By forming a partner program and forging relationships with solution providers, Google is further spurring SMB adoption of Google Apps and other Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technologies.

Google’s reseller program, unveiled in January, is open to all–from multinational global integrators to small VARs, says Stephen Cho, director of Google Apps channels. SMB VARs, he says, are essential to meeting the company’s business and channel design goals. “The smaller firm is being served by the smaller VAR or IT consultancy. That is where they go for advice and implementation,” notes Cho. “Some of these smaller companies might know about Google Apps and proactively want to migrate to it on their own, but we believe they would do this only under the advice and guidance of a company they trust.”

To help SMB partners successfully sell into, implement, and support their clients’ SaaS efforts, Google’s program includes a Web portal with business and technical information, online discussion groups, sales and technical training, and customer marketing materials. Reseller tools also help VARs set up customers and provision users. Management functions and integration APIs for directory synchronization, migration, and single sign-on are available as well, according to the Mountain View, Calif.-based developer.

FEEDBACK FROM PARTNERS
“Google is a great company to work with,” says Eran Gil, vice president of business development at Atlanta-based Cloud Sherpas, which targets midsize and enterprise clients. Gil’s company has worked with other large organizations, and knows how the channel model works. But Google is different. “They have their own concept of how to run the channel. They provide a lot of touch points into the organization and are open to allowing the channel to engage with [them],” he says.

Google’s willingness to communicate is one of the company’s biggest strengths, says Irfan Khan, chairman of Agosto Inc., a Minneapolis-based MSP and integrator. “One thing Google does well is listen,” he says.

While partners know the program is evolving, they say it needs more work. Solution providers want deal registration, for example, which is not currently offered, says Khan, adding that the company should also expand training and enhance marketing and channel communication tools. “They haven’t, in my opinion, put a lot of energy into the channel,” he says. “But the good news is they’re changing. I would expect, in a year, a lot of those things will be rectified.”

Google confirms that its program is a work in progress. “We’re at the beginning,” Cho says. “For us, it’s really [about] making sure we keep the momentum going-that in a world of constrained resources we continue to deliver the things our partners need to be successful. I’m encouraged by what I see going on around the company. There is not a pretense that we have all the answers. At the same time, we are doing things differently.”

GROWING MARKET FOR SAAS
With a lower cost of entry and clients’ ability to shed energy-hungry, space-hogging server farms, SaaS is quickly becoming an attractive alternative to on-premise applications. Google, with its brand recognition and easy-to-use design, could further spur sales, say partners, especially to smaller firms that can’t afford costly, time-consuming training.

The economy is also encouraging businesses to adopt SaaS. By the end of this year, 76 percent of organizations in the United States will have at least one SaaS implementation, according to a January 2009 IDC report. And about 45 percent of businesses will spend at least 25 percent of their IT budgets on SaaS solutions, says the research firm.

“There’s a lot of pressure on IT budgets. It’s just very clear that you can cut your licensing expenditure with Microsoft by going with Google Apps,” says Khan. “The savings are in hundreds of thousands of dollars. In general, customers that have used SaaS products like Salesforce.com are more open to this conversation.”

Agosto has successfully implemented Google Apps at a number of its clients, including cash-strapped SMB retailers. For its part, Cloud Sherpas also has won business from other hard-hit verticals. “Customers in low-margin or slim-margin businesses-such as manufacturing and commodity services or products–are looking into it more than others, and drive decision making a lot faster. But you can certainly see adoption across the board,” says Michael Cohn, Cloud Sherpas’ CEO.

With heavy hitters such as Google and Microsoft extolling the virtues of SaaS, solution providers have strong allies in their efforts to migrate clients from the old to the new. Developers have equally strong allies in their channel partners who translate the technology’s promise into cold, hard cash for thousands of SMBs.

ALISON DIANA has been writing about the channel for more than 15 years.

This story was originally published in ChannelPro-SMB.

Netbooks, the mighty-mites of mobile computing, are becoming the sales colossus of the computer industry. Though margins are thin for manufacturers (hardware and software alike), these smaller, less-expensive siblings of the ubiquitous notebooks carried by millions of road warriors are the one ray of hope in this slough of slumping technology spending. And they’re increasingly becoming the portable computer of choice for peripatetic professionals.

