4th annual trends in cloud computing: it channel impact
TRANSCRIPT
4th Annual Trendsin Cloud Computing:
IT Channel Impact
IT Channel Firms See Positive Revenue Impact from Cloud Offerings
Cloud vs. Established Products/Services Revenue Growth
Estab-lished
growing faster
Growing at same rate
Cloud growing
faster
22%26%
50%
Source: CompTIA’s 4th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingBase: 400 channel firms with cloud offerings
Cloud vs. Established Products/Services Profit Margins
Established higher
Roughly the same
Cloud_x000d_ higher
30%
21%
49%
Channel Partner Cloud Growth Expectations
<25%
25% - 49%
50% - 75%
>75%
24%
35%
29%
12%
Flat, no change
Grow modestly
Grow significantly (15%+)
4%
56%
26%
Percentage of revenue from cloud sales in last 12 months
among channel partners
Cloud revenue growth expectations among channel partners over next 12 months
Source: CompTIA’s 4th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingBase: 400 U.S. IT channel firms with cloud offerings
Challenges Channel Faced in Adopting Cloud
Deciding vendors to work with
Initial startup costs
Balancing needs of legacy business
Determining business model
Cash flow/financial considerations
Optimizing cloud marketing/sales messaging
Developing cloud tech/sales expertise
14%
14%
12%
12%
12%
12%
11%
43%
42%
44%
43%
42%
39%
40%
43%
44%
44%
45%
46%
49%
50%
Very Significan
t
Somewhat Significant
Not Significant
Source: CompTIA’s 4th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingBase: 400 U.S. IT channel firms with cloud offerings
Build Provide / Provision
Enable / Integrate
Manage / Support
IaaS | PaaS | SaaS
Public | Private | Hybrid Clouds
Cloud Aggregation | Brokerage Services
Procure HW + SW; add
expertise to build cloud
Resell
White-label
Hosting / Direct to customer
Deployment
Consulting | Advising | IT Solutions
Integration
Break/Fix
Managed Services
Customization / Development
Architecture / Design
Cloud Business Models Framework for the Channel
BUILD: Typically procuring vendor-based hardware and software products to construct private and/or hybrid clouds for customers. Also, services such as consulting, architecture, configuration and related.
PROVIDE/PROVISION: Typically reselling and provisioning IaaS offerings such as storage and compute capacity from Amazon Web Services or SaaS offerings such as Google Apps. Evaluating and aggregating various cloud services for customers.
ENABLE/INTEGRATE: Typically providing integration and implementation services that may include tying a customer’s on-premises IT solutions to its cloud-based solutions or, customizing cloud-based solutions to fit a particular business need or vertical.
MANAGE/SUPPORT: Typically providing the ongoing management and support of cloud-based services as project work or in a contractual, recurring revenue model. Adding , scaling or troubleshooting cloud services as needed.
48% 49% 51%61%
32% 34% 35%27%
Cloud Business Models Mature
Build Provide/ Provision
Manage/ Support
46%
54%
Mature
Somewhat Mature / Not That
Mature
Cloud Business Model Maturity Self-Assessment
Cloud Business Model Involvement among Channel Partners
29% of channel partners report being “born in the cloud”
Enable/Integrate
Currently provide
Plan to provide
Strategic to Business Small
(1-99 employees)Medium
(100-499)Large
(500+)
Build 40% 56% 49%
Provide/Provision 44% 58% 50%
Enable/Integrate 49% 66% 50%
Manage Support 55% 67% 55%
Medium-Sized Channel Firms Most Likely to Consider Cloud Activities Across all Models Strategic
Source: CompTIA’s 4th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingBase: 400 U.S. IT channel firms with cloud offerings
8 in 10 medium-size channel firms are involved with Enable/Integrate activities compared with just more than half of their smaller cohorts.
Of firms providing... 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Build 71% 15% 5% 9%
Provide/Provision 30% 35% 29% 7%
Enable/Integrate 32% 32% 25% 10%
Manage Support 29% 34% 17% 20%
Rank Order in Which Channel Firms Adopted One or More of the Various Cloud Business Models
Source: CompTIA’s 4th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingBase: 400 U.S. IT channel firms with cloud offerings
Among those channel firms providing services in all four cloud areas today, 64% started their cloud practice in a Build mode. But while Build is the most common starting point for cloud adoption, the Manage/Support bucket is the most prevalent among firms today.
37%
41%
22%
Customer Demand for Cloud SolutionsCustomer Demand for Cloud Solutions
Customer desire to reduce complexity
Customer desire to increase mobile/remote access to company data
Customer eyeing cost reductions or they are price sensitive
Customer has business objectives best me with cloud solutions
Ability to on-ramp and scale new features/services faster
Customer has no in-house IT management
Main Reasons to Recommend Cloud over On-premise Solutions
Source: CompTIA’s 4th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingBase: 400 U.S. IT channel firms with cloud offerings
Very High Demand
High Demand
63% NET High Demand
Somewhat High or Low
Demand
Rating of Demand from Channel Partner Perspective
Channel partners with a cloud build practice or a provide/provision practice are most bullish on customer demand for cloud solutions.
Cloud and the Customer Relationship
How Cloud has Impacted Customer Ties
Customer demand outstripped capacity to deliver cloud solutions
1
2
3
Lost cloud sale to vendor, disty or other non-solution provider
Lost a sale because customer asked for solution we don’t offer
Negative Sales Outcomes with Customers
Generally weakened
No change
Generally strengthened
15%
26%
59%
Source: CompTIA’s 4th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingBase: 400 U.S. IT channel firms with cloud offerings
Channel companies with a high degree of cloud maturity and involvement are more likely to report some type of negative customer outcome than channel partners with lower levels of cloud maturity.
Factors at Play in Choosing Cloud Vendor Partners
Revenue/comp model provided
Commitment to cloud
Supports all four cloud busines models
Vendor brand reputation
Type/variety of cloud services offered
Customer preference/demand
9%
11%
11%
11%
13%
11%
47%
44%
44%
42%
37%
39%
44%
46%
47%
48%
50%
52%
Very Significan
t
Somewhat Significant
Not Significant
Source: CompTIA’s 4th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingBase: 400 U.S. IT channel firms with cloud offerings
From perspective of channel partners with a cloud practice
Cloud Impact on Distribution
Channel Firm Expectations for Distributor Relationship over Next 2 Years
Distributors are serving as an aggregator of cloud services that solution provider can then resell
1
2
3
4
Distributors still figuring out where they fit in the cloud world
Distributors playing a hosting role for cloud services in their data centers
Distributors are competing against solution providers with their cloud offerings
Channel Partner Perceptions of Role of Distributors in a Cloud World
Don't know
Expect decreasing involvement
No change
Expect increasing involvement with
distributors
5%
7%
37%
52%
Source: CompTIA’s 4th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingBase: 400 U.S. IT channel firms with cloud offerings
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