Forrester warns of cloud collision

Analyst says some vendors are on a crash course with their resellers in a race to the clouds

Mushroom cloud: Vendors and resellers are set for a collision if they don't examine their strategies

A leading analyst firm has warned that channel players and vendors are set on a collision course when it comes to the cloud.

Forrester has urged vendors not to forget the existence of their channel partners as they strive to be the top provider of cloud technology in their field.

The analyst joined forces with Outsource Channel Executives (OCE) to survey 160 reseller leaders across the globe, with results revealing that the vast majority have either launched their own cloud business, or have plans and desires to do so.

But despite having cloud aspirations, some channel firms will fail in their mission.

This, Forrester believes, will lead to a wash out of 12 to 15 per cent of channel companies within the next three to five years. M&A activity will also increase in the managed service provider market, with acquisition price multiples falling "dramatically".

Tim Harmon, analyst at Forrester, said in a statement: “In the race to the cloud, many tech vendors have forgotten that ever-critical customer relationship vehicle: the channel. Or if they haven’t forgotten about it, they have coaxed channel partners with the pat mantra: 'Do more consulting (while we take care of delivery)'.

“The results of our survey with OCE tell quite a story: that there is a good deal of angst and confusion among channel partners over their role and value in cloud services technology; that they are not sitting on their hands, waiting for vendors to tell them what to do; and that they need a lot of help in transforming their marketing and business models in this new era of cloud computing.”

"It's those tech vendors that amp their channel game to enable their partners' cloud aspirations that are going to come away as new channel chiefs,” he added.