Once dismissed as cute novelty devices, netbooks have grown up fast. “It appears that netbooks have already made the leap from consumer toy to business professional,” says Gloria Barczak, the chair of the marketing department at Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration. “According to some sources, netbook sales in the first three months of 2009 (5.5. million) were greater than last year’s hot new product, the iPhone. Expectations are that the netbook market will grow by 80 percent in 2009 with Gartner predicting that by 2012 annual netbook sales will be over 50 million.”    

Economics and the advent of cloud computing have made this evolution possible. With the recession, Barczak explains, “Customers, both consumers and business, are looking for an inexpensive device that performs the primary functions they need — Internet browsing, e-mail, typing documents and sharing some digital media. In addition to their functionality, netbooks are low price, very portable due to low weight and typically have longer battery lives than some laptops due to lower power requirements. So overall they are convenient, affordable and functional. They appeal to a wide variety of users — students, senior citizens, parents and even business people who may be tired and hurting from trying to type e-mails on their Blackberries or iPhones.”

Netbooks, which trace their DNA back to Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child project to create inexpensive laptops, have come into their own and gained a growing cohort of enthusiasts because of the blossoming of cloud computing. It is the enabling technology that has helped netbooks reach a tipping point to make the leap from toy to tool. “As more applications move to the cloud and all you need is a connection and a browser to get work done, netbooks become hugely valuable and cost effective for almost any business,” says Jason Throckmorton, a co-founder of bi-coaLaunchsquadstal tech PR company Launchsquad. “Netbooks running Linux and free application suites like OpenOffice could be a real game changer when it comes to economics and productivity.”

In a survey conducted by market research and consulting company Techaisle,, nearly a third of small and midsize businesses said they were looking at netbook purchases as they consider upgrading their core desktops and notebooks.

The confluence of cloud computing and netbooks is the perfect digital storm that drives the business model for Cloud Sherpas, a pure-play cloud computing integrator headquartered in Atlanta. “Cloud computing is our bread and butter,” says Michael Cohn, CEO. “The specific technology we do is Google Apps. Our consultants are using netbooks as their primary work stations. We have to eat our own dog food, so to speak, so we live and breathe on the cloud. We are a truly server-less environment.”

For Cloud Sherpas, the cloud computing/netbook combo is not a hard sell. “Our customers who are also embracing Google Apps in general are asking us about netbooks because they see us walk in with these little netbooks that practically fit in your pocket,” says Cohn. “And we’re able to administer their entire system from them, and we’re able to do e-mail, create documents and spreadsheets and collaborate in real time.”

Netbooks and the cloud aren’t for everyone, Cohn admits. “A netbook is not the right tool if you’ve got to run tons of software on your machine. That’s not what it’s designed for. If you have to run Office on a desktop, that’s going to suck up all your resources. But if you’re using tools like Google Apps, there are a lot of advantages with a netbook.”

It’s all a matter of tradeoffs. “We’re either going to spend three times as much on a laptop and have to lug it around, or we can spend $300 on a netbook and not even feel it in a backpack. If an organization can operationalize its IT to the point where they’re finally embracing cloud computing, using netbooks in a no-brainer.”

Cohn predicts that netbook use will be adopted function by function, rather than company wide. “There are certain functions where netbooks make much more sense,” he says. “Netbook for a sales guy, a consultant or a road warrior is a no-brainer. But I don’t see graphic designers, for example, jumping on the netbook bandwagon quite yet because they require all this heavy software like the Adobe suite to be installed.”

The allure of netbooks has even fanned the flames of technolust in the august provinces of white shoe law firms. Browning Marean, a partner in the San Diego office of DLA Piper one of the world’s largest law firms, has bailed on laptops in favor of his Aspire netbook sidekick. “I’m on the road just about every week,” he says, “and I do a lot of presentations. Using the Aspire as a substitute works perfectly well. It projects just as well as a full-fledged laptop and I can do 95 percent of the things I need to to do. When you’re on an airplane and that pesky person in front of you decides to recline, you still have some room to work with your computer.”

Because of their low price points (generally $300 to $400), Marean says, “Netbooks are really becoming consumables.”
Though the first wave of netbooks was driven by the Linux operating system and Taiwan-based hardware manufacturers, their increasing popularity has made them a force — and market — that must be reckoned with. Hardware manufacturers and software developers sitting this trend out do so at their own peril. Though late to the game, Microsoft retaliated by offering netbook makers a bargain-basement version of its old Windows XP operating system. Redmond promises that its next OS, Windows 7, will run on netbooks when it hits the market this October.

