Karena Li, Partner Account Manager, DataON
10/7/25
After three and half years at DataON as a partner account manager, I’ve learned that technical expertise alone doesn’t win customers—it’s how you deliver when things go wrong. And lately, I’ve been hearing the same thing from customers over and over: working with DataON is a breath of fresh air because we really take care of our customers.
The Problem with Traditional OEMs
When customers bought from large OEMs, they often felt like just another number. Sales interactions were purely transactional. Technical support meant getting cycled through tier after tier. And when issues turned out to be software-related, the support teams simply didn’t have the answers. Customers were left to figure things out on their own.
That’s not how we do things at DataON.
What Makes DataON Different
DataON is recognized as one of the leaders in Microsoft Azure Local hybrid cloud solutions. We deliver the widest array of Azure Local solutions among any provider, but that’s just the beginning.
DataON solutions go BEYOND the standard Microsoft requirements and that’s what really sets us apart. We deliver:
- Turnkey solutions – Everything is included, tested, and ready to go. We include pre-deployment checks and benchmarking with comprehensive deployment support.
- Deployment, integration and training services – Our goal is to get you up and going quickly and working with your workloads. But we also want to make sure your team is confident in managing Azure Local.
- White glove service and expert-level support from the start – Our entire support team has Microsoft, Azure, and Azure Local credentials. Our team handles both software and hardware issues—and everything in between. You’ll never get lost in tiered support systems.
Rick McIntosh, VP and CTO, Children’s Hospital of Colorado recently told us, “The whole reason we love your organization and your people is your intimate knowledge of the Microsoft stack. Nobody else has that knowledge”.
We Treat You Like Friends and Family
This isn’t just marketing speak. Along with our first-class sales and technical support and expertise, it’s one of the main reasons why we have long-term customer retention.
One of our valued customers, Tam Nguyen, Director of Information Technology, Orange County Unified School District, had this to say: “It goes back to the people. I know DataON can support me in making the transition to Microsoft and they built the trust and confidence in my team to make that leap.”
When Things Go Wrong, This Is Where We Shine
Sometimes deployments are textbook perfect. Those make great customer stories. But I want to share a story about when everything went wrong—because that’s when the DataON difference really matters.
A California public sector agency had eighteen months to migrate off VMware. They chose Azure Local and DataON, but from day one, the deployment faced issues at every corner. Software bugs, integration challenges, unexpected complications—everything that could go wrong, did.
Any traditional OEM would have labeled these as “software issues” and walked away. The customer was so frustrated they were ready to abandon Azure Local entirely.
But we didn’t walk away.
For over a year, our team stayed engaged with weekly support calls and onsite visits. We worked directly with Microsoft to resolve bugs. We educated their staff not just on Azure Local, but on practical workarounds using Azure Site Recovery and Azure Migrate. We persisted because that’s what partners do.
Today, that organization has a successful Azure Local deployment—and a story about a vendor who refused to give up on them.
In Good Times and Bad
This is what I’m most proud of at DataON: we’re committed to delivering best-in-class customer support that very few other solution providers can offer. We don’t disappear when things get complicated. We don’t pass you off to another tier. We don’t tell you it’s someone else’s problem.
We stay. We solve. We succeed together.
That’s the DataON difference.
Let’s Talk
Whatever your IT challenge—IT modernization, Azure Local deployment, VMware migration, hybrid cloud strategy, or just exploring your options—DataON can help.
Karena Li
Partner Account Manager
Karena.Li@dataon.io
