Cloud Platform Unveiled At CommunITy Live

By Gennifer Biggs, security, storage, and managed services editor

After several months delay, Zenith Infotech has started the rollout of its new cloud computing platform, which allows MSPs to offer a cloud solution, privately branded, to customers interested in the efficiencies of cloud-based technology. The solution allows for virtualization of servers and desktops, the enabling of thin clients, and integrated backup and disaster recovery, one of Zenith's core competencies.

During Autotask's event, I sat down with Clinton Gatewood, director of business development for Zenith, and we talked about the new product offering. He explained that Zenith had intended to launch the cloud platform last fall, but after their partners' experiences during beta testing didn't meet the vendor's expectations, the rollout was postponed until this spring. Now, the solution is deployed with a handful of partners, and full release should start in July. "It is always nice to test a product in the lab, but we wanted to get it into real environments and make sure we had the product we wanted," explains Gatewood.

He says MSPs should think about cloud computing solutions as a good fit for nearly any vertical, but focus sales pitches on SMBs with an extremely low tolerance for downtime, such as attorneys and CPAs with their own customers to serve.

We also talked about the continuing skepticism of some VARs and MSPs about cloud computing. "I think MSPs need to understand that cloud is not a business model, it is a tool for better delivering technology to some customers," says Gatewood. "You're not giving up managed services, but how you deliver them and what they include is changing, and you need to change with it."

To listen to Gatewood share more insight on the cloud and how it will impact MSPs, click here.