It's not secret that a lot of startups over the last few years have managed to make things work before of inexpensive and easy-to-use cloud services. Now, ViaWest is partnering with startup ecosystem Galvanize to help Denver-area startups get off the ground—and into the clouds.

Galvanize was formed to support the development of "high-growth digital entrepreneurs and startups." Using venture capital, community and curriculum, Galvanize helps to launch startups—or at least help them find the necessities to make a go of it in an ever-increasingly competitive environment.

Where does ViaWest fit into all of this? Think of ViaWest as the Galvanize cloud evangelist. The firm's executives and experts will be brought into Galvanize as guest lecturers to speak with budding entrepreneurs about cloud computing, hosting and IT in general. ViaWest also will participate in Galvanize events in all areas of the startup ecosystem to help members thrive in their respective businesses.

ViaWest also be offering Galvanize members a special discount package from its portfolio of solutions, including those in the cloud computing realm.

There's a little bit of a story here about giving back to the community, as ViaWest is a Colorado-based business founded by local entrepreneurs. The company offers a variety of IT solutions, including secure data centers, cloud computing and hosted and managed services. That's technical and business expertise the company can bring to the Galvanize membership.

"Galvanize offers entrepreneurial support for startup programs and initiatives that will greatly benefit the Colorado technology ecosystem. The Galvanize founders are building a community greater than the sum of its parts that will spark disruptive ideas and breakout companies," said Nancy Phillips, president and CEO of ViaWest, in a prepared statement.

In an era where becoming your own boss is not just a pipe dream, but in some cases a necessity to make ends meet, entrepreneurs frequently look to the cloud for their IT operations, applications and services. There's an opportunity for cloud services providers and cloud brokers to help startups get their feet wet and get the services they need to make their businesses run while they focus on growing revenue and making it past those first few critical years of operation.