Hello, I Must Be Going: Final Notes from a Departing Blogger

This is it: After more than 1,500 stories published over the course of the last year and change, this is my final blog entry on TalkinCloud. And if you’ll indulge me, your humble correspondent would like to say a few words before I hand over the keys to the kingdom.

Some of you followed me over from The VAR Guy and MSPmentor, where I was for another year and change before TalkinCloud came into being. Some of you found me here on TalkinCloud directly. Either way, I can’t say “Thank You” enough to the readers, vendors and partners who expressed support, either in the comments, over e-mail or in person at the many, many industry events and conferences I was lucky enough to get to attend.

And while I’m expressing gratitude, huge thanks to Nine Lives Media Editorial Director Joe Panettieri and President Amy Katz, who gave me a chance; Charlene O’Hanlon, who always won Stump the Editor; and Dave Courbanou and Nicholas Mukhar, who provided much-appreciated cavalry when it came to cloud coverage. I couldn’t ask for a better team.

I want to leave TalkinCloud with a couple of final thoughts: If you’re reading TalkinCloud, you probably don’t need to be told. But just in case, there is simply no more room for managed service providers and VARs to hesitate when it comes to cloud services. If you haven’t jumped, you need to. If you have jumped, you can probably stand some good, hard thinking about how you can more intelligently leverage the cloud for your customers.

But on the flip side, it’s also important to not get swept up in cloud hype. The cloud has some very real, tangible benefits. It also has some drawbacks. SaaS, IaaS, PaaS — all of these things bring some very, very cool functionality that would have been interesting hypotheticals 10 years ago. But they’re just tools; It’s up to you, the service provider, to figure out the best application of that tool in a way that provides value to the customer. That’s how you differentiate in the modern IT landscape.

As for me, well, I’m sure you’ll be hearing from me sooner rather than later. I couldn’t stay away from the cloud that long, after all. I’m not sure how long I’ll have access to the matt@ninelivesmediainc.com address, but you can always keep track of my latest doings on Twitter at @m_wein.

One more time: Thanks for everything. I’ll be seeing you.