Structuring the Cloud: Where Is the Industry Today?

Most contemporary telecom observers, whether in the industry or third-party observers like consultants and pundits, see the cloud-computing model as the industry’s inevitable destination. The cloud offers too many obvious economic, technological and operational advantages to dismiss it as a, pardon the image, pie-in-the-sky fantasy.

There is still sharp debate, however, about the schedule to reach that destination, and the specific triggers that will drive the industry toward it. Problems remain to be solved. The advantages the cloud model offers will not by themselves, like some technological deus ex machina, make the transformation happen.

That is one reason the Cloud and Technology Alliance, or CTTA, was formed. A partnership between The 2112 Group and Channel Partners, the CTTA is devoted to defining Cloud specifics, discussing best practices, and moving the industry from the discussion phase toward tangible action.

Led by CEO Larry Walsh of The 2112 Group, a celebrity journalist and well-known savant in IT circles, the CTTA recently completed an interesting survey that will be made public soon. (For complete information about the CTTA, go here. For Channelnomics, The 2112 Group’s excellent website for all things IT and technology, go here.)

Consider the next few paragraphs an authorized leak from the CTTA research.

Most respondents are recording revenues by selling cloud services, but the size of those revenues is all over the map. However, nearly 8 percent reported that cloud services now account for more than 90 percent of their revenues.

On the other hand, more than 40 percent of the respondents attribute fewer than 10 percent of their gross revenues to cloud services. So while most respondents are working the cloud, some respondents are already all in.

It is noteworthy that the level of profitability attributed by respondents to their cloud sales tracks revenues, but is slightly larger. Cloud is a profitable model for this group. That relationship will get everyone’s attention.

Respondents also reported a large set of services are included in their cloud sales. The three largest at the moment are voice/VoIP, data storage and backup/disaster recovery.

Finally, respondents identified 10 challenges to meeting customers’ needs with cloud services. The three largest in ascending order are: not offering the services customers need or want; uncertainty over the business model; and, the most important, lack of expertise. Those three challenges, it seems clear, are closely related.

That is why the cloud will be an important part of the upcoming Channel Partners Conference & Expo, March 26-29, Las Vegas. Go here to learn more about Channel Partners. The CTTA will hold its event in conjunction with the Channel Partners Conference & Expo.

If you want to learn more about the cloud and the opportunity it represents for your business, you should be in Las Vegas in late March. You must register for the Channel Partners conference to attend the cloud sessions. If you want to attend the CTTA’s sessions, you also must register for the Channel Partners conference and then register for the CTTA – but there is no additional charge for the CTTA.

However, space is limited. Through early February, more than 200 people have registered for the CTTA – so don’t wait to register if you want a seat at the CTTA’s!

Go here to register for the Channel Partners Conference & Exp and make sure you also register for the CTTA before it is too late.Larry Lannon is group publisher of VIRGO’s Communications Network, which includes Billing & OSS World, Channel Partners and V2M.