Own the Customer Relationship in the Cloud

Service providers don’t need to drop all their on-premise solutions in favor of new cloud-based options, but they do need to position themselves to start investigating cloud computing opportunities, an IT industry research panel said at CompTIA Breakaway today.

“2011 is the year to experiment and figure this out and look into the different offerings,” said Darren Bibby, program director at IDC, to an audience of primarily solution providers.

Customers likely will continue to use a hybrid of on-premise and cloud solutions for at least 10 years, panelists said. So while an all-encompassing move to the cloud is not imminent, providers without cloud solutions in their arsenal are likely to fall behind, said Rauline Ochs, senior vice president at IPED. She stressed that VARs need to talk to their clients about cloud computing before a big vendor does.

“Do not use your trusted advisor position,” she said. “Be the person who sets that tone.”

Solution providers need to press the issue of the role of the channel in a cloud computing model, panelists said.

“The issue of customer ownership is going to be key,” said Anil Miglani, senior vice president at AMI Partners. “You want to go with a vendor who is going to help move you and your customers into the cloud.”

Since cloud computing solutions are easier to “switch off” than licensed software, owning the client relationship is even more important than with on-premise solutions, Bibby said. “Your new role and your new challenge is to play the role of customer ambassador more than you have in the past.”

Ryan Morris, principal consultant at Morris Management Partners, noted that with the current hybrid of on-premise and cloud solutions, expertise in implementation and integration will be immensely important in individual client relationships.

“The channel doesn’t become less important in the cloud,” he said. “It becomes fundamentally more important.”