10 Trends: A Peek At Cloud in 2013

While the concept of cloud has been at the forefront of technology trends for several years, I’d argue that 2012 was the start of an inflexion point for cloud moving from the periphery to center stage. A majority of businesses began leveraging cloud, and nearly every MSP and solution provider added cloud services to their portfolios. However, cloud’s potential for growth and innovation remains in its infancy.

At Ingram Micro, it’s my responsibility to ask “what’s next?” While predicting technology trends can be dicey at best, my team has the benefit of interacting with many of the companies that are setting the trends in cloud technology. From what we’re seeing we thought we’d share a few trends and observations for 2013.

1. Tools for managing hybrid environments will gain in popularity, but namely those that offer a single pane of glass to monitor and manage the overall solution, regardless of where it is deployed.
2. Businesses, particularly SMBs, will lean heavily on the channel for advice on where and how to leverage cloud. MSPs and VARs can take advantage of distribution-vendor partnerships to keep in front of new trends.
3. Traditional channels continue to converge, and with that will come exciting new partnerships between telco, MSPs, VARs and systems integrators all eager to get involved in markets traditionally outside their domain.
4. BYOD expands to include apps, servers and more. That means both your customers and your MSP team should be open to flexibility in the technology consumption model–across both software and hardware.
5. Pre-bundled cloud solutions will grow in popularity. Customers will be drawn to “complete” solutions. MSPs are in a great position to provide customers with packaged up best-of-class solutions.
6. Competition heats up as some ISVs and vendors offer cloud-based solutions directly. Make sure your vendor and ISV partners see the value of the channel. Then, start offering your own software customization and specialization to seal the others out.
7. M2M (machine-to-machine) sparks in the channel as clouds communicate without humans required. As cloud matures, automation starts to truly enhance its value, and simplifies your life as a cloud broker.
8. Hours of operation increasingly become 24×7, and those MSPs competing in a tightening market will need a strategy for offering reliable levels of service and support around the clock.
9. Cloud security requirements continue to redefine the current standards, such as PCI, as well as technologies such as SSL. Trusted standards are starting to stumble as malware shrinks and grows smarter. Watch for innovative solutions to address this issue.
10. SMB continues to be the fastest growing cloud market, and these companies are looking for bundled apps, seamless cloud to mobile workflow, scalable solutions that grow with their business needs, and guidance.

The trend within these predictions remains the value MSPs and solution providers can offer. Whether its new security standards, automation in the cloud, or productivity enhancing app bundles, your challenge in 2013 is to assist your customers with a strategy for navigating increasing complexities around business, competition and technology.

Paul Hoffmann is Senior Director, Technology and Cloud Solutions at Ingram Micro. Guest blogs such as this one are published monthly, and are part of Talkin' Cloud's annual platinum sponsorship.