For Jim Campbell and his team at Opkalla, starting their Microsoft business was no small feat.

Opkalla’s Jim Campbell

“It’s a labor of love, and it didn’t happen overnight,” said Campbell, managing partner for the Charlotte-based consultancy. The technology advisory services and vendor management firm has built a gold-certified Microsoft practice. It’s quite an accomplishment for a company that launched in 2019.

Perhaps more interesting is how Opkalla’s business model compares to other companies in the technology advisory space — or agent channel. Agent partners historically rely on commissions rather than resale margin and leverage technology solutions brokerage (formerly known as master agent) partnerships for their suppliers rather than using direct contracts or an IT distributor. But in the case of Opkalla, the firm has diversified to resell Microsoft 365 licenses using a distributor.

Campbell spoke to Channel Futures about what it took to build the Microsoft practice, the value it adds to the business and how Opkalla and its customers are navigating the New Commerce Experience (NCE).