IAAS FOR SMBS
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as it evolves. “That ongoing involvement is becoming more important as customers look for support beyond the initial transition.” Kumar Sokka, CEO of Acre Security, advises resellers to not lead with the destination but the journey. “The customers who push back hardest aren't against cloud, they're asking: what happens to everything we've already built?” he says. “That's a fair question and resellers who answer honestly will close more business than those who pitch cloud as the obvious answer. “Start with a proper audit. What is the customer running today? What does it depend on? Where are the gaps? That diagnostic work is where a reseller adds real value, not by recommending a product, but by mapping a path from where the customer is to where they want to be. “The practical answer to migration anxiety is letting customers move at their own pace.” Aaron Rees, senior vice president, AWS Business at Westcon-Comstor and CEO at Rebura, a Westcon-Comstor company, says the key is providing structure and confidence. “Assessments, clear migration plans and expert guidance make all the difference,” he says. Reseller considerations When pitching IaaS to customers, there are various considerations for resellers. “Scale, predictability and innovation are the predominant drivers of IaaS demand increases,” says Steve. “But the risks brought to bear by the current RAM crisis have compounded all of these, with reliance on older hardware becoming untenable. Many businesses are turning to IaaS as a buffer against these market dynamics. With immediate access to large-scale memory and compute capacity, IaaS providers can help customers maintain continuity, manage growth and mitigate supply-side risks. “For resellers, this strengthens the
value proposition: IaaS is not just about flexibility, it’s about ensuring stability in an increasingly volatile infrastructure landscape.” Guy adds that a key consideration is that the value can no longer sit in the transaction itself. “Customers have more flexibility in how they buy, particularly as marketplace routes become more common, which means the role of the partner is shifting towards what they contribute around that decision,” he says. “This is where understanding the customer’s existing environment becomes important, along with being able to show where pressure is building and how that can be addressed over time.” Aaron says customers care about agility, resilience and cost control. “Resellers should emphasise the services that wrap around the infrastructure, such as data, AI and managed services,” he adds. “Addressing concerns around cost and complexity openly also helps build trust from the start.” Sustainability considerations Sustainability is also a consideration when putting together an IaaS solution. “Sustainability is part of the IaaS discussion, although it is rarely the starting point for SMB customers,” says Guy. “What tends to bring it into focus is the work done to understand and manage the environment more effectively, because once customers can see what is running and what is not, it becomes easier to identify areas of waste or unnecessary usage.
Contributors
Steve Spittal
pulsant.com
Jordan Hobday
netgear.com
Guy McWilliam
flexera.com
“
Sustainability is part of the IaaS discussion, although it is rarely the
“Addressing that improves cost efficiency and reduces excess consumption at the same time, so sustainability becomes a natural
extension of getting the environment into a better state, rather than something that sits separately from it.” Kumar says the environmental case is strong. “On-premises systems run continuously regardless of
starting point for SMB customers.
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