Westcon Group buys way into cloud aggregation game
Distributor reveals cloud battle plans with acquisition of Verecloud
Westcon Group has become the latest major distributor to set out its stall in the cloud market by snapping up the assets of cloud aggregation and brokerage platform Verecloud.
Verecloud's platform has the claimed ability to process millions of concurrent transactions in real time, including subscription services delivered by multiple cloud service providers.
Westcon Group, whose Comstor arm is Cisco's largest global distributor, said coupling Verecloud's assets with its cloud enablement service will allow its VAR partners to "generate significant revenue from cloud-enabled services". Verecloud chief executive John McCawley will now lead Westcon Group's Cloud Solutions Practice.
"Weston Group and Verecloud have been working together during the past 18 months and co-developed a truly differentiated cloud go-to-market capability for the channel," said Westcon Group chief executive Dolph Westerbos.
"Our services distribution solution sets us apart from the industry, hence we decided to ‘in-source' that intellectual property through this acquisition."
Westcon Group, part of South Africa-based IT group Datatec, told us Verecloud's capabilities would be available to partners across all the territories in which it operates, including the UK.
Distributors will have harboured mixed feelings on the rise of cloud computing as it threatens to disintermediate them from the supply chain by nullifying one of their core functions of stocking and shipping physical products. However, the top players have worked hard to carve out a role in the market in recent years, with Arrow and Tech Data both developing cloud billing platforms. UK outfit Westcoast even invested £1m in opening its own datacentre.
A recent whitepaper by CompTIA concluded there is no reason why disties should not retain an important role in aggregation, hosting, and support of cloud services.
Westcon's Westerbos said owning a cloud platform means it won't have to rely on third-party software development.
"Furthermore, having cloud services distribution fully integrated with our hardware and software distribution systems and operational processes allows us to seamlessly transact cloud and hybrid solutions as business-as-usual," he said.
Founded in 2006, Verecloud initially built a cloud integration and marketplace platform for the telecoms industry, before going on to launch its Nimbus platform for resellers and distribution. It is designed to provide a single source for resellers and their customers to discover, buy, monitor, and manage their cloud services ecosystem, said McCawley.
"No other provider can match the flexibility, efficiency and savings provided by our platform," McCawley added.
"Westcon Group is a company that truly grasps the power of the cloud and all it can bring to resellers and the channel."