As an MSP, should we build our own cloud or resell someone else's?

As an MSP, should we build our own cloud or resell someone else's?

As a midsized managed service provider (MSP), how should we decide whether to build our own cloud services or to become a partner and resell/bundle someone else's?

    Requires Free Membership to View

    SearchCloudProvider.com members gain immediate and unlimited access to breaking industry news, expert advice, highly focused cloud services newsletters, and more -- all at no cost. Join me on SearchCloudProvider.com today!

    Jessica Scarpati, Site Editor

    By submitting your registration information to SearchCloudProvider.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchCloudProvider.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

Time to market is a general consideration when developing a cloud migration plan and making investment decisions. Generally, a good initial strategy is to minimize upfront costs by leveraging another provider's infrastructure and using value-added services to increase your average revenue per user (ARPU) -- at least until you've proven yourself to the installed base and you have the revenue to justify the investment in infrastructure. 

Depending on available offers from partners, look for a lower-margin offer with an option to build, operate and transfer to your infrastructure when the profit-and-loss statement makes sense. For your initial steps into the cloud market, it is often easier to first train just your sales team to be cloud resellers; when the time is right, migrate the infrastructure and delivery team after you have established an installed base.

Have a question for Lauren Robinette? Send an email to editor@searchcloudprovider.com.

This was first published in February 2012

Join the conversationComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.