Carbonite (NASDAQ:CARB), the cloud-based backup provider, says Q1 2013 sales rose 32 percent to $24.5 million. Carbonite CEO David Friend says the company now has 50,000 small business cloud subscribers, and Carbonite’s channel partner ranks have grown 56 percent in less than a year. But that’s not all.

“Looking at the overall business and some of the strategic initiatives that are underway, I’m happy to report that we’ve made real progress around the three key business themes we discussed with you last quarter,” said Friend during an earnings call this evening. “The shift towards the small business market, the growing importance of indirect distribution channels in reaching our customers and the development of new products that enhance our value proposition.”

During the first quarter of 2013:

Cloud Reaches SMB Tipping Point

Friend thinks small businesses are ready to accelerate cloud spending. “I believe that these results further reinforce our contention that the small business market is ready to embrace the cloud and recognizes the many advantages of our cloud backup, including lower overall cost, administration and easy access to business files on any computer or mobile device,” he said.

Friend didn’t stop there. “Our goal is to continue to gain market share in the small business backup market,” he added. “We believe that our initiatives in the small business market will be the key growth driver in 2013, and that small business will represent an increasingly large share of bookings as we move through the year.”

Looking ahead, channel partners should keep close tabs on Carbonite’s database backup business — which leverages the Zmanda buyout from last year. It sounds like some newly integrated surprises will be launched soon…