Robert Fuller (pictured), VP of worldwide channels at Rackspace, will spend considerable time in front of partners and customers this October. Indeed, Fuller is prepared to outline Rackspace’s channel partner strategy during the second annual Rackspace Partner Leadership Summit (October 5-6) and  the inaugural Rackspace SaaS Summit (October 7), both of which will be hosted in San Antonio. Among the event highlights: A new SaaS effort called AppMatcher. Here are the details.

First, some background: No doubt, Rackspace has momentum in the cloud market. Indeed, Rackspace added 8,510 customers to its cloud computing business in the second quarter of 2010, while boosting the revenue from each cloud customer during the quarter.

Competition is potentially intensifying, especially since big service providers like Verizon are launching cloud services for SMBs. But now for the twist: While many big service providers plan to sell direct to SMBs, Rackspace has been expanding its channel partner program. During its Q2 earnings announcement on August 10, Rackspace specifically mentioned its channel momentum and recent partner relationships with Ingram Micro Seismic and XO Communications.

Looking Ahead

So, what’s next for Rackspace in the channel?

During the Rackspace Partner Leadership Summit, Fuller will outline the One Rackspace Partner Program. Also, Ingram Micro will be on hand to describe how channel partners can build the cloud into their service portfolios to generate more business. It’s also safe to expect Rackspace to cover Open Stack — an open source cloud computing platform that Rackspace is promoting to multiple service providers.

Then, during the Rackspace SaaS Summit, the hosting giant will outline the SaaS Partnership Program. Plus, Rackspace is expected to describe AppMatcher, a matching engine that allows businesses to find and select the most ideal SaaS applications. Apparently, AppMatcher is in beta now.

Sign up for The VAR Guy’s Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook;   Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.

Read More About This Topic

Share This Post

Leave a Comment

 

Blog-Powered Site By ContentRobot