Selling Cloud Storage

Cloud Technologies are significantly changing the way businesses operate. More and more organisations are seeing its varied benefits and are implementing it to improve efficiencies.
As the volume of data is expected to reach staggering figures, increasing number of businesses are seriously looking to cloud for storage options.
Tahawultech’s Reseller Middle East Magazine and Editor Janees Reghelini explores how channel partners can optimise the prospects present in selling cloud storage solutions.

Read here what VAD’s Aamir Shaikh, Cloud Sales Associate (AS Initials) had to say in his Interview with the Editor:
 
KEY QUESTIONS:
1.         How has the demand for cloud storage solutions evolved within the region? What are the driving factors for this growth?
AS: Based on report from Stratistics MRC, the Global Cloud Storage market is expected to grow from $18.9 billion in 2015 to reach $112.73 billion by 2022 with a CAGR of 29.1%. Some of the key drivers for the market growth include growing need for big data storage and escalating adoption of cloud storage gateways. Small and medium enterprises in the region, are inclined more towards the adaption of public cloud storage offers and tend to spend more with cloud storage solutions available today from Onedrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and other local MSP´s offerings. By overriding the spending on private storage infrastructure. The growth is attributed to increasing investments by local MSP´s in datacenters and service offerings. Top five industries such as Hospitality, Education, ICT, and Retail sectors account for more than 40% of the total market contributors in cloud storage adaption.
 
2.         Can you elaborate on key trends in cloud storage solutions?
AS: Opting for cloud storage enables businesses to run better TCO, gain capital savings) and reduce operating cost. Apart from data archiving, backup and recovery next generation applications and solutions will leverage an API enabled architecture approach by pushing the data straight to cloud from end-points and devices. Delivering a cheaper and better alternative to on premise expensive storage solutions. Data generated from medical records in healthcare, learning management systems (LMS) and the concept of flipped classroom in Education, Industry 4.0 through Industrial IoT are the next trends to lookout and considered for cloud storage being the only cost-effective option.  Similarly, vendors and partners in Video Surveillance and Monitoring (CCTV) solutions space can now leverage the cloud enabled surveillance solutions and push the captured data directly to cloud storage from IP Cameras. Such solutions are available today from Alibaba Cloud with local Dubai, UAE datacenters
 
3.         What are the challenges for partners when it comes to selling these solutions?
AS: One of the major challenge and concern, especially in the middle east region, is clarity on data security and governance. Common customer perception is that MSP´s and CSP´s can access and see their data being cloud storage provider. They are touching your data, because the its not hosted on premise with you, it is residing somewhere else in their cloud. Answer to this question about the data governance, and clarity on data security is a challenge which partners are faced when positioning cloud storage solutions. Another major challenge is the actual connectivity cost of cloud storage, majority of existing MSP´s and CSP´s have to factor the cost of bandwidth and usually charge customers for ingress bandwidth. Cost of connectivity and bandwidth utilization is still expensive in the Middle East market.  This the utilization of cloud storage can incur higher cost for frequently accessed data or hot storage.
 
4.         How can they leverage the market prospects and be profitable?
AS: Channel partner community can leverage and build a solid Go to market approach by offering hybrid cloud storage options to increase their profitability and margins. Solutions from vendors like BooleBox is a great example for cloud storage addressing the challenge of cloud storage data governance and compliance via its strict 256-bit military grade encryption and security feature offering for private or public cloud hosting. Also providing partners to opportunity to resell BooleBox cloud storage from their global data centers. Managed Service partners can also build hosted and managed Cloud environment in their datacenters. 
 
5.         How do you see the space evolving over the next two years?
AS: We will see the Middle East and Africa region losing up security and regulatory compliance in the next 2 years which right now remains the prime barrier for cloud storage implementation across large verticals such as government and financial institutions, this will enable true spirit of cloud storage to flourish in the region.
 
The full Feature and the June 2019 Edition of Reseller ME can be found here:
https://issuu.com/resellerme/docs/resellermiddleeast_20190609/1?ff&e=3070377/70464171