Even after working with cloud solutions and vendors for some time, the massive scale of the move to this delivery model can still take you by surprise. The recent Ingram Micro Cloud Summit event, held in Scottsdale Arizona this week, provided just the latest example of the explosive growth and momentum in the cloud. It’s clear customer adoption, and the channel’s focus on the cloud has turned a corner.

Launched just three years ago, the Ingram event has doubled each year in size. Ingram has been expanding its cloud offerings at about the same rate. In a series of announcements at the event, Ingram revealed that its Cloud Marketplace now features 100 solutions from 40 vendors. Recently announced additions include such industry players and technologies as Salesforce.com’s Force.com, VMware Horizon Application Manager, CA AppLogic and Amazon Web Services Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).

After attending the event, I was also struck by a few other key trends:

• Solution packaging and definition are vital. The channel is seeing strong demand for packaged solutions. What’s increasingly sought after are packages where, not only is the solution itself clearly defined, but the business model and the value proposition for customers are clearly defined as well. With this definition, the channel is starting to see faster market penetration with its cloud offerings.
• Core vs. chore discussion takes hold. We’ve been discussing this concept for some time, and it’s clear the “core vs. chore” vernacular has struck a chord in the market. Core vs. chore, and its implications for enterprise IT teams and service providers, was front of mind for many speakers and attendees, and a frequent discussion point throughout the event.
• Nimsoft and service providers aligned for growth. According to the MSP Mentor, the top three growth markets for managed services are remote monitoring and management, backup and recovery and help desk. Given our continued growth in the service provider space and the strength of our solutions in each of these segments, it’s clear Nimsoft has a compelling opportunity to both facilitate and share in the massive growth of the service provider market.

Event’s like the Cloud Summit provide a vivid illustration of the cloud’s massive potential, and just how far we’ve come in a short time; it was great to be a part of it. To get more context on CA and Nimsoft’s role at the event, be sure to check out the slides below.