Cloud to 'shrink channel' - yes and no
At Cloudmore we can see that the channel is already changing, Hardware VARs have been aware of this for some time, Businesses are now very canny at buying from the most cost effective source. However for us the in the industry who happily use the latest and greatest without a thought it is easy to forget about the average business has no idea which services might be appropriate, reliable and good value, and will worry about data security. Indeed we are told that the nirvana for software vendors is to sell via the web. Well let’s have a little think for a moment: how many of these services have achieved real scale using this method, and don't all shout Salesforce, they have one of the most effective offline sales engines ever!
So if the channel moves away from supply and fit, and uses its valuable trusted advisor status to add value to services through advice installation, configuration and training. Software vendors and ISV's will continue to use the channel to reach further down to access that all-important SMB sector and probably use Cloud Services Provider like Cloudmore to do so!
Mark
Biting the hand that feeds IT
