Cloud channel grows in India

cloud services showing increased demand among Indian small and medium businesses (SMEs), there has been a healthy growth in the number of channel partners offering cloud solutions as part of their product/services portfolio, Biztech2.com writes.

The total number of Indian SME channel partners has increased by nearly 10% in the past year, whereas the number of cloud channel partners has increased by approximately 35%. This translates to a significant shift in the number of Indian partners that are gravitating towards offering cloud solutions.

While a typical Indian SME-focused cloud channel partner has been in business for around 10 years, they have only added cloud solution offerings in the last two to three years. AMI's recently released India channel partner study reveals that channel partners offering cloud solutions tend to be optimistic - they are expecting strong revenue growth driven by customer demand for hosted applications and vendor investments in this area. Quality of solutions and post-sales service are the major drivers to accelerate cloud adoption among SME customers in India.

"Many cloud channel partners have said that a major hindrance to the adoption of cloud-based solutions by Indian SMEs is the lack of understanding surrounding these applications and the inherent value they offer," Market Watch quotes Arnab Bhar, analyst at AMI-India, as saying.

In order to maintain a healthy growth rate in the number of partners offering cloud solutions, cloud vendors need to boost marketing initiatives and help partners educate Indian SMEs on cloud solutions' value.

For a vendor to be successful in offering cloud services in India, it is necessary to meet the expectations of their partners. When surveyed, Indian cloud channel partners responded that access to 24/7 customer support, training of sales people, and lead generation/referrals are among the service and support features they require most from cloud vendors.