As business models and end-clients’ demands shift, technology companies continue to lead the way in implementing and adopting advanced solutions and services. Experts expect those activities to increase and escalate over the next few years − if not longer. Our community is driving business modernization efforts through digital transformation, mobility, and remote workplace initiatives. From SMB to the enterprise space, many organizations embrace these changes and clamor for even more innovations.

The hyperscaler model provides a great example. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, ByteDance, Tencent, Alibaba and dozens of other global suppliers offer these distributed computing offerings today, while many organizations explore the potential benefits of using these subscription services. No one wants to be left behind in today’s highly competitive business environment, and the IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) model provides greater scalability and flexibility than other cloud computing options.

With 81% of businesses reporting the pandemic has accelerated their digital transformation timelines, according to a recent survey, most organizations appear more than ready to explore alternatives. Companies are also raising their financial commitments to those projects. More than twice as many companies have greater than 75% of their applications in the cloud today compared with early 2020.

The problem many businesses share, especially in the SMB space, is the lack of resources for exploring and adopting new models and technologies. Finding and hiring that level of talent is near impossible today, even for Fortune 500 companies with deep pockets and seemingly infinite assets.

Hyperscalers face different challenges. While companies like Amazon and Google have tremendous engineering resources and an abundant amount of talent, few can deliver the support SMBs need to make the leap to an IaaS model. The learning curves are simply too long and complex for most organizations.

The IT Channel Comes to the Rescue

Over the past few years, relationships between hyperscalers and IT distributors have been on the rise, and there are a number of good reasons for that positive trend. Experts predict demand for IaaS to continue its strong growth trends, pushing those suppliers to expand their enablement and support networks to capitalize on the plethora of new business opportunities. Hyperscalers are leveraging the channel community’s expertise, bandwidth and ability to bring that “last mile” service and support to the SMB and SME.

These relationships are still in their relative infancy. However, distributors are already playing some big parts in the IaaS supply chain, offering advanced technical training, pre-sales engineers and a multitude of planning, billing, marketing, and other partner enablement programs. Industry thought leaders point out that both sides (IT channel professionals and hyperscalers) have a substantial interest in widening and deepening those engagements in the future.

These relationships make good business sense for everyone. On one side are the MSPs, ITSPs and systems integrators, serving as the IT departments for a very large segment of the business community. As trusted advisors on both the technology and operations side of the house, companies look to those firms for input on future infrastructure investments, including IaaS.

Hyperscalers sit on the other side of the spectrum. The most recognized providers are Fortune 500 companies with offerings originally designed for very large businesses, which can create a large chasm in both communications and operations with the SMB and IT services communities.

Connecting and Empowering 

Fortunately, distributors have a long and successful history of closing those types of gaps. As with the other forms of digital transformation, including SaaS and XaaS, orchestration is an essential element of hyperscale success. Distributors are already providing a wealth of resources to connect and empower their partners across the IaaS spectrum.

From proven channel sales, engineering, marketing and support programs to innovative new platform management and billing capabilities, distributors are already delivering on their hyperscale promises. API connections, integrations, and partner-empowering interfaces allow IaaS providers to leverage distributors' sales, design, and support capabilities. Hundreds of thousands of potential channel partners are learning about the opportunities and getting their first chances to actively engage in hyperscaler projects.

Many of those activities are still in the early stages. With researchers predicting the hyperscaler data center market to reach more than $80 Billion in 2022, with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 26.32%, the opportunities are too large to overlook. The easing of the global pandemic and continuing labor shortages are driving businesses to look “beyond the curve” to optimize and automate systems and infrastructure. Many of those organizations will engage with MSPs, ITSPs, and systems integrators for ideas and solutions. IaaS is quickly becoming a viable option for those situations, and, like XaaS and SaaS, distributors can empower providers and ease the burdens associated with transformation for everyone.

While some will argue that hyperscalers compete with distributors, which they likely will in some areas, these relationships are crucial for the IT and business ecosystems. Enormous opportunities exist for both communities to prosper with IaaS. A certain degree of competitive risk will always exist in supplier engagements, however, the advantages of developing mutually beneficial alliances far outweigh those concerns.

Learn more about these evolving relationships by downloading our recent GTDC report, Hyperscaling Up in Technology Distribution.