Category Archives: CIF

Alex Hilton, CIF, Cloud Industry Forum, Intermedia, Richard Walters

Intermedia gets behind Cloud Industry Forum

Intermedia has joined the CIF

Intermedia has joined the CIF

Cloud management platform provider Intermedia has joined the Cloud Industry Forum in a bid to boost IT reseller and channel sales.

Intermedia’s cloud management platform is aimed at value-added resellers and managed service providers primarily, and helps them support and build demand for cloud services.

By joining the standards body it hopes to certify its cloud services and benefit from the CIF’s evangelising role and existing channel relationships.

“There are some shining examples of resellers that have fully embraced cloud – and are reaping the rewards as a result – but there are many that have yet to adopt it. Intermedia can support resellers who are uncertain as to how to take their first steps to the cloud, as much as we can support those that are looking to transition their whole business to the cloud,” explained Richard Walters, general manager for Intermedia EMEA.

“There’s a significant opportunity, but moving successfully to the cloud does call for fundamental changes to resellers’ business models and it’s important that cloud providers like us can support their transition. The work of the Cloud Industry Forum is crucial to driving change in the industry. Working alongside its community of members we plan to drive Cloud enablement and identify new ways we can support the channel,’’ he added.

Alex Hilton, chief executive of the Cloud Industry Forum said: “The channel has a critical role to play in the continued adoption of cloud services and is well placed to educate the market on the opportunity that cloud represents and to help manage the transition from on-premise solutions. However, to do that, resellers need to ensure they have a clear understanding of the roles of all parties in the delivery of services and establish effective on-going partnerships with suppliers.”

Alex Hilton, CIF, Cloud Industry Forum, Enterprise IT, Infrastructure as a Service, News & Analysis, Piers Linney

CIF: Enterprises still struggling with cloud migration

Enterprises are still struggling with their cloud migrations, the CIF claims

UK enterprises are still struggling with their cloud migrations, the CIF research shows

The latest research published by Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) suggests over a third of UK enterprises IT decision-makers believe cloud service providers could have better supported their migration to the cloud.

The CIF, which polled 250 senior IT decision-makers in the UK earlier this year to better understand where cloud services fit into their overall IT strategies, said its clear UK business are generally satisfied with their cloud services and plan to use more of them. But 35 per cent of those polled also said their companies still struggle with migration.

“The transition to cloud services has, for many, not been as straightforward as expected. Our latest research indicates that the complexity of migration is a challenge for a significant proportion of cloud users, resulting in unplanned disruption to the business,” said Alex Hilton, chief executive of the Cloud Industry Forum.

“There may be a case that cloud service providers need to be better at either setting end user expectations or easing the pain of migration to their services. But equally, it’s important that end users equip themselves with enough knowledge about cloud to be able to manage it and ensure that the cloud-based services rolled out can support business objectives, not hinder them.”

Piers Linney, co-chief executive of Outsourcery said the research highlights the need for providers to develop a “strong integrated stack of partners.”

“IT leaders looking for a provider should first assess their existing in-house skills and experience to understand how reliant they will be on the supplier to ensure a smooth transition. Equally, cloud suppliers need to be more sensitive to their customers’ requirements and tailor their service to the level of support needed for successful cloud adoption,” he said.

“The most critical factor is for IT leaders to really get under the bonnet of their potential cloud provider, make sure that the have a strong and highly integrated stack of partners and a proven track record of delivery for other customers with needs similar to their own.”