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5th Annual Trends in Cloud ComputingChannel Perspectives

Primary Catalysts for Channel Business Transformation

Defensive move against obsolescence

Margins on product sales declining

Vendors pushing for change

New financial models are more lucrative

Desire for recurring revenue model

Demand for new services and IT delivery

Cloud pushing in new directions

23%

23%

27%

32%

35%

36%

41%

Source: CompTIA’s 5th Annual Trends in Cloud Computing | Base: 400 channel firms with cloud offerings

Cloud Optimism in the Channel Continues

63%

30%8%

Extremely positive Positive

Mixed/Negative

Cloud’s Impact on Channel in Last 5 Years

4 in 10 channel firms expect their cloud-based revenue to grow by 15% or more in the coming year compared with 26% in 2013.

Source: CompTIA’s 5th Annual Trends in Cloud Computing | Base: 400 channel firms with cloud offerings

Cloud Business Model Frameworks

Procure HW + SW; add expertise to

build cloud

IaaS | PaaS | SaaS

Build Provide/Provision Enable/Integrate Manage/Support

Public |Private | Hybrid

Architecture

Consulting | Advising | IT Solutions

Cloud Aggregation | Brokerage Services

White-label

Hosting

Integration

Customization

Break/fix

Managed Services

Resell Deployment

Source: CompTIA

52%42% 39%

47%

36%48% 54%

46%

Build Provide/ Provision

Manage/ Support

57%

43%

Mature

Somewhat Mature / Not That

Mature

Cloud Business Model Maturity Self-Assessment

Cloud Business Model Involvement

Enable/Integrate

Currently provide

Plan to provide

Cloud Business Model Adoption & Progress

Source: CompTIA’s 5th Annual Trends in Cloud Computing | Base: 400 channel firms with cloud offerings

Top Provide/Provision Cloud Offerings Last Year

1. Data analytics

2. Virtual desktop

3. Business productivity apps

4. Email

5. Storage

6. Help desk

7. Business continuity

8. Collaboration

9. Call center solutions

10. Finance solutions

Note: rank order listings are useful for summary purposes, but should NOT be interpreted quantitatively. For example, the first ranked item is not necessarily 10 times more important than the tenth ranked item.

By the Numbers…

71% of firms identifying as “cloud mature” sell data analytics

75% of largest channel firms sell business productivity cloud solutions compared with just 48% of smaller companies

63% of those that offer just a single cloud solution made it email

Source: CompTIA’s 5th Annual Trends in Cloud Computing | Base: 169 channel firms with Provide/Provision cloud offerings

Year-over-Year Cloud Traction Positive for Channel

Cloud vs. Established Products/Services Revenue Growth

Estab-lished

growing faster

Growing at same rate

Cloud growing

faster

26%22%

50%

19% 21%

58%

Cloud vs. Established Products/Services Profit Margins

Established higher

Roughly the same

Cloud higher

21%

30%

49%

11%

24%

64%

Source: CompTIA’s 5th Annual Trends in Cloud Computing | Base: 400 channel firms with cloud offerings

Challenges Deemed “Very Significant” by Channel on Rise

Optimizing markering and sales messaging for cloud

Developing cloud expertise (technical and sales)

Deciding which vendors to work with

Cash flow/financial considerations

Initial costs (infrastructure etc.)

Balancing needs of legacy business and cloud sales

Determining appropriate business model

49%

50%

43%

46%

44%

44%

45%

54%

56%

52%

52%

56%

57%

59%

Source: CompTIA’s 5th Annual Trends in Cloud Computing | Base: 400 channel firms with cloud offerings

20132014

Steps Taken to Mitigate Cloud Transition Challenges

1. Invested in technical, sales and business training

2. Transitioned just a portion of business to cloud; scale later

3. Used third-party data center provided rather than build own NOC

4. Accessed vendor-provided training

5. Hired new sales reps to sell cloud services

6. Partnered with other solution providers to combine skill sets

7. Pursued additional credit/capital

Note: rank order listings are useful for summary purposes, but should NOT be interpreted quantitatively. For example, the first-ranked item is not necessarily 7 times more important than the seventh-ranked item.

Source: CompTIA’s 5th Annual Trends in Cloud Computing | Base: 400 channel firms with cloud offerings

Roughly half of respondents turned to a third-party data center provider for cloud in 2014, up from 31% last year.

About CompTIA Market Research

Source: CompTIA Market Research

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