Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 23 | Page 66

FINAL WORD For system integrators: With more than half of small businesses using cloud technology for sales, growth and productivity, the transition to cloud services has opened new avenues for SIs to provide value-added services to small and medium-size businesses. It makes sense for SIs to invest in a more diverse business model that caters to businesses taking on offers can pave the way towards plenty of newer opportunities. These include SaaS delivery and pricing models, mobile access, customisation and core functionality such as owned data centres for creating, managing and updating dedicated applications for each customer. Reshaping business propositions in this way, supported by exceptional service the channel, driven by high service delivery expectations from customers, will forever change how the channel operates. Customers will continue to demand a high level of quality from service providers who understand their business, offer local customer support and have expertise that can improve operational performance. But in addition, they will be looking for the cloud and SaaS. For example, the hurdles faced by an organisation transitioning to the cloud from legacy infrastructures and systems are numerous, but present a great opportunity for SIs to oversee the transition from start to finish. in terms of both technical expertise and general service delivery, will help the channel to stay relevant and competitive in the cloud. service provider to have the ability to deliver an application environment that enables business agility. IT channel partners, ISVs and SIs who proactively embrace and deliver on these propositions are destined to stay afloat in the cloud. ˜ For ISVs: The growth in popularity of Platform- as-a-Service (PaaS) may have replaced opportunities that were once owned by ISVs, but there are still a multitude of ways to leverage cloud computing. For example, incorporating the most important value propositions that cloud-based software 66 The next wave It’s a given that the impact of cloud computing on