ChannelCloud Expands to UK Market for VARs and MSPs

Written by samdizzy
January 25, 2011

ChannelCloud, a cloud platform built for managed services providers and VARs, is leaping beyond North America to expand into Europe. It sounds like the effort involves Paul Byrne, president and founder of ReadyTech — a solutions provider in San Diego, Calif., an integrator with a presence in the UK and Ireland.

TalkinCloud’s sister sites, MSPmentor and The VAR Guy, have been tracking ChannelCloud since late 2009. ChannelCloud Founder Kent Erickson is well-known in MSP circles, having previously built Pointivity, a well-respected MSP. Erickson has also done extensive MSP-centric training for Zenith Infotech.

Details about ChannelCloud have been hazy at best. Erickson attends MSP-centric conferences hosted by N-able Technologies, ConnectWise and other companies. And the ChannelCloud website says the company’s platform is “infrastructure, platform, software and support, encompassing the entire IAAS [Infrastructure as a Service] pyramid, and then some.” Also, ChannelCloud is working on educational content with MSP University and ClearCenter.

Still, Erickson has been tight-lipped about his overall goals. In some ways, it sounds like ChannelCloud intends to bet heavily on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). And now, it sounds like the strategy is going international.

According to a teaser on the ChannelCloud website, the UK/Ireland push is led by:

“a team of business leaders, engineers and IT geeks with close to 20 years experience as an MSP. We recognised the need for a truly comprehensive cloud solution which was designed by the channel, for the channel, in the UK and Ireland. Under the direction of MD Paul Byrne, we have formed an exclusive relationship with ChannelCloud US to launch ChannelCloud in the UK and Ireland.”

Paul Byrne’s name is particularly interesting. Byrne posted a comment on MSPmentor back in February 2010, hinting that he planned to work more closely with Pointivity and ChannelCloud. Fast forward to the present and it sounds like Byrne is fulfilling that teaser.

But what exactly will ChannelCloud UK offer to VARs and MSPs? Again, details are sketchy. I’ve been trading email with Erickson trying to gather more details about ChannelCloud’s efforts. And now I’m reaching out to Byrne for his perspectives.

Update: The Paul Byrne in the UK is not to be confused with a separate solutions provider in California.

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