If advertising is any gauge, everyone is selling cloud now. Even though some of the most hype-filled promotions don’t specifically spell out for their intended audience the benefits of this thriving technology delivery method, the frequency of their pitch is likely encouraging prospective clients to conduct their own research. That’s good news for those in the channel, as long as they have the confidence and capabilities to provide a superior service.
While some industry professionals suggest that, based on the number of offerings and price discussions, the cloud has already reached the point of commoditization, it’s actually becoming a much more viable business opportunity for channel businesses. Large providers, telecoms and vendors are actually paving the way for solution providers. Their promotions and education programs are driving consumer interest and awareness, which are creating greater sales opportunities for true cloud delivery professionals.
In every industry, market leaders drive volume from their consumer base, with greater profits from selling their products or services to enterprise organizations. They typically market heavily to both audiences, but rarely have the sales and consulting teams needed to effectively target the SMB segment. In IT, that role still falls to solution providers, who have the skills to assess the specific needs of their business customers. No amount of marketing can substitute for the quality reputation gained by a qualified and trusted consultant.
The most successful of these valued solution providers follow a similar vetting process when looking for new cloud vendors. For example, does the supplier meet specific security standards and have plans in place to ensure continuity of services? A number of factors can compromise the performance and/or security of cloud services, but there are no formal, channel-vetted guidelines that can help solution providers evaluate prospective offering.
CompTIA is in the early stages of filling that void with a vendor-focused cloud business credential. An early initiative of the Cloud Community, the particular details of this prospective Trustmark and the associated programs are being currently being debated. The value of any channel-associated credential depends on the support it receives from the entire community, including solution providers, vendors and other professionals with a stake in that practice or specialty. While obtaining a broad consensus for each best practice can be a difficult task, it’s an essential step in the creation of an industry respected Trustmark.
Business credentials are meant to push the bar, not to make it easy for every company to earn one without improving their operations and support. While finding a consensus among a diverse group of solution providers and vendors can be difficult, it’s an essential element of any professional channel designation. To create a standard that clearly differentiates a good from a great business, everyone involved in that process may have to make changes in their own organization in order to receive the Trustmark. Few, if any, companies could use their own processes as a template for an industry credential, though each may be able to offer a unique, beneficial best practice to the collective discussion.
For example, the goal of the currently-in-development cloud Trustmark is to offer assurances to resellers and their customers by ensuring that cloud vendors are able to meet a certain level of technical performance. That requires group members to contribute a variety of ideas while remaining as impartial as possible in work sessions, which is no easy task for those personally invested in building their own company’s best practices. CompTIA members have consistently shown their ability to do what’s best for the entire community, which typically improves the opportunities available to their partners, friends and their own organization.
CompTIA continues its long history of strong commitment to vendor neutrality and each of the association’s Trustmarks is designed to honor that long-standing pledge. The baseline security and support best practices currently being evaluated for the cloud Trustmark are not intended to exclude any company from participating, though some organizations may need to make some positive changes to participate in the program. After all, business credentials aren’t meant to be a stamp of approval for every firm that fills out an application. There have to be fair, well-defined objectives and rules for any applicant to follow and implement in their own organization and no arbitrary stipulations to prevent interested parties from participating.
That’s why Trustmark goals and controls are clearly spelled out and directly related to the specialty being validated, with each part of the program carefully vetted by the greater community. Would you like to take part in the creation and introduction of the cloud Trustmark? Contact Katherine Hunt at Kate.Hunt@Comptia.org for details on the Cloud Community’s monthly conference call.
Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and senior director of industry alliances with Autotask. Contact Brian at Bsherman@techsuccesscommunications.com.
