Google and the channel - the story so far
Vendor's EMEA partner boss Peter Lorant discusses the competitive landscape and how VARs can monetise the cloud
Google stormed into the channel two years ago amid much fanfare and bravado. The search engine giant made all the right noises about taking the fight to Microsoft with its Google Apps proposition, but how much progress has it made?
At the recent CRN Partner Connect event in Coventry, Peter Lorant (pictured), EMEA head of channel for Google Apps, addressed attendees to discuss what his firm has learned since 2009. He also advised resellers on how best to make money from the cloud. We round up the key points of an entertaining address.
On the state of the cloud market
Cloud is now a bit off a buzzword but, a year ago, I think I was the only the vendor that was talking about cloud. 43 per cent of CIOs want to transition to a cloud-dominated infrastructure. Half of global 1,000 companies want to use cloud for their top revenue generators. But we have been down this road before. Remember ASP (active server pages)? Sun was a very early adopter. Cost at that point was the main motivator.
When we look at the market share that cloud providers have, we are still in the early adopter stage. Cloud is becoming muddied. I was at a trade show and AMD was portraying itself as a cloud provider. Salesforce.com is a tremendously successful poster boy for cloud but it is actually quite clunky. With Google Apps there are more than 120 features launched every year.
| Table (bordered) |
|---|
|
On how to make money from the cloud * Change management and training * Customisation * Taking customers 100 per cent web Can you make money on £33 per user, per year on 20 per cent margin? If that is all you do, you're not going to make money. Your ability to cross-sell and upsell other products and services is limitless. Customisation is where you really start to get into the money, but [the ultimate] is when you help customers go 100 per cent web. I do not think any partner is there yet. We are trying to lead the way and lead the discussion. This is where 100 per cent of applications can be accessed anywhere you want. The business value of getting into that 100 per cent web story is tremendous. |
On Google's channel so far
On competing vendors
On what resellers should do
* Form a dedicated cloud team
If you do not have one, it is not going to work. If you're selling full-fat on-premise and cheaper cloud, the compensation packages will determine how well you deliver* Sharpen your solution selling skills
Why are you better than your competitor in selling the same product? [There is a] very different type of skill needed
* Move quickly and lightly
If you're out there trying to give £33 per user per year, [you cannot] then do a customer self-engagement that cost £300,000 and takes six months. The traditional very high day rates and long consultancy cycles are gone
| Table (bordered) |
|---|
|
On channel competition Do not flood the market. We have just heard that there are 30,000 Microsoft partners in the UK. I thought that was 30,000 in the M25. [It is a] feeding frenzy. Having a very complementary partner community is very important. Do not worry about size. Everybody is interested in the Capgeminis and Accentures. But even people that have 20 staff may have more people dedicated to our technology than the biggest SIs. |