Partners Must Focus On Long-Term Financial Gain

Project-based businesses are much more cyclical, Bibby said, and could often land deals in the final days or minutes of a quarter to satisfy Wall Street.

Although a recurring revenue model is likely to be more lucrative in the long-run, Bibby said it's much harder to discover a pot of gold in a pinch.

Still, Bibby said cloud offers marvelous profit opportunities for solution providers thanks to automation, remote delivery architecture and repeat business.

Plus shifting to recurring revenue results in higher valuations. Bibby said that's because companies interested in acquisition focus primarily on the business model rather than transient assets such as the employee or customer base.