Big Week for Google Apps Resellers — But Microsoft Weighs In
It was a huge week for Google Apps resellers — the best of which seem to be winning big cloud services deals, expanding operations and announcing blockbuster mergers. But don’t count out Microsoft, where Channel Chief Jon Roskill predicts his company will emerge as the world’s largest provider of cloud software. Here’s the latest scorecard, from The VAR Guy.
On the Google Apps partner front this week:
- Big Expansion: French Google Apps reseller Revevol launched a U.S.-based business, called Revevol Apps, to focus on cloud application extensions and new opportunities using Google App Engine.
- Big Merger: Cloud Sherpas, the Google Enterprise 2011 Partner of the Year, merged with GlobalOne, a Salesforce.com platinum consulting partner, to form a cloud services provider giant. Even before the deal, Cloud Sherpas was a Talkin’ Cloud 50 company, ranking among the world’s top CSPs.
- Big Win: Tempus Nova, a Google Apps reseller focused on the government market, won a big cloud deal with the State of Colorado. It covers 26,000 users. (The VAR Guy’s sister site, Windows IT Pro, offers views from within Colorado.)
Big stuff. The VAR Guy is impressed. The examples above represent wake-up calls to traditional VARs and resellers that continue to ignore or run away from cloud opportunities.
Clearly, pure cloud integrators seem to be gaining traction. For traditional VARs and resellers, you’re running out of time to build your cloud strategy, The VAR Guy believes.
Microsoft: We’re Number One in the Cloud
Meanwhile, Microsoft refuses to bow to Google in the cloud and SaaS markets. In an interview, Microsoft Channel Chief Jon Roskill noted that cloud applications represent a very small portion of Google’s business, where search revenues continue to dominate the balance sheet.
In stark contrast, Roskill said, Microsoft will ultimately be in position to claim it is the world’s largest provider of cloud computing software. In addition to Office 365 and Windows Azure revenue streams, Roskill pointed to growing momentum among third-party cloud services providers that offer hosted Exchange, hosted SharePoint and more.
(Side note: The interview with Roskill occurred a few days before the three Google Apps news developments noted above.)
Time to Choose Sides
For VARs and resellers, it’s time to choose sides. Whether you decide to support or compete with Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps, you need an answer to the cloud question. Clearly, the shift to cloud applications is accelerating. Just ask Revevol, Cloud Sherpas and Tempus Nova — three channel partners that have built businesses for the age of cloud computing.
As we enter the cloud world I am confident we will see many in the channel become more agnostic and provide customers a choice of cloud service, bring that there is no or little deployment needed, allowing resellers to facilitate a wider range of cloud technologies to customers, with value add coming from post configuration and business alignment of cloud service as opposed to technical installations.
A free series of Whitepapers on Reselling Cloud with vendor agnostic content is available at – http://www.webroot.co.uk/En_GB/land-reselling-the-cloud-2011.html
Ian Moyse
workbooks.com
Ian,
The VAR Guy isn’t sure if the channel will become vendor-agnostic in the cloud. Much like the traditional IT channel, some partners will be agnostic… but perhaps most will line up with specific vendors (er, service providers).
-TVG