ChannelTrends: Add Structure to Your Cloud Practice

Few entrepreneurs are ever successful without creating and executing on a proper business plan. While some are able to start out strong by securing a large client or contract that funds their long-term operations, most launch their venture with just an innovative organizational idea and build from there.  Regardless of the approach, a structured business plan is essential to a solution provider’s short and long-term success.

When beginning a new technology or vertical practice, VARs and MSPs often start with a single existing or prospective client as a beta tester, and then scale their offerings to appeal to a greater audience. Many of the most successful cloud providers have used this approach to perfect their portfolio. Creating a service that’s both beneficial to your clients and profitable for your business isn’t an easy task; it requires careful research and, in many cases, some trial and error.

Of course, like most activities involved in building and running a successful IT channel organization, the cloud information is as plentiful as the opinions about which services to pick. A number of critical questions have to be answered when moving to the cloud and numerous decisions have to be made before a proper business plan can be assembled, including:

• Which vendors offer the solutions your customers need?
  • Do they offer partner portals or other support options for solution providers?
  • What security and disaster recovery protections are in place?
  • Who owns the account?
• Will you offer integration, training and other support services?
• How will a cloud practice affect your customer support team?
• What effect will it have on cash flow and future capital requirements?

Of course, those are just a few of the many questions you’ll need answers to from an internal business perspective. Other, just as business-critical inquiries have to be made.

Focus on the Customer Experience

The perspective you really need to build a solid cloud practice is that of your clients. Every provider has to have a firm understanding of their customers’ most pressing technological AND business requirements, challenges and opportunities. You simply can’t develop a valued cloud portfolio without assessing the potential options.

Each cloud solution should be evaluated based on its ability to address a vast majority (if not all) of your clients specific needs. Of course, vendors that are more channel friendly, with partner portals and other VAR-oriented support programs, should get extra consideration. But the most crucial aspect is ensuring the best possible customer experience.

For example, does one cloud solution have a more intuitive interface than another? Do the applications work as well in a mobile environment as they do on an office PC? Those may seem like minor issues, but if you could save each employee a minute of their time every hour, a 30 employee office could realize a 3 hours gain every day (based on an 8-hour work schedule). The financial and productivity rewards of major efficiency improvements can be quite substantial. 

Develop a Viable Cloud Plan

There are many more steps involved in building a successful cloud practice. A successful strategy requires solid research and insight from those who have already been down that path. With peer support, your team can save time and money, and avoid the pitfalls many providers run into when building their own cloud practice.

Overcoming those types of training and education hurdles is what the CompTIA Cloud Community is all about. The peer group developed a hearty curriculum for its meeting at ChannelCon, August 3^rd - 5^th in Chicago, kicking off with a panel discussion on Building a "Born In the Cloud" Business. The conversation will cover everything from vertical markets that lend themselves to Cloud offerings to best practices for creating and enhancing a practice. Expect a mix of providers, vendors and other channel professionals to join in the discussion.

ChannelCon will also feature a series of training and educational sessions to help solution providers make the leap to cloud services (or take an existing practice to the next level). These courses cover everything from the fundamentals of building a specialized business unit to more advanced skills needed to thrive, including:             

• Maximizing Stakeholder Value in a Cloud-First World: this session will focus on four key areas: Creating Scale (the land grab), Developing focus (separation from the herd), Increasing Value (maximizing wallet share), and Creating Stickiness (making customers never want to leave). Attendees will be challenged to think about not only how these fit into their strategic plans, but how to execute against each in the near term.

• Executive Certificate in Cloud Success: those who complete all three of these sessions will leave with a better understanding of what it takes to compete in this space (with document of their achievement):

• Cloud Opportunity
• Marketing Cloud Advantages
• Delivering Cloud Services 

Are you serious about adding structure (and value) to your cloud practice? Then get involved in the CompTIA Cloud Community and be sure to attend their meeting as well as the many training sessions offered at ChannelCon 2015. The first step is simple: register today.

Brian Sherman is Chief Content Officer at GetChanneled, a channel business development and marketing firm. He served previously as chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and senior director of industry alliances with Autotask. Contact Brian at [email protected].