ChannelTrends: Putting the Value Add in Cloud

It seems like we’ve reached a critical point in the advancement of cloud technology, with significant announcements this week from a major distributor and the company that made ‘i’ a fashionable prefix. Perhaps more significant than the players in the news is that two device-centric organizations are making major investments in the virtual world. Perhaps hell hasn’t frozen over, but it may be defrosting a bit on the edges. With the wealth of cloud offerings for business consumers to choose from, how can solution providers make sure their portfolio does not become a commodity?

First of all, one advantage channel partners enjoy over online sales organizations is a first-hand business relationship with their customers, including an understanding of their facilities, processes and employee needs. There is a lot to be said for interpersonal connections; the ability to listen to both the challenges and opportunities your clients face and giving them a chance to appreciate your expertise. Remember, a significant part of your value is based on the specific business needs of your clients, offering solutions that balance their technical requirements and budget limitations. No website or direct sales organization can provide that kind of support.

Apple Takes on the Cloud

Whether it’s a love or hate relationship, you have to admit that over the past few years Apple has reinvented and expanded the tech devices it set its sights on, including smart phones (iPhone), tablets (iPad) and MP3 players (the iPod). Will Steve Jobs be able to work similar magic on the cloud, or will their entry into the on demand delivery model be just another entertainment option? Apple announced this week that the introduction of its iCloud will be on the June 6th agenda at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). While details are sketchy (other than the $4.5 million it paid for the domain iCloud.com), speculation centers on it being a combination iTunes streaming and desktop service to start. Online backup and data storage will likely be part of the offering, which could be just the beginning of a portfolio of consumer friendly Web applications.

Why should VARs and MSPs care about this personal/home electronics offering? Just take a look at the iPhone—and realize how embedded Apple has become in daily business communications. Solution providers must keep in tune (no pun intended) to the consumer electronics markets and watch for the latest trends. It’s not just coincidence that the introduction of iCloud will take place at the company’s developer conference, as it’s expected to open a number of opportunities for programmers and techies in the same manner as the iPhone did. With the blurring of lines between home and office space, Apple has been a trailblazer with consumer and business mixed-use devices, and their virtual offerings may hold similar aspirations. The key for solution providers will be to understand the new technologies and what parts of it their business customers want. Then they can add in their “special sauce”.

Ingram Micro Introduces

It seemed to be a contradictory setting this week as the Ingram Micro Cloud Summit kicked off in Phoenix, highlighting a number of the distributor’s new service offerings and helping their partners plot their related business strategies. One major event announcement was the introduction of Ingram’s Cloud Marketplace, a single online area where solution providers can review, acquire, provision and create invoices for their cloud services. This allows a VAR to streamline the processes involved when deploying cloud services for their customers, but isn’t intended to diminish their value add. Single sign-on capability is a real time-saver for solution providers, and end-to-end service reporting capabilities make it easy to communicate performance and compliance details to clients.

To augment the marketplace, Ingram Micro introduced the addition of several vendor cloud offerings from BMC Software, Cisco, N-able Technologies, Siemens, SherWeb, Symantec, Trend Micro and VMware. These services will be rolled out over the remainder of 2011, with a few already available for sale through the distributor.

Could Cloud Marketplace and other enablement sites speed up the commoditization of the cloud? Perhaps to a certain extent, but the value MSPs and VARs bring—such as consulting, design, integration and vendor management—lessens the probability of that happening. The key is building a cloud practice and business plan that emphasizes the business critical benefits your organization provides that competitors don’t.  But how do you do that without making a major investment or hiring a high-priced expert to help?

Quite simply, there are resources available to help solution providers create successful cloud practices, and CompTIA has been trailblazing a number of education and training programs to accomplish just that goal.  The Cloud/SaaS Community has been the backbone of this drive, including a live Cloud Foundations Workshop and Quick Start Session.  This year’s Breakaway also will feature many of these training sessions, including recently developed cloud business overview guides and a more comprehensive 10-week step-by-step practice building guide. CompTIA also offers a host of webinar and white papers that cover the best practices and procedures of successful cloud channel businesses. When building a successful business unit, using peer designed and validated education and training resources are advantageous tools to help you achieve that goal.

This week’s news emphasizes the need for solution providers to distance themselves from the commoditization of the cloud and, with the help of industry associations, that objective can be accomplished without a lot of heavy lifting and added expense to your organization. But the first step is up to you; are you ready to add value to the cloud?

Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and industry alliances director with Autotask. Contact Brian at [email protected].