A recent article quoting a Gartner analyst suggests that the Infrastructure as a Service market may be ready for some consolidation. Specifically, the Gartner analyst said the following in regards to selecting IaaS providers:
"We urge buyers to be extremely cautious when selecting providers; ask specific and detailed questions about the provider's roadmap for the service, and seek contractual commitments that do not permit the provider to modify substantially or to discontinue the offering without at least 12 months' notice"
Now, I have a couple of comments to make about this position and about the IaaS market in general.
1) Regardless of whether larger IaaS providers may be consolidating, this likely will not impact the smaller and mid-sized MSPs who are managing infrastructure on behalf of their customers. Why is this? The owner of the infrastructure is less important than who "controls" the infrastructure. Ownership will come down to price, whereas management will come down to trust. If you agree with this, then the IaaS provider (if it is separate from the MSP) will not matter.
2) It could be argued that IaaS is becoming a commodity. There is something to this argument, especially if you look at providers like RackSpace who left IaaS behind in search of more lucrative managed services customers. However, for the average MSP, IaaS is merely a means to an end. The end being management of a customers' infrastructure and data. Under no circumstances should MSPs allow IaaS to commoditize their managed services. Don't fall for this!
3) If you are a IaaS provider, or put differently, if you are a MSP who happens to also offer IaaS, don't worry, you have some options. There are a number of MSPs who have developed a channel or IaaS product offering and may be reading this. If you are, simply incorporate your IaaS into a larger managed services (i.e., cloud) strategy. If you are exclusively taking your IaaS via the channel, I'd probably stop doing this. Your future is in servicing the end customer. While I would NOT openly compete with any existing MSPs, it is likely a better strategy to focus on core managed services to customers (along with your strategic partnerships with other MSPs), rather than risk everything on a channel play that ultimately may not succeed.
