Cloud computing: Changing the roles of the channel

Tuesday, 25 June 2013 00:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Stephen McNulty A cloud evolution Business environments are becoming increasingly complex and competitive, and the same can be said about the IT business landscape. While technology has always played the role of a disruptive force that connects discontinuities and changes business models and ecosystems, the growing adoption of cloud computing has transformed both how vendors sell and how end-users purchase technology.

As the cloud gets more sophisticated in the face of rapid technology developments, vendors today are going down the channel distribution route as a go-to market strategy to expand their market share. Especially in Asia Pacific, the channel ecosystem has been gaining significant traction with 78% of products being sold through channel partners. In India, analyst group IDC forecasts that the channels market will remain bullish as the total size of the Indian cloud market will cross $4.5 billion by 2015.ii For vendors, this means that significant investments can be made to increase focus on optimising their services and products. For channel partners, this can only spell good news as the ecosystem continues to grow. Blurring the lines Yet, as adoption of the cloud, enterprise mobility and big data continue to take off, the lines between different channel stakeholders have evolved to blur the distinction that each player contributes to the ecosystem. Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), resellers, distributors and system integrators today are re-defining their roles as business models continue to change to ensure relevance in the larger playing field. The rise of Software as a Service (SaaS) has brought both technology and business changes for developers and users – but also, significantly, for ISVs. As customers move away from perpetual licences and complex, static applications, ISVs are increasingly delivering business applications as a service via the cloud. This is taking them into the territory of other members of the channel, who in turn are starting to expand their service offerings to include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), as well as other managed services. This evolution is not only blurring the lines between roles and responsibilities, but is also bringing new challenges and opportunities. Putting the service in software As ISVs move into transforming an existing on-premise application business into the SaaS business model, there is a need to transition from being a product-focused company into more of a service delivery organisation to meet customer demands. Essentially, the delivery method for ISVs has changed to focus on selling of cloud-based services. The cloud enables the delivery of a more scalable and flexible, multi-tenant computing platform. It also brings risks and challenges such as data privacy, compliance, security and scalability. In order to ensure they can deliver, ISVs are now looking for channel partners who can provide benefits which include multi-tenancy, scalability, security, data encryption and mobility which enable them to deliver reliable cloud-based business applications. The best channel partners will provide all of these capabilities in an application development/delivery platform as well as work with them to deliver on the new business strategy. Creating value through service: The Kingslake story Founded in the UK in 1991 by Dr. S. Dharmavasan, Kingslake provides software solutions and consulting services for enterprises. With branches in India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, Kingslake’s aim is to be their customer’s competitive advantage, using relevant and cutting-edge solutions. During the 17-year partnership with Progress, Kingslake has developed many solutions based on the OpenEdge platform for a range of sectors. These include apparel, healthcare, construction, warehousing and payroll. There is a major shift happening in IT, a change that happens every 10 years or so. This has been the case in the past three years where selling consumer products has changed and more people are into smartphones and tablets. Reflecting these global changes, the Sri Lankan market too is seeing a rapid evolution in technology, with an undeniable shift towards mobile. In order to meet this increasing demand for mobile services, Kingslake is now offering cloud based business solutions under the brand name of KingslakeBlue. There will be a range of practical business applications for accounting, distribution, payroll, storage management and dashboard. These solutions will further assist their clients in staying ahead in a dynamic environment where time is the most valuable asset, and business agility is vital. The next wave of the channel This ongoing crossover between different channel providers and the increasing importance of service will lead to a different looking channel in the future. Customers will demand a high level of quality from service providers who understand their business, provide local customer support and have expertise that can improve their operational performance. In addition, they will be looking for the service provider with the ability to deliver an application environment that enables business agility. As ISVs seek to gain more service capabilities, we expect to see more mergers and acquisitions or partnerships throughout the channel. Partner/channel enablement will include an increase and change to sales training, marketing programs, web strategy, social media and so on. It also means the implementation of new, more iterative and agile development methodologies. And most important for delivery in the Cloud, it requires cloud services expertise and delivery. Ultimately, using the right mix of channel partners will help ISVs to succeed in this increasingly competitive cloud/software services delivery world. [The writer is Managing Director (APJ), Progress Software.]