NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Cloud Technology Alliance, an organization of the top independent software vendors in the cloud office space, today released its 2015 Partnering in the Cloud Survey, which finds major differences in the way Microsoft and Google channel partners bring cloud services to their customers. The survey was conducted to understand how channel partners select vendor partnerships and take cloud solutions to market.
“There is a difference in the way channel partners sell cloud solutions and services to Microsoft and Google’s customers, and as the survey demonstrates, a knowledge of these differentiators will help solution providers be successful in the global shift to the cloud office,” said David Politis, BetterCloud CEO and member of the Cloud Technology Alliance. “The 2015 Partnering in the Cloud Survey identifies and benchmarks key channel-related business metrics in order to help solution providers establish best practices and create successful partnerships in order to drive channel sales.”
Conducted in June 2015, the Partnering in the Cloud Survey asked solution providers 25 in-depth questions on how they select vendor partnerships and take cloud solutions to market. The findings reveal not only how cloud solution providers are managing their businesses and vendors, but also differences between the Google Apps and Microsoft channels.
Key Findings – Overall:
- From a profitability perspective, the average channel partner makes most of their profits from “professional services”, followed by “cloud solutions resale” and then “managed services”. Microsoft channel partners still have profitable hardware and on-premises software resale businesses, but the margins are lower.
- Seventy-seven percent of channel partners reported that they have formal account management to manage customers after the initial sale.
- Almost 50 percent of respondents reported that responding to inbound recruiting campaigns is the least important method when it comes to initiating new vendor relationships.
- Eighty-four percent of respondents ranked “the availability of a reseller console to manage customers’ deployments” as “extremely” or “very high” in importance when evaluating a potential partnership with a vendor. While the channel is receptive to startups and international independent software vendors (ISVs), their preference is to work with market leaders and they will evaluate other solutions from their existing vendors.
Key Findings – Google Apps vs. Microsoft Channel:
- Fifty percent of 2014 revenues for Google Apps partners came from the sale of recurring cloud services, while non-cloud services represented only 13 percent of the average Google Apps resellers’ 2014 revenues.
- Microsoft channel partners received almost 39 percent of their 2014 revenues from recurring cloud services, and 25 percent from non-cloud services, but the Microsoft channel intends to accelerate revenues from recurring cloud services in 2015, with 90 percent reporting that they expect recurring cloud revenues to be higher than in 2014 (compared to 73 percent of the Google channel base).
- Google Apps partners tended to have a higher portion of their staff involved in sales than those who resell Microsoft solutions.
- Google Apps partners on average work with less than five vendors, and solution providers who focus on Microsoft technologies typically work with 6-10 vendors.
- In the Microsoft channel 77 percent of respondents said they offer multiple vendors’ solutions in each category, while only 54 percent of Google’s channel partners offer alternative solutions.
- Over 90 percent of Microsoft and Google Apps resellers surveyed said that they frequently go through strategic reviews of their vendor portfolios and weed out underperformers.
The survey respondents included 87 companies from around the globe. Thirty-nine percent were based in North America, 30 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 16 percent in Central America, South America and the Caribbean and 15 percent were based in the Asia-Pacific region. Survey respondents included companies who resell and deploy Google Apps for Work and/or Office 365. The Cloud Technology Alliance also conducted a similar survey with ISVs committed to taking their cloud solutions to market through the channel, which will be released in the coming weeks. The information from both surveys is cross-referenced throughout the report.
For more information or to become a member of the Cloud Technology Alliance please visit, http://www.cloudtechnologyalliance.com/become-member/.
About the Cloud Technology Alliance
Founded in 2011, the Cloud Technology Alliance is comprised of the leading independent software vendors in the cloud office ecosystem. Serving as the only consortium of cloud-based third party products integrated with IT systems, the Cloud Technology Alliance advocates for the developer community and seeks to advance the entire ecosystem. While cloud-based software has seen tremendous growth, many companies are stuck in limbo operating in the cloud while also relying on on-premises legacy software. By leveraging third-party solutions like those offered by Cloud Technology Alliance members, companies can deprecate on-premises systems and move to a completely cloud-based IT infrastructure. Member companies provide software solutions covering a variety of categories and objectives.
