05 Jul 2011
Fifteen UK-based technology firms and service providers have come together to launch the UK Cloud Alliance in an attempt to help businesses looking to procure cloud services. However, the move has been heavily criticized by the Cloud Industry Forum.
Headed up by Star, a provider of on-demand computing and communication services, the UK Cloud Alliance aims to provide medium-sized UK businesses with an array of technology choices that can be delivered via Star’s private cloud platform and serviced by local specialists.
The other founding members include LinuxIT, Ubertas, Maindec, Modern Networks, Digirati, Plan B and Total Ltd, who were selected on the basis that they have passed commercial and technical due diligence checks.
The newly formed alliance has been slammed by the Cloud Industry Forum, which was established in 2009 to provide businesses with a transparent list of vetted service providers that have agreed to an industry code of practice.
“Apparently a rigorous process was implemented (by Star themselves we assume) to whittle down literally 'thousands' of would-be cloud providers and enablers into a list of just 15-17 businesses that can meet the needs of the UK SMB market according to Star’s business develepment person,” said Andy Burton, chairman of the Cloud Industry Forum.
“Unsurprisingly, the only firms making the cut were firms that don’t compete with Star, and many of who they have historically worked with on opportunities. I would love to hear from some of the hopeful companies that supposedly must have had their business plans dashed by not becoming a member of this ‘new’ organisation, but somehow I doubt that even one of these claimed ‘thousands’ will ever come forward,” he added.
Burton said the UK Cloud Alliance should not be taken seriously until it adopts its own independent and certified code of practice
“Until this is rectified, end users should clearly see this alliance as nothing more than a collaborative commercial working agreement between a private group of companies who believe they have nothing to lose and something to gain from working together,” said Burton.
The UK Cloud Alliance comprises specialists in telephony, security, hardware migration and virtualisation, and Star argues that it has set out to provide an end-to-end service that does not re-sell each company's products with inflated prices.
"This is about serving up UK technology to UK businesses because they like being served by local organisations they can get to know, grow with and trust," said Ricky Hudson, CEO of Star.
"We are not looking to take on the world or deliver mass transactional sales because what we do is develop close working and dependable relationships that add huge value to a small number of medium-sized businesses," he added.
Industry analyst TechMarketView has given the UK Cloud Alliance a lukewarm welcome by commenting that big vendors are struggling to attract mid-market customers, and consequently "Star's Cloud Alliance may well be the right answer for those companies looking for an end-to-end cloud solution from a range of local pre-vetted specialist partners".
I was interested to read Andy Burton’s comments on the new Cloud Alliance and broadly agree with his view that "if the only purpose is to serve the commercial success of that partnership, then it's not necessarily helping the end user make a [purchasing] decision."
The best interests of end users have to be at the heart of any cloud computing implementation. After all, moving to the cloud can never be a simple purchasing decision. At Bull, we prefer to see it as an evolutionary journey that will ultimately provide a greater range of choice for users.
The key is to guide each customer ‘step-by-step’ on a journey at a pace with which they are comfortable, with clearly defined outcomes at each stage along the way. The journey will ultimately help transition IT from a cost to a driver of added value for the business – but the speed that each organisation makes the move will inevitably be dependent on the complexity of their IT infrastructure and also their relative maturity as a business.
Flexibility has to be the keynote here. For most medium-sized businesses moving straight to the public cloud is likely to be a case of ‘too much, too soon.’ Typically, an initial adoption of the private cloud is likely to make more sense. This will help organisations build trust in the model and experience the reassurance that comes from knowing where their data is located, from secure access control and from the highest levels of information security governance.
This gives them the option to move seamlessly to a certified public cloud at a later date.
Andrew Carr, sales and marketing director, Bull UK and Ireland
Posted by: Andrew Carr 08 Jul 2011
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