VAR partners may not survive cloud boom: TBR

“According to practice manager and principal analyst Allan Krans, companies that do make the change will form the largest segment of cloud partners, while those that don’t will ultimately not survive.

“However, the new breed of partner, such as those working with companies like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Salesforce, will need to operate in a fundamentally different manner compared with traditional partner models from the likes of Microsoft, Intel and Cisco, Krans stressed.

“’Rather than traditional IT vendors relying on partners to drive their business, in cloud those partners are on their own in many respects to identify and develop their own value-add,’” he explained.

“’Being creative, developing intellectual property and focusing on the gaps between multi-vendor solutions are much more important activities for partners in cloud programs compared with traditional ones.’”