlakYaks was selected as the “Best Overall” company in the “Small & Medium” categories on the UK’s Best Workplaces in Tech™ List (by GPTW®).

• Reinforcing our commitment to foster diversity in the Tech industry by collaborating with the Tech Talent Charter. 

PARTNERSHIPS

Partnerships and Alliances have played a crucial role in our development, we love working with like-minded organisations, to deepen/broaden our solution portfolio:  

• We became CNCF members.  

• BlakYaks onboarded into Daisy Group Cloud Portfolio   (App Innovation). 

• Bytes: First App Modernisation project jointly delivered.  

• Partnering with Red Hat with a focus on ARO and RHEL. 

• Six Degrees - Channel (Security). 

• Arreoblue - Channel (Data & AI) for Enterprise. 

• Pax8 - Indirect CSP Provider. 

Thank you  

This is just a small overview of everything our team has been up to only in the last year. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the continuous support of our customers and partners. Their trust in our expertise and commitment to delivering exceptional results has been central to our success. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with some of the most innovative companies in the industry and look forward to continuing to exceed their expectations in the years to come. 

And to our amazing Yaks—our dedicated team— you’re the soul of the business. We’d like to express our deepest appreciation for your hard work, commitment, and dedication and hope we continue to build a great culture where everyone feels welcomed and valued.