A trend appears to be taking shape in the form of companies who aggregate or "broker" cloud solutions. Let's call these companies cloud brokers. While the notion of cloud brokers may sound useful, even a good idea, let's examine the historical record and see what we may learn.
At least a decade ago, when managed services was going through its first phase of fanatical adoration, the idea of MSP brokers started to take hold. Only a few (less than 5) companies tried it and this is basically how their business model worked. The broker would identify an end-user, determine their outsourcing/managed services needs, and then seek out several MSPs to bid on the work. The MSPs were not in a position to really discuss anything with the customer. The relationship belonged to the broker, who handled the paperwork, the negotiation, the SLA, etc. In case you're wondering, there aren't that many, if any, of those MSP brokers around today.
So, can we expect the same fate for cloud brokers as well? My guess is yes. But, let's make sure we define the roles more carefully. When I think of a cloud broker, I think of a MSP that is delivering, at least a core set of the IT services to the customer. This is the difference that makes all the difference. The early MSP brokers failed precisely because they had nothing of value to add to the MSP/customer relationship. All they were doing was inserting themselves into the middle. MSPs add value by their very nature. MSPs who have their own service offerings, along with other cloud solutions, should do very well. If you call those types of companies cloud brokers, then so be it.
If you are going to be in the middle of the customer and the service provider, you had better be a service provider yourself. Otherwise, you end up being nothing of value to anyone!
