Can MSPs Stay Central to Clients During the Cloud-Rush?

It’s a topic that many IT solution providers and managed service providers (MSPs) are all too familiar with – the cloud. Every IT vendor on the planet is talking cloud services. One of the biggest in this field, Microsoft, is offering cloud-based Office 365 directly, cutting out IT resellers. With other vendors considering similar strategies, how will this affect IT companies that traditionally sold and maintained on-site solutions?

It’s increasingly looking as though the future of IT will see the majority of infrastructures moved to the cloud. Services such as hosted e-mail, off-site backup, VOIP and collaboration tools are natural fits for the cloud. End-users, familiar with services such as Facebook, are comfortable with this; the cloud is convenient and easy to use.