Partners Told: Bulk Up On Technical Skills To Succeed In Public Cloud

Fitzpatrick recommended a "stair-step" approach for those customers, where clients are allowed to move apps into the cloud one at the time. Sampling a small workload in the cloud will allow end users to feel safer and more secure, Fitzpatrick said, while easing operating expenses and integration challenges.  

"We don't have to push our customers 100 percent to the cloud," Fitzpatrick said.

A pay-as-you-go licensing model is also needed to help avoid a huge upfront commitment and not force end users into an either-or decision where workloads are delivered entirely on-premises or completely in the cloud, Fitzpatrick said.    

As far as channel partners as concerned, Fitzpatrick said born-in-the-cloud solution providers have it easier in some ways since they won't encounter the pain points associated with transitioning from a perpetual license to a subscription model.

But while legacy costs don't encumber born-in-the-cloud partners, Fitzpatrick said they also don't have any long-standing customer relationships to fall back on. Traditional solution providers, therefore, benefit from being able to sell cloud into a base of existing customers whose needs and requirements are well-understood, Fitzpatrick said.     

Azure is absolutely the largest Microsoft-focused opportunity for solution providers today, Fitzpatrick said. Surveys have indicated that the portion of companies looking to move workloads into Azure has skyrocketed from just 20 percent a year ago to 90 percent today, she said.

"We're here, and this is the cloud of the future," Fitzpatrick said. "Get in there with us."  

Microsoft's increased focus on channel enablement, particularly as it relates to engineering and sales support, will likely be well-received by partners, according to one solution provider who didn't wish to be identified. The partner also said embracing a "stair-step" approach might help some recalcitrant customers get comfortable in the cloud.

However, the partner said increasing the technical training expectations around Azure might serve as a deterrent to solution providers that have yet to launch a practice.  

"I think they could be leaving a lot of sales on the table," the partner said.