By Charlene O'Hanlon

If financial services research firm UBS is correct, Amazon could very well be the ruler of the cloud computing space.

According to a recent UBS report, Amazons AWS cloud business is on tap to earn $500 million this year. And if the companys projections are spot on, AWS revenues could reach as high as $2.5 billion by 2014.

AWS, Amazons marketplace of Web services, offers among other things a virtual private cloud service and access to a public cloud via its Elastic Compute Cloud offering. The company made a huge bet when it debuted AWS in 2006 a time when cloud computing was more bleeding edge than cutting edge. But if the UBS numbers are correct, its safe to assume that Amazons bet has paid off.

Such an astounding number also proves there is much opportunity for the channel in the cloud computing space. As more companies move past their concerns about privacy and security and embrace the technology as a real cost-saver, cloud computing is becoming the next goldmine for the channel. ISVs and systems integrators both have business models that dovetail nicely with cloud computing. MSPs, too, can utilize the breadth and depth of cloud computing to create a unique customer experience. And as a larger number of vendors move their applications and technology into the cloud, the sky is literally the limit for the more traditional channel partners looking to add to their palette of offerings and expand their customer base.

But even as cloud computings rise to ubiquity is becoming more of a sure thing, channel partners will need to look for ways to differentiate themselves in the space. Soon it no longer will be enough to offer the platform  just as they did with traditional premise infrastructures, channel partners must find their niche in the cloud to find and sustain a level of success.