CloudU: Cloud Education for VARs, MSPs and Channel Partners?

The managed services market has MSP University. Now, the cloud computing market has Cloud University, launched by Rackspace. The question: Will VARs and MSPs head to the front of the class?

According to the CloudU website, CloudU involves…

“a cloud computing curriculum designed by independent analyst Ben Kepes. Whether you attend one session or every session, you’ll receive in depth information about some of the most important topics facing business today.”

(Side note: Kudos to Kepes for publishing a comprehensive disclosure statement describing his cloud industry affiliations. TalkinCloud adheres to a similar disclosure business practice.)

The CloudU Syllabus includes a range of whitepapers and monthly webinars. Most of the content seems to be designed for corporate IT managers and corporate executives, but I suspect channel partners will still find the discussions worthwhile. I’m particularly interested in a Cloudonomics content scheduled for February 2011.

Assuming CloudU can offer some dollars-and-cents information about cloud benefits. partners can certainly use the information for their own cloud-centric sales pitches. Also, Rackspace has published a Myths About the Cloud document that could help channel partners to address potential customer concerns.

Education Channels

No doubt, channel partners need more than white papers and monthly webcasts to master cloud computing business models, branding and sales pitches. But there seems to be plenty of educational material floating around these days.

• CompTIA is building a cloud and SaaS community for channel partners.
• MSP University now offers a cloud track at its boot camp sessions.
• Jeff Kaplan recently rolled his managed services and SaaS marketplaces into a single Cloud Computing Showcase, where partners can learn more about various SaaS, managed services and cloud vendors.

TalkinCloud doesn’t specifically endorse any particular educational outfit. But we’ll be watching to see which cloud-related educational services attract VARs and MSPs.

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