Are IT Reseller’s Services Being Sidelined by the Cloud?

Even though businesses are increasingly adopting SaaS based solutions, they still need trusted technical advisors guiding them through the pitfalls of this latest transition. As the entire IT channel knows, the explosion of SaaS based applications is changing the business of selling products and services and they must change to stay in the game. And although SaaS is forcing change these cloud hosted applications aren’t going to replace the need for value-added resellers (VARs), solution providers, or consultants. Businesses, an IT reseller’s customer base, still need specialized help from their IT channel sourced trusted advisors to educate them on how to successfully take advantage of the latest business offerings.

A survey conducted by CompTia found that more than half of Small & Medium Businesses (SMBs) still want to purchase their SaaS solution from a VAR, solution provider, or other channel organization. This demand in the market is validation that the SaaS model of application delivery doesn’t remove the SMB’s need for experts to help them keep their applications reliable and their data safe. But they need to be the right kind of experts and provide the right kind of services, which brings us to my next point. If you are an IT Reseller reading this, as their trusted advisor, are you having the right conversations with your growing list of customers using SaaS based applications? Are your customers adding risk to their business when they consume SaaS applications? Are SaaS applications sabotaging your client’s security processes?

8 Questions VARs should ask clients about SaaS
Often, as specific business teams or divisions adopt SaaS usage they circumvent the protections that IT has put in place to keep their corporate assets private and safe. Over the years IT’s security practices have evolved to the proper balance between conducting business efficiently and making sure the organization’s information is secure. Unfortunately, the adoption of SaaS has undone some of those processes. So what discussions are you having and what questions are you asking your SaaS consuming customers? Here are 8 leading, initial, questions you should be asking:

1. How are you extending your organization’s access policies and procedures to the Cloud?
2. Is cloud administration even managed by these same policies and procedures, or is your office admin managing your SaaS access?
3. Are your employees putting corporate credentials out in the cloud? 
4. What’s your strategy to protect your business information that sitting outside your firewalls?
5. Has SaaS applications broken your Single Sign-On (SSO)?
6. How do you audit and report information access activity for your SaaS applicaitons? 
7. Do you have information out in the cloud that is regulated or subject to audits?
8. How are you going to scale SaaS administration as you increase its usage?

Are SaaS applications sabotaging your client’s security processes? Often, as specific business teams or divisions adopt SaaS usage they circumvent the protections that IT has put in place that keep their corporate assets (IP & customer information) safe. IT is trying to assert themselves to regain control and provide the protection that they’re on the hook for. What if you, as their trusted IT advisor, could help SMBs consume SaaS applications with the same confidence they have for internal Apps? In a couple of weeks, Kevin Auger, product manager, is going to talk about a new, 100% channel, product that’s going to ship in a couple of months. It’s called NetIQ Access Gateway for Cloud. It will enable your customers to extend their internal infrastructure and leverage their current processes to keep corporate data inside and accessed only by those who should? Kevin’s, sales enablement webinar, is going to cover details of the risks associated with consuming SaaS applications, review Access Gateway for Cloud to secure that access and the kinds of services SMBs need from you, the channel.

In the meantime, catch a sneak peek of Access Gateway for Cloud in the video demo and I look forward to seeing you on March 21st - and don't forget to register to join the Webinar.

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