In his blog, "5 Traits to Look for in a Successful Cloud Reseller", Carmen Sorice, SVP Channels at Sungard Availability Services offers valuable advice, both to resellers looking to move to cloud as well as to service providers. Specific traits such as executive leadership, relationship with customers, trust, give to get, and taking an integrated approach provide a useful way to measure the character of a reseller before any paperwork is signed.

Sorice also shares a subtle truth that is easy to miss among all the details of engaging with a reseller: that providers expend much time and investment on recruiting the right channel partners. It's easy to see how a reseller might leverage a provider's credibility to bolster its own. The very fact that a provider has a good relationship with a reseller is an endorsement of that reseller. According to Sorice, "As with any relationship, one wrong-doing can ruin the relationship and have devastating results. Therefore, we take precaution to protect our partner and customer interests, every day, in every deal." In other words, a provider isn't going to work with a reseller who doesn't effectively represent its brand and values.

The power of endorsement carries through all levels of the cloud. Cisco Powered, for example, is a difficult endorsement to achieve. A partner has to become certified as well as pass a challenging third-party audit. This process assures that this partner's cloud services meet the highest standards. Thus, Cisco Powered does not just mean that a partner is running your cloud services over Cisco equipment. It also means Cisco recognizes the expertise and capabilities of this partner.

There's a reason we use the word "partner" at Cisco. No one vendor can meet every cloud need on the market. It takes an ecosystem of world-class companies working together to build out the technology behind things like the Intercloud and the Internet of Everything.

We continue to invest in and validate our partners. And we have created the Cisco Partner Ecosystem so you can know whom we trust to deliver your cloud.

5 Traits to Look for in a Successful Cloud Reseller blog post was originally published on February 2, 2014 on the Channel Focus Community website at channelfocuscommunity.net.