Hostway’s Cloud Services Survey at Microsoft WPC Shows Strong Channel Demand

Survey Reveals that 73% Offer Cloud Services and 93% Cite Positive Impact on


Meeting Customer Demand, Revenue and/or Profit Growth
Houston, TX —

August 27, 2013 —The demand for cloud services remains incredibly

strong,
with more than 70% of event attendees surveyed reporting that
they offer

cloud services to meet customer demand, according to a recent
survey by
Hostway,
a leading provider of cloud, managed and hybrid
hosting services.
Hostway today
announced the results of a survey the
company conducted at the
Microsoft
Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in
July. The survey was
designed to gauge
current Hostway partner and
potential partner perceptions
about reselling cloud
services. The
results indicate strong customer demand
for cloud services and a

positive outlook for resellers.

Hostway
surveyed WPC participants
between July 7-11, 2013 on their attitudes
toward
reselling cloud
services, asking three questions. The first query
explored
whether or
not participants currently sell, resell or provide client

referrals to
meet their customers’ cloud service needs. The results showed
that
73%
of Microsoft partners surveyed sell, resell or refer cloud
services, with

survey respondents distributed fairly evenly across those
three roles.


The second question asked survey participants which cloud
solutions
they are
currently selling or considering adding to their solution

portfolio, including
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-

Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-
Service (SaaS) and cloud-based email

solutions. The survey revealed that 64% are
currently selling SaaS, and
86%
of respondents are either now selling or
considering selling SaaS
services
of some type. These results are not surprising
given the venue
and high use
of applications like SharePoint and Exchange among

participants.

This
second question also highlighted a shift in
the way the technical community

views and works with managed hosting and
cloud hosting companies. Hosting
has
generally been considered a
competitor to traditional VARs, Integrators
and even
ISVs; however, this
survey showed that over 55% currently are or
plan to resell
managed or
cloud hosting solutions. Hostway, along with
several other large
hosting
companies, has launched reseller and referral
programs to help meet the

demand generated by this new reseller ecosystem as
it evolves.


The last question queried participants on how offering cloud
services
might
positively affect their revenue, profits or ability to meet
client
needs. An
overwhelming 93% responded that offering cloud-based
services
would have
positive effects on revenue, profits or their ability to
meet
customer demand.
Most notably, 70% felt that offering cloud solutions

allowed them to meet the
current needs of their customers – needs that
may
be filled currently by other
providers if they do not have a
strategy or
solution for cloud services
delivery.

“Our survey of
WPC participants
shows that the overwhelming majority of
technical
organizations recognize
the importance of offering cloud services to

meet customer demand,” said
Aaron Hollobaugh, Hostway’s Vice President
of
Marketing. “The survey
underscores the large collaborative effort
across the
entire technical
community to provide cloud services and
value to the end user.
Through our
tailored reseller and referral
programs, Hostway is playing a key
role in
the complex, interconnected
cloud services delivery model.”

A Bronze
sponsor at the WPC event and
finalist for Microsoft Partner of the Year
in
2012, Hostway provides
scalable, custom hosting solutions and services for

growing SMBs. Find
out more at http://www.hostway.com/.