Stax invests in cloud's silver lining amid economic downturn

With managing director Mike Middaugh at the helm of cloud automation platform Stax, the company is setting down a vision aligned with investment – both in people and infrastructure.

The company realises that even in the midst of a global economic downturn and inflation drops, now is the perfect time for investment.

As the company's MD, Mike Middaugh is leading that investing strategy, in line with wider trends towards cloud-based platform migration and demand for cloud-based services.

Stax will focus on rapid global expansion while the market struggles to keep up with its cloud migration needs.

Stax also has growth plans for Australia and Singapore. Middaugh also plans to explore new growth opportunities for the company in the United States and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) regions longer-term.

"The last time unemployment crossed 7% was at the peak of the dot com crisis," says Middaugh.

"We have clearly entered into a cycle that will need to work its course. However high unemployment always leads to record levels of innovation and a need to complete actions faster and cheaper.

He says there is a huge demand for cloud services, but short supply, citing the massive demand for cloud engineers as an example.  Technology, he says, is a great way to solve old problems – to see the evidence, you only need to look at what challenges the world has faced over the last 100 years.

Middaugh, who has worked across Australia, Asia, and the United States in various technology jobs, has held experience in companies such as ADP and [24]7.ai.

"I started my career in the shadows of the dot com crash. People were not sure if they should invest or hide in the sand. The current environment feels oddly familiar. So why not look back twenty years to see what strategies worked?" he continues.

"The businesses that invested in the early '00s are the tech giants of today. Whilst the world was counting surplus hardware, the software and internet companies slowly took over the world. So, as we build our strategy forward we also want to look backwards for clues.

He adds that historically, pandemics create job opportunities and innovation.

Versent Group, which owns Stax, is a collection of Australian-born companies.

Versent Group CEO and cofounder Thor Essman says, "With cloud deployments gaining traction globally, Mike's appointment will help to solidify Stax's position as a strong contender in the cloud space.

"Mike's global experience having worked in so many countries also gives us an edge in making in-roads to new markets. His industry know-how will be an asset to Stax in building the company culture and developing relationships with customers.