Implementation of the cloud storage service provider ISV strategy

Cloud storage service providers have been actively seeking independent software developers (ISVs) to support their cloud at the back end. The idea of a cloud storage service provider is to turn cloud storage into a simple solution for storage application choices, driving up cloud storage usage. Service providers with the most ISV support will win. Will this strategy work?

I have said that cloud storage needs to be seamless if it is to succeed. Users don't even need to know that they are using a cloud. This is already happening. This is the idea behind the ISV for the consolidation effort. For example, if you are using a backup application and you want to be able to migrate data replicas to the cloud for disaster recovery, then selecting a cloud target will simply point to the screen options.

This strategy sounds reasonable as long as the cloud storage provider can let ISVs support only their cloud or at least make their cloud a priority target for ISV applications. However, so far, the cloud storage enablement capabilities of many large ISVs still support three to four cloud service providers. This means that when the cloud storage Services list is displayed, the cloud storage service provider still needs to communicate directly with the storage administrator in order to persuade administrators to choose their services rather than the services of other vendors. For this strategy to work, the key is for the cloud storage service provider to get support from small ISVs. But this requires thousands of ISVs to consolidate their applications into the storage of a cloud storage service provider. For small ISVs, they might be willing to focus on allocating development resources and choosing a cloud service provider.

So how do you attract these small ISVs? I don't think the extra profit would be a complete deal. Most cloud service providers are fairly close to revenue-sharing policies. The key is whether the cloud storage API (Application programming Interface) is strong or not. For example, what does the cloud service provider's API provide for ISV's applications? Is it easy to consolidate cloud services into an ISV's application? Another problem is the stability of the company. In fact, we've already started sharing storage on public networks, but people still feel that cloud storage is new, and that most cloud storage services companies are either newly established or just starting to provide this service. Cloud service providers will need to provide sustainability. Finally, ISVs want to know what causes the cloud services to break. Many ISVs worry that if they provide cloud extensions in their applications and that cloud services are unavailable for one day, then the first customer complaint is theirs. Most small ISVs (and large ISVs) rely heavily on good customer service.

Cloud storage service providers still need to enlist the support of ISVs, but they also need to make the end users of ISVs and ISV applications aware of the benefits of services provided by cloud service providers. ISV consolidation is a really good strategy, but you need good products and services.