Will cloud blow away the channel?

Given white labelling will prove most cost-effective that would seem the more realistic route for the majority of resellers. It will bring them an apparent scale and the benefits of dealing with specialist hosting providers sharing the risk with them.

That risk issue is important because it is still major hurdle for many cloud services, even if it is more a question of perception than reality. In addressing that point the long standing relationships channel providers have with their customers will be worth all the marketing dollars of the pure-play cloud providers who to date have actually marginalised themselves by offering CRM, ERP and a handful of other applications via software-as-a-service.
Hybrid model
A breadth of application requirement isn’t going away however. There is no 'one size fits all' solution. The cloud is not a universal panacea. There will always be a need for hybrid and on-premise technology. The channel therefore also has a role to educate and understand the needs of the end-user.

No longer will it be a case of pushing products but rather listening to users and piecing together the services and applications they need, whether that's in the cloud or on-premise.

The perpetual accountability of cloud computing, whereby users can switch off whatever they aren’t using, means resellers will need to be closer than ever to the issues and concerns of their customers.

Ultimately, the rise of cloud computing means evolution not revolution, an apt cliché. The channel will have to move with the times and accept that the balance of power in the subscription world is switching from vendor to end user.

As service providers - as we all must become - we have to concede it should never have been any other way.

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