Vicky Critchley has opened up on her motivations for launching a new AI-focused Microsoft partner, revealing that as a self-confessed “nerd” she didn’t want to miss out on shaping SMBs’ adoption of AI.
Having sold previous Microsoft partner Bam Boom Cloud to Pax8 in February 2023, she and husband Brett have left the cloud marketplace to launch ‘Truly SMB’.
“We’re going again”
Boasting around 45 staff and 320 customers, the business is built on the acquisitions of Derbyshire-based True MSP and a book of US and Canadian customers.
Just like Bam Boom Cloud, Truly SMB will focus on Microsoft technology, but this time in the field of AI rather than Microsoft Dynamics, Critchley confirmed.
“Pax8 is full of incredible people and the innovation is off the scale there,” Critchley told IT Channel Oxygen.
“But I’m a bit of a nerd, so I like being close to the front line and serving end customers. I missed that, so we’re going to go again.
“I studied computer science. I’ve always been really interested in tech. So all the new capabilities that are coming out now really sparked me to think – I don’t want to not be part of that with the end customer’s journey. I like seeing the difference great tech can make – it’s the nerdy part of me that wants to do that.”
“My worry is that SMBs will get left behind on AI”
Truly Cloud CEO Critchley led the MBO of Bam Boom Cloud from accountancy firm Cooper Parry in 2021 before selling it to Pax8 two years later.
Despite being private-equity backed (by whom, Critchley was at this point unable to divulge), Truly MSP has a similar ethos to her previous venture.
“At Bam Boom Cloud, we were making something that was complicated like Dynamics simple enough for an SMB to do it quickly and easily,” Critchley explained.
“It’s kind of that again. But since we did Bam Boom Cloud, the world’s moved on a little – well a lot – with all the new tools with regards to AI.
“My worry is that SMBs will get left behind again, because the tech might seem a little out of their reach or a little too complicated for them to really take advantage of it.
“I think that SMBs, especially the ones that are growing and entrepreneurial, can actually benefit the most from that type of tech, so [Truly SMB’s] mission is to level the playing field so that SMBs can access the same tech as big businesses use.”
AI headlines “confusing”
All the talk around Stargate and DeepSeek isn’t necessarily helping to demystify AI, Critchley argued.
“I think the news is confusing, but it’s my job to make sure our customers can realise some benefits from it,” she said.
Critchley characterised Truly SMB as a hybrid VAR and MSP (“it’s what people are doing on their computers, as well as the infrastructure of the computers themselves”). The East Midlands outfit is “predominantly a Microsoft partner business” that has a focus on Copilot, but also carries some additional cybersecurity technologies, she added.
“If you think about business process automation, there’s some really quick wins they can do with Copilot agents to automate processes. That doesn’t have to be complicated,” she said.
A rise in the number of female-led resellers and MSPs was one trend flagged up in last month’s Oxygen 250 report, which profiles the UK’s top 250 UK channel partners by revenue. Four of the top UK channel partners are now female led.
“I think the more you show good role models, the more likely it is other female entrepreneurs will step up,” Critchley said.
The Oxygen 250 is already in Critchley’s sights, she revealed.
“We intend to be highly acquisitive in the UK and in the US,” she said.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