It had better. Acer and Asus, two Taiwan netbook titans, said June 2 that they will launch netbooks that run on Android, the free operating system Google originally created for cellphones. Will Apple be next?

Stay tuned. It’s getting interesting.

(Editor’s note: This was written with Google Docs on an ASUS 1000HE netbook.)

Ned Smith is a New York-based writer who reports on business and technology. He can be contacted at nedsmith@gmail.com.

By: Darryl K. Taft
2009-04-08

Cloud Sherpas, a Google Apps enterprise deployment partner, announces its support for Google’s addition of Java to the Google App Engine (GAE) platform. The systems integrator also announces the formation of a Google App Engine development practice dedicated to extending the utility of Google Apps in large-scale, enterprise deployments.

Cloud Sherpas, a Google Apps enterprise deployment partner, has announced its support for Google’s addition of Java to the Google App Engine platform. The systems integrator also announced the formation of a Google App Engine development practice dedicated to extending the utility of Google Apps in large-scale, enterprise deployments.

Cloud Sherpas’ announcement coincides with the April 7 Google Campfire One event where Google announced its new Java support for Google App Engine. The Cloud Sherpas team will leverage Google App Engine and the new Java language support to enable deep integrations and build new products for the Google Apps ecosystem, company officials said.

“The drive to reduce cost has created a groundswell of demand for Google Apps among large institutions and enterprise customers,” said Michael Cohn, CEO of Cloud Sherpas. “With Java language support, Google App Engine offers an open, scalable platform for organizations to integrate Google Apps with other applications, build custom workflow applications, and migrate legacy workloads to the cloud.”

Cloud Sherpas also published a whitepaper entitled “Extending Google Apps with Java for App Engine.” The whitepaper offers a high-level overview of the Google App Engine stack and describes an approach for integrating custom applications with Google Apps. The whitepaper can be downloaded at the Cloud Sherpas Website.

“Cloud Sherpas has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to execute in Google Apps deployments,” said Scott McMullan, Google Apps Partner Lead. “We’re excited to have them at Campfire One and expect to see their dedicated team develop unique Google Apps extensions and stand-alone products.”

Meanwhile, David Hoff, vice president of technology at Cloud Sherpas, said: “Google has responded to developer feedback. The new set of App Engine features, including scheduled tasks, more secure access to firewalled data, and of course, an early look at support for Java programming language, allows enterprise customers to extend Google Apps like never before to meet the unique challenges of their business.”

Atlanta Business Chronicle – by Urvaksh Karkaria Staff Writer
Friday, April 3, 2009

Atlanta startup Cloud Sherpas recently raised $170,000.

The company — one of many that populate the cloud computing ecosystem — resells, integrates and custom develops Google Apps, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) suite of business email, information sharing and security applications.

“We are one of Google’s top business partners in the country,” Cloud Sherpas CEO Michael Cohn said Friday.

The new money will be used for product development.

“We are growing,” Cohn said. “We are hiring people,”

With consumer demand in paralysis, companies are scrutinizing every expense to resuscitate the bottom line. Many businesses are turning to SaaS applications which require lower upfront costs.

The corporate penny pinching trend puts Cloud Sherpas in a market sweet spot.

Using Google Apps, Cohn said, Cloud Sherpas can help enterprise customers save about 70 percent over traditional messaging and collaboration software like Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes.

“There’s an incredible demand for Google apps [among large companies],” Cohn said.

Cloud Sherpas, which has raised more than $300,000, is focused on growing marketshare in the mid-size and large enterprise market. The company expects 2009 revenues of between $1 million and $2 million.

Join us on Thursday, March 26, at 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT for a free webinar to learn about how Cloud Sherpas helped TechCFO share information with Google Apps.

How Google Apps Can Unlock Information, Increase Innovation and Streamline IT.
Register today!

By Liz McMillan
January 16, 2009

Cloud Sherpas has announced it has been selected to join the Google Apps Authorized Reseller program. Cloud Sherpas extends the power of Google across the enterprise by helping customers get more value from their Google Apps deployments. Cloud Sherpas launched a series of Google Apps Enterprise Solutions Marketplace offerings, bundling data migration and system integration services with best practices training and responsive first-level application support.

Google Apps Premier Edition offers a set of enterprise Messaging, Collaboration