Comments on: SaaS and Clouds: Should VARs Build, Assemble, Partner or Buy?

By: Frank Bennett

Frank Bennett — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:04:05 +0000

AS someone building partner networks to deliver SaaS/Cloud services I see the majority favour a partner approach and the main reason being: lower capital requirements minimise risk to the business. The lock in is something to think about but that is about choosing your partners wisely. For some this may mean making tough choices as in the case presented by Microsoft for BPOS. If you want more information on upside/downside of selling BPOS I recommend Thinking of…Selling Microsoft Online Services? Ask the Smart Questions available at Amazon.

By: The VAR Guy

The VAR Guy — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:18:37 +0000

Tim: The VAR Guy is high on cloud and SaaS, but our resident blogger thinks hybrid solutions are here to stay…

By: Tim Wessels

Tim Wessels — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:45:03 +0000

I’d say that “cloud/SaaS” IT is the future for all VARs. The days of selling servers, PCs and proprietary packaged software products is just about over. We are in a serious economic depression that is making it impossible for small business customers to obtain credit or financing for the next round of hardware and software upgrades. The cloud is going to be the IT infrastructure and services platform of the future. It might take 10 years to get everyone on board but everything in IT is moving into the cloud. Cloud computing is an unstoppable trend due to the cost savings and improved service levels you get in cloud environments. Pay for what you use is the future of IT. All opex and virtually (no pun) no capex. As for VARs getting into creating their own computing clouds…I’m not so sure about that as it would seem to require a level of capitalization way beyond the typical small business VAR. But then again when 64-core CPUs get here and everyone has super Internet bandwidth, who knows.