Investigating Cloud Services Partnerships
There’s an interesting article you should check out on the lofty barrier to entry for cloud service providers. Yes, the cloud promises to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, but there’s often huge issues around investments in infrastructure, redundancy, staffing and market development for small and mid-sized companies.
As a result, new partnership opportunities in delivering and selling the cloud are arising. And according to one study, there are a variety of different cloud computing partnership models that enable solution providers to claim a stake in the cloud with varying degrees of investment. Competition in at least one area that I’m well familiar with – cloud-based transaction monitoring – continues to heat up.
Partnering provides a path to adoption and a place in the cloud, but not all partnerships and vendors are equal. A new white paper, “Finding Your Silver Lining in Cloud Computing,” offers potential cloud services partners insight and best practices into how to check each other out before combining talents.
But I also think that it’s worthwhile for customers of the cloud, including small businesses who want to access apps and store data, to understand the nature of their provider’s professional relationships and how services are delivered, among other things.
According to the white paper, investigation is worthwhile across eight different areas. These categories are:
- market position and value,
- vendor financial health,
- required investments and potential ROI,
- adoption requirements (organizational changes),
- vendor performance track record,
- customer relationships (protecting your customers),
- market awareness and marketing support,
- legal liabilities and regulatory requirements.
I’m sure there are a lot more things to consider and question for both cloud services providers who want to partner, as well as for actual customers. But these areas seem like good places to start for anybody who wants to go into a cloud service relationship – or, on the other hand, access those services – and with eyes and ears wide open.