At this point, you've probably heard of the Avnet Cloud Marketplace. Perhaps you've already adopted it into your cloud strategy, or maybe you're still curious about how it's different than other marketplaces available.

In this week's #90SecondSolution video, Avnet's VP of Digital Transformation, Tim FitzGerald, explains how the Avnet Cloud Marketplace is more than just a brokerage platform and the innovative ways you can truly differentiate your business in the cloud.

In this #90SecondSolution video, learn more from Tim FitzGerald around the training modules on cloud computing hosted by Dr. Timothy Chou, who launched Oracle into the application cloud service business, started the first class on cloud computing at Stanford University and has delivered keynote speeches to audiences on six continents.

In the brief video below, I’ll provide some information around what co-location services can offer our partners and their customers - and how they can take advantage of the unique opportunities found in offering those services.

Service level agreements existed long before the term “cloud computing” was coined. We’ve grown accustomed to thinking of SLAs as a critical component in our relationship with service providers and customers. They give detail to the service offering bullet points, set our expectations, and should protect both provider and customer. But as cloud computing becomes more pervasive and the features of cloud services flourish, are SLAs as important in cloud computing as we think?

You’ve heard it many times before, and probably even once today in the office: the channel is changing – and fast. IT providers are now being forced to step out of the box they may have fit into in the past and diversify their offerings, mostly to service the changing needs of their current customers, while also working to attract a broader range of customers moving forward. They are experiencing new found internal pressures, such as generating new customers, managing vendor relationships and figuring out how to convert their current clients into managed service contracts that are profitable and sustainable.

Some of your customers today may still be asking the question, “Why should I move to the cloud?” One answer is – because everybody else is. I know you’re probably thinking back to when your Mom used to say, “If your friends told you to jump off a bridge, would you?”

This blog was contributed by Pam Miller, Research Director, IDC.

Business customers want in their business life the same techno logy advantages that they enjoy in their personal life. This includes paying for services as they use them.  If your electric bill was a flatfixed fee based on some arbitrary criteria created by your utility company you would most likely be unhappy, unless you had the biggest house with the most kids in your neighborhood. The same applies in the new cloud economy. Consumption pricing better matches utility to expense, and is rapidly becoming more important as SaaS services expand and use cases diversify.

How Can I Accelerate My Success in the Cloud? The simple answer is: Knowledge. Many enterprise clients still have a very rudimentary understanding of what’s happening in cloud computing. While you can’t watch a Master’s golf tournament or travel through the San Francisco International Airport without seeing an advertisement for cloud computing, the education around it pretty much stops there. So here is a five-step plan on how you can get started:

Traditionally, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have been the late adopters on the innovation bell curve. With finite resources, SMBs are more careful in terms of risk-taking and are often reluctant to implement new technology. However, times are changing and the vast majority of small businesses are eager to adopt new, cutting-edge solutions—including cloud services. According to Forbes, 78 percent of U.S. small businesses will have fully adopted cloud computing by 2020, more than doubling the 37 percent rate in 2015.¹

Editor's Note: This blog was originally featured as a guest blog on The VAR Guy. To read articles similar to this one, visit The VAR Guy or visit our website.