The evolution of the cloud computing services market has given enterprises a considerable array of choices for storage, backup and compute power. At the same time, the cloud procurement situation is complicated by volatility among providers, with smaller companies sometimes closing shop or being acquired by larger competitors. In light of these challenges, enterprises may be well served by brokers and consultants who can steer them toward suitable services.
While many companies have entered the cloud services market, either as IaaS providers or vendors of more specific services such as server optimization or hardware customization, many enterprises still rely on solutions from a select group of category leaders. Writing for InfoWorld, Matt Prigge contrasted the current state of the cloud, in which companies may use a relatively simple combination of public cloud storage and software-as-a-service tools for CRM and email, with what he argued is the imminent reality of a more complex landscape, populated by numerous providers offering a daunting range of choices.
To make sense of the multitude of services, enterprises may turn to external companies, such as consultancies or resellers, to help with procurement, delivery and setup of cloud infrastructure. The New York Times' Bits blog recently examined a similar issue facing enterprises that were struggling to patch together legacy systems and disparate cloud services.
"[T]he fact that [cloud] services will come from a wide range of providers will create a substantial integration and support challenge," explained Rigge. "As a result, a real role is developing for companies that won't just resell, but also intelligently integrate disparate best-in-breed cloud services and deliver them as a single, supported service to their customers."
Such guidance will become more important as the provider market continues to shift. The recent shutdown of storage provider Nirvanix underscores the importance of finding a stable vendor and/or cloud middleman that can provide adequate levels of support and migration assistance.
