The Power Of The Hybrid Cloud Computing Contract

For all the rising interest in hybrid cloud computing these days negotiating contracts across multiple cloud service providers (CSPs) is actually more complex than the underlying contract.

That’s why from a channel partner perspective the significance of the alliance that was announced today between VMware (VMW) and Google (GOOG) goes way beyond the technology. Partners of VMware will now be able to sell additional cloud services provided by Google and VMware under a single contract agreement.

Scott Collison, vice president of cloud services for VMware, noted that the IT industry as a whole doesn’t always appreciate how challenging contract negotiations actually are. When it comes to delivering cloud services VMware and its partners have the inside track because contracts relating to the delivery of IT services on premise are already in place.

The relationship with Google, said Collison, provides VMware and its partners with access to Google Cloud Storage, Google BigQuery analytics, the Google Cloud Datastore NoSQL database and the Google Cloud DNS service as a VMware AirCloud branded service.

Collision declined to get into the details of how the integration between the two services is specifically being accomplished. But he did says that relationship with Google definitely demonstrates that the VMware AirCloud service is an open platform.

As for Google, the deal with VMware solves a major problem. Google has no reach into on premise systems, so any organization looking to a hybrid cloud solution is going to think twice about using Google compared with a service that has a more unified approach to hybrid cloud computing. By essentially turning VMware and its partners into a reseller of its cloud services Google has solved that problem.

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Of course, there’s nothing exclusive about this relationship. Both companies have expressed a willingness to partner with others. In fact, solution providers regularly resell both services. But streamline the contractual process makes the Google cloud the path of least resistance for many IT organizations, which for many VMware partners will make the Google cloud service one of their most preferred options. Just as importantly, delivering managed services across a hybrid VMware-Google cloud will be a lot simpler for those partners as well.

Despite all the hype surrounding cloud computing in 2015 the full impact of cloud computing in the enterprise is only just beginning to be felt. And as enterprise IT organization continue to get more comfortable with the whole idea of hybrid cloud computing, don’t be too surprised to see the emergence of all kinds of interesting alliances in 2015 that might have previously been thought unthinkable.