Innovation in the cloud space is especially crucial for solution providers and vendors who want to ensure long-term viability, said Rob Rae of Datto, part of a panel presenting during CompTIA’s Cloud Community, which gathered for the Annual Member Meeting.
“We have to always be looking at what’s next,” said Rae. “We can’t be looking just as a vendor; we have to be focused on the entire channel. Ensuring the channel is healthy benefits us long term.”
The panel was hosted by Ted Roller, vice president of Channel Development at LogMeIn, and included Rae, Neal Bradbury of Intronis, Lester Keizer of Business Continuity Technologies, and Chris Johnson of Untangled Solutions. CompTIA’s Miles Jongen stepped in as well for a presentation on CompTIA’s Cloud Trustmark+. The group talked about the importance of the new credential, its value to their businesses and how this trustmark came about.
Agility In The Cloud
Bradbury, the vice president of channel development for Intronis, agreed with Rae that keeping up with technology and ensuring future funding is critical to long term viability in the cloud. “We have to make sure that the customers’ data is always there when they need it,” said Bradbury, whose builds data protection solutions exclusively for the IT channel.
The panel also discussed steps they take to ensure their customers are comfortable with their business and maintaining data in the cloud. Larger vendors have larger annual budgets that afford them outside auditors who can review their systems and report on the security and infrastructure they have implemented.
Smaller vendors don’t often have the budget to spend on these outside auditors, which is why the CompTIA’s Cloud Trustmark+ was developed: To provide an industry-neutral seal of approval that can be used to vet their security and infrastructure and show that they’re a reliable cloud provider.
Support Trustmark Holders
Turns out, service providers spend a lot of time investigating the credentials of the cloud service vendors, according to members of the panel. Some have the time, but many are so busy handling the rest of their business that they heavily rely on trusted names in cloud, and recommendations from their distribution partners. The Cloud Trustmark+ lets service providers fast-forward through the investigation and referrals. A vendor that has earned the trustmark has already been vetted as a qualified provider.
Jobgen said the two-year process leading up to the launch of the Cloud Trustmark started with CompTIA community members. Early on, the IT association reached out to its members in the IT channel community and to cloud vendors, asking for input. They established a steering committee to map out a plan, and used recommendations from members that led to a foundation of the trustmark. The focus was on reliability, security standards, customer support and internal operations related to cloud.
The consensus of the panel was that the channel needs to work together to promote companies that hold the CompTIA Cloud Trustmark+ and continue to push more companies to pursue the recognition. This credential serves as a reference of the service cloud vendors provide and the commitment they make to their customers.
Preston Grisham is CompTIA’s senior manager for public policy and public sector communications.
