Microsoft Calls on Partners to Migrate to the Cloud
Microsoft Calls on Partners to Migrate to the Cloud by UCStrategies Staff
In the last five years, after Microsoft pledged to revolutionize its business, only a quarter of its partners have migrated to the cloud, leaving much opportunity for cloud converts.
Executives at Microsoft stated that solution providers who have moved to the cloud make as much as 140 times more profit than those who have not. The COO at Microsoft, Kevin Turner, said: “We need you to migrate. The reality is this is about accelerating growth together. Use the cloud to sell the cloud.”
Microsoft is trying to gain an upper hand over competitors like Amazon Web Services by providing public and private cloud options whilst at the same time supporting on-premises options. Turner stated: “Hybrid is the secret sauce.”
The hybrid cloud strategy has been quite popular, and has caused more hype than Windows 8.1. LiquidHub is a Wayne, Pennsylvania-based systems integrator and IT strategy firm and Microsoft partner whose director, Jeff Gellman, said: “8.1 certainly was nice.” However, Gellman also added that growth lay in the cloud.
NTT Data is an IT consulting firm with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. The vice president of that company, Robert Syversen, was pleased with Microsoft’s mix-and-match strategy, and stated that Windows 8 would be revolutionary, even though it would take time for partners to adjust.
Syversen said that the hybrid cloud was a “huge competitive advantage” which puts his company in a position to win customers that are still in the cloud learning phase. He added that “It’s a big step forward.”
However, only 25 percent (150,000 of Microsoft’s 650,000 partners) are currently in the cloud. The Vice President of Worldwide Partner Group Jon Roskill, said that around three-quarters of the 25 percent of Microsoft partners in the cloud are legacy companies, with the remaining 25 percent cloud natives.
Roskill believes that not all partners will make the move, but those that do will benefit from growth, referencing an IDC study commissioned by Microsoft.
This approach could soothe partners’ fears, meaning that they keep their on-prem role while altering their business model and training staff with the skills and processes they will need to adapt.
The transition to the private cloud will satisfy customers’ concern for security, particularly with companies who are involved in financial services, healthcare and government contracts.
Stanley Chan of San Jose, California-based cloud encryption vendor CipherCloud stated that, even though security is a worry for Windows, “the cloud makes it front and center.” He added: “Microsoft will be a major driver to the cloud through products like Office 365. The challenge is to take advantage of the Microsoft infrastructure -- the pool of resources.”
From January, the Microsoft Partner Network will be integrated into the cloud, according to Microsoft executives.
Jimmy Payne, the senior director of global channels at DiCentral, a Houston, Texas-based provider of supply chain management solutions and business-to-business integration and Microsoft partner, said that more deals are being made by partners, and they are not as concerned about investing in new technology because the economy is improving.
Microsoft customers know they need new technology and have the funds to make the investments. Once they get a taste of the cloud, they will be more inclined to make the full transition. Payne said: “The mindset is changing.” (CY) Link