IDC Study: Microsoft Cloud Partners Making More Money

Maybe it doesn't really require a stretch of the imagination, but it looks like channel partners who take an active interest in offering cloud solutions to their customers are outperforming those who aren't. And according to a Microsoft-commissioned IDC research study, that's exactly the case: Microsoft partners that have embraced the development and/or sales of cloud offerings are doing better than Microsoft partners who have not yet seen the light.

With the release of the study, Microsoft seems to be setting the stage for its upcoming Worldwide Partner Conference. It's no secret that cloud is one of the most important foundations for the new Microsoft. Its new CEO, Satya Nadella, is the former head of Azure, after all.

According to the study, Microsoft partners with more than 50 percent of their revenue coming from cloud services are experiencing 1.5 times the gross profit of partners who are doing less than 50 percent of revenue from the cloud. But they also have 1.7 times the gross profit vs. the partners surveyed who are doing the least amount of business in the cloud.

The study was conducted under the supervision of Darren Bibby, an analyst at IDC, which amassed more than 500 pages of transcripts of interviews with Microsoft partners.

Although we're talkin' cloud on a regular basis and understand the channel benefits of cloud computing technologies and services, let's look at this with a skeptical eye.

The study was commissioned by Microsoft, and those commissioning studies have a huge say in how they're written. Microsoft is also playing a bit of catchup to some of its competitors as it continues to build on its cloud momentum so far, and it's no doubt pushing channel partners in a cloud direction to get them up to speed and selling into its target markets.

Even taking the study with a grain of salt, the results are really of little surprise. And it harkens back to the days when IT companies were pushing their channel partners in the direction of the solution sell (similar stats showed up way back then, if I recall). Now, the big opportunity is in cloud, and it's no wonder that Microsoft cloud partners are seeing greater returns.