How resellers can make a difference in enabling organisations’ cloud transformations

Resellers and channel partners can do more to guide organisations into a cloudy future by leveraging IaaS and PaaS solutions, according to a new report from Ingram Micro. The study, which surveyed 250 UK-based cloud end users as well as 50 resellers, found Azure was the most popular IaaS solution sold by resellers, followed by Amazon S3 and Google Compute Engine – while Azure is significantly ahead on the PaaS side. The paper’s hypothesis is simple. As organsiations’ cloud desires are often set back by security concerns, pricing, or a general lack of knowledge around the technology’s capabilities, resellers should have a role to play in smoothing the edges. But the resellers are not holding up their end of the bargain. “Perceptions remain that procuring a cloud solution directly from a developer is a better option, but the fact that end users still have reservations about the technology in general demonstrates that further evolution is required in the way cloud products and services are offered,” the report opens. “With the tailored services and expertise they provide, resellers have the power to be central to this transformation.”