June 24, 2011

3 Min Read
Top 200 Cloud Channel Experts: Follow Friday, June 24

By samdizzy

follow-friday-twitter

As our loyal readers know, we update the Talkin’ Cloud 200 each Friday with five new executive names. Then, we promote those folks across Twitter (#FollowFriday, #FF … you get the picture). The Talkin’ Cloud 200 is designed to track the top cloud computing experts in the channel. Once we reach 200 executives we’ll publish a complete, compiled Talkin’ Cloud report to help you build your Rolodex.

The five folks worth watching this week are…

Keith Brody, Senior Director of Corporate Marketing, MetraTech. Twitter: @metratech

Cloud billing is a hot-button for VARs and MSPs seeking to promote SaaS solutions to their customers. Brody thinks he has the answer. MetraTech in June 2011 launched Metanga, a multi-tenant SaaS-based billing solution built atop Microsoft Windows Azure. Metanga can manage customer enrollment, product catalogs, pricing, promotions, invoicing, customer self-care and payment capture for industry verticals including cloud, business-to-business (B2B), consumptive media, telepresence, broadband and smart grid, the company claims. Also, it facilitates consumption-based billing for online applications, the company adds. The big challenge? Getting the word out about MetraTech and Metanga. Brody should be a busy man…

Steven Crockett, CTO, Anittel. Twitter: @Anittel

steven-crockett

Crockett has been building and selling cloud services in Australia for almost a decade, according to peers in the company. As one pundit told us: “Steve has grown our cloud services from one client, one server and one MPLS link to thousands of clients, hundreds of servers in 14 data centres across the country and an impressive national MPLS network.” Also of note: Anittel itself recently landed on the Talkin’ Cloud 50, which tracks the world’s top VARs and MSPs in cloud computing.

Kent Erickson, President, ChannelCloud. Twitter: @ChannelCloud

Erickson previously built Pointivity, a well-known managed services provider (MSP). Now he’s playing an encore with ChannelCloud, which automates the provisioning of SaaS applications, virtual servers, virtual desktops and more for VARs and MSPs. Will ChannelCloud succeed? Too early to say. But Erickson was ahead of the cloud wave with this business.

Craig Sandman, Senior Director of Channel Alliances, NaviSite. Twitter: @NaviSite

craig sandman navisite

Sandman is building a cloud-centric channel program at NaviSite, which was acquired by Time Warner Cable in early 2011. In addition to offering basic cloud services, NaviSite is well-known for its SaaS capabilities with Oracle, PeopleSoft, Microsoft Dynamics, Siebel and Hyperion, just to name a few.

Jared Wray, CTO,  Tier 3, Twitter: @jaredwray

JaredWray

Wray is the architect behind Tier 3’s enterprise cloud platform, company insiders say. Wray oversees the company’s development, support and operations teams and is responsible for the company’s intellectual property strategy and new product development. That’s a mouthful. But what exactly does Tier 3 do? The company seems to be a multi-focused cloud provider — helping ISVs move to SaaS; and helping businesses move to Exchange 2010, SharePoint 2010 and other applications in the cloud. True believers include Channel IQ, which develops channel management solutions and embraced Tier 3 for its mission-critical applications.

Who’s Next?

Check Talkin’ Cloud each Friday for five new faces on our Talkin’ Cloud 200 list. And keep track of the overall compiled Talkin’ Cloud 200 here. If you’d like to suggest a cloud channel expert please email me (joe [at] NineLivesMediaInc [dot] com). Please be sure to include:

  • Key milestones/achievements with facts and figures.

  • The executive’s personal Twitter handle.

Follow Talkin’ Cloud via RSS, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for Talkin’ Cloud’s Weekly Newsletter, Webcasts and Resource Center. Read our editorial disclosures here.

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