The cloud is ever changing and taking shape, so to learn more and get a better understanding of what's happening in this space, I spoke with John Humphreys, VP of marketing at Egenera, to have that discussion.  And as part of that conversation, I learned about wholesale cloud services.

VMblog:  Thank you for speaking with us today about a new shift you are beginning to see evolving in the cloud space.  Could you tell us about this trend?

John Humphreys:  Over the next year, year and a half, we expect to see a huge change in the cloud. All those small clouds that have been created by MSPs and the like are going to slowly shut down or morph. These companies who rushed in to build their own are realizing that the value for them is not in building, managing or owning a cloud - but rather in providing the consulting and managed services on top of a cloud platform. In short - their value is their relationship to their customer and their ability to help their customer devise a cloud strategy, set a migration plan, execute that plan and make sure applications running in that platform meet performance, compliance, security and cost requirements.

VMblog:  So rather than build and manage their own cloud solution, what is the alternative for these channel players?

Humphreys:  The alternative is wholesale cloud. I predict that you're going see a major increase in the concept of cloud wholesalers - organizations that act like today's classic distributor. They will provide a cloud service, which will be sold through the IT channel in a similar way to how hardware and software are sold through distribution. These wholesalers will, in addition to providing all the business process management for their channel partners, also help those channel partners keep their brands front and center with the end user customers by allowing for white labeling of the underlying cloud service.

VMblog:  What is the benefit of wholesale solutions for channel players?

Humphreys:  These wholesale solutions enable significant benefits for MSPs and smaller service providers. There is the significant cost savings that comes from not having to deal with the up-front expense of buying the infrastructure required to create their own platform, then the added cost savings derived from not having to manage that platform going forward. All these benefits also enable greater profit margins and savings that can be pushed through to the end customers, so it's a win-win for both MSPs and end users.

VMblog:  What then should channel companies look for in a wholesale cloud service?

Humphreys:  It is important to find a wholesale provider that enables comprehensive branding so customers identify the solution with their channel provider, and also one that has sophisticated management capabilities as well as a global footprint, enabling the provider to service customers who do business around the world. In this way, the cloud service is physically distributed close to the various offices that multinational companies run, eliminating performance and latency issues, but also with data residing locally to users who may be in various locations around the world, this helps to provide better security for that data.

VMblog:  Are there any other tips you could offer MSPs looking for the right wholesale cloud service?

Humphreys:  Yes. Another very important factor MSPs should look for is a wholesale provider that has built business process management tools (BPM) into their cloud portals that are specific to resellers. These integral BPM tools are things like trouble ticketing, invoicing, billing, monitoring, alerting, etc. Beyond the provisioning, these are the tools that the reseller needs in order to truly and effectively support their end user customers.

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Once again, thanks to John Humphreys, VP of Marketing at Egenera, for taking time out to speak with VMblog.com.