Let's assume you're a VMware (NYSE: VMW) channel partner. But you want to move up the value chain. Reselling virtualization software remains a pretty good gig. But you want to wrap consulting services around your VMware business. And ultimately, you want to help customers build software defined datacenters. How do you get started? The VAR Guy has some simple advice.

It goes something like this: Keep an eye on Scott Harvey, VP of professional services for VMware's Americas business. The vast majority of VMware's business flows through the channel. But at the super high-end of the market, Harvey's consulting services team has "unique insight into how best to leverage cloud computing and virtualization to dreive transformation and deliver value" to customers.

Not by coincidence, Harvey and his team have launched a VMware Consulting blog. It's a safe bet customers will be reading the blog. VMware's VARs should follow suit. 

Instead of building a consulting practice from scratch, why not study VMware's enterprise blueprint and then apply it yourself in the SMB market? 

A case in point: Mike Marx, a senior consultant for End User Computing at VMware, is busy blogging away about virtual desktop implementations amid BYOD considerations. Sure, that's a Fortune 500 issue that VMware can solve for its named accounts. But it's also a core issue channel partners can solve for a far broader base of virtualization customers.

What advice will Marx, Harvey and other VMware consulting leaders share with customers? And how can VARs apply that advice in their own customer dealings? The VAR Guy is watching.