IT Channel Firms Should Adopt the Right Cloud Business Model—CompTIA Study Says

The findings of CompTIA’s Fourth Annual Trends in Cloud Computing reveal that 45 percent of the polled IT channel companies indicated that in the past year, deciding on the right cloud-computing business model posed a huge challenge to their organization. And the most difficult challenge was to develop cloud expertise encompassing both their company’s technical and sales arms.

The CompTIA report is based on a July 2013 online survey of 400 IT channel firms and 501 U.S.-based business professionals who are involved in IT decision-making.

“Primary business considerations depend on where a company wants to go with cloud,” said Carolyn April, director for industry analysis, research at CompTIA. “Do they want to resell a vendor’s cloud solutions? Aggregate and broker cloud services from a variety of different sources? Integrate and customize cloud-based apps and services, or simply sell the infrastructure to an end user and provide consulting? Each of these paths and more are possibilities, as are varying revenue models available for all.”

The new CompTIA study defines four cloud business models that IT solutions providers have been following these days.

Build

This cloud business model is offered by 48 percent of channel firms today, according to CompTIA. It involves getting hold of vendor-based hardware and software to use for creating private or hybrid clouds. In some firms that implement the Build model, consulting services are also offered.

Provide/Provision

This business model puts the solutions provider at the core of provisioning the various homegrown and vendor-based cloud services.

According to the results of the CompTIA study, half of IT channel firms that are doing cloud today follow the Provide/Provision model. One-third of the survey respondents also said that this particular cloud business model has the strongest potential for growth in the next two years.

Enable/Integrate

This business model for cloud usually involves integration and implementation services. It may include bridging a client’s on-premises solutions to cloud-based solutions or customizing cloud solutions to address client needs.

CompTIA looked into its past three years of cloud studies and discovered that the top source of post-sale earnings has to do with integration services.

Manage/Support

This cloud business framework is characterized by continued management and support of cloud-based services as either project work or as a contractual, recurring-revenue model. Adding, scaling, and troubleshooting are offered as needed.

Six out of 10 surveyed channel companies perform remote monitoring of cloud solutions for their customers, as well as manage solutions in multicloud environments. CompTIA sees multicloud management as a viable channel opportunity, because the market has a wide range of cloud apps and solutions available.

Sixty-three percent of the polled channel firms describe customer demand for cloud-based IT solutions and services as either very high or high. Forty percent of channel firms said that they had cases wherein customer demand for their cloud solutions overwhelmed their capacity to deliver, while 20 percent reported losing a deal because the customer wanted a cloud solution that was not part of their offerings. And because the market demand for cloud solutions is strong and at times, exceeds the supply, CompTIA recommends that channel firms react quickly in adopting an appropriate cloud business model.

CompTIA’s Carolyn April concluded, “Channel firms can play a critical role in determining when cloud versus on-premises works best for their customers. For instance, the customers’ desire to increase mobile/remote access to company data sparked 46 percent of channel firms to recommend cloud solutions, compared with 38 percent last year. This underscores the surge in mobility solutions, as well as BYOD and telecommuting trends that are happening in the marketplace. It also demonstrates the channel’s ability to tie the value of cloud into these burgeoning areas.” (KOM) Link. Link.