Consultation and creative problem solving are important keys to success in the marketplace for cloud-based solutions. That message was delivered Tuesday by top executives from three leading IT distributors who participated in a Power Panel Discussion at CompTIA ChannelCon 2013.
The market for cloud solutions is big and getting bigger, the panelists agreed.
Jason Bystrak, director of cloud services at Ingram Micro, cited data that shows 70 percent of new customers were driven to a purchase decision due to the availability of a cloud solution from their IT provider. The fastest adoption of cloud solutions is occurring among small- to medium-sized businesses.
Jon Allen, vice president of product management for CLOUDSolv, said a cookie-cutter approach won’t work because each customer’s needs are unique. That requires solution providers to work closely with their distributor partners on hybrid approaches and consultative sales tailored to meet those unique needs. “We want to create value for our solution provider partners,” Allen said. “We can aggregate multiple solutions.”
Panelists were asked if they’re concerned about the entry of telecom companies into the cloud services business and how it might impact the IT channel. The unanimous response was that they’re aware of and following the activities of the telcos, but they’re also confident that the expertise of the IT channel will continue to win the day.
“There are so many pieces that we bring to the table that a telco can’t provide or replicate,” said Bharath Natarajan, director of TDCloud and software services at Tech Data.
One area where the channel may have been slow to adapt to the emergence of the cloud is in the area of how-to technical training. All three executives said their companies have stepped up efforts to provide more cloud training for their channel partners.
In response to the bottom-line question – How do you make money at this? – all three speakers encouraged the solution provider community to focus on professional services. “When you can build in ‘sticky’ services with the customer, there is less opportunity for you to be replaced by the customer,” Allen said.
