The VAR Guy always likes to hear the opinions of his loyal readers, and once again the people have spoken out—this time about the proposed future of cloud services in the channel. According to a majority of voters, it looks as though the cloud is more than a trendy flash in the pan, with some serious implications for managed services provider (MSP) and cloud services provider (CSP) success once it gains more traction within the channel.

Out of the readers who voted on our cloud services poll, 39 percent said they have taken to offering cloud services to their customers, but thus far the level of customer uptake has been slow. While some may see this as an early warning signal that cloud could go the way of bell-bottom jeans and The Backstreet Boys, we like to think many members of the channel community are still learning what the cloud is. Once a majority of users begin to see how the many advantages of using the cloud can help their businesses, we believe the number of adoptees is likely to increase. The MSP, CPS and VAR community can offer more education programs for their customers to help their clientele get a better understanding of how cloud services can positively impact their performance and their bottom dollar.

Another 28 percent of respondents said they have begun offering cloud services, and so far their customers are very happy with the services provided. While this number is relatively small, it does speak to the fact that cloud services have begun to gain attention within the channel and can pull their weight in the enterprise-computing world. Hopefully, this number will continue to increase as resellers improve both their level of expertise in providing cloud services as well as the way in which they educate their customers to the benefits of moving to the cloud.

A smaller, yet still significant, number of respondents said they are looking into offering cloud services, with 22 percent of voters aiming to become CSPs in the near future. While it's difficult to gauge the interest of the entire channel from a single poll, it is interesting to see how nearly a quarter of voters have yet to jump on the cloud bandwagon, even in light of the many success stories surrounding cloud’s growth in the past several years. We expect the number of cloud-hopefuls to decrease as more and more service providers begin dipping their toes into the unknown waters of cloud computing and have a chance to see its potential for the channel.

And last but not least, 11 percent of voters answered no when asked if they offered cloud services, citing the movement to the cloud as nothing more than a fad. It's important to remember that despite the hype surrounding any number of different cloud services out there, there still is a minority who won’t be swayed as to the power of virtualization for businesses. Similar to those who will always choose traditional newspapers over digital versions, these resellers are most likely to be the ones to keep hybrid and on-premise storage services alive and well. No matter how popular cloud becomes, it is doubtful it will ever see 100 percent approval from the channel community, as there will always be those who push back against change in any industry.

What did you think of the latest VAR Guy poll? Are there any upcoming topics that you think we should ask about in future surveys? We’d love to hear your comments on the future of the cloud (or on anything, really). And, as always, thanks to all of you who voted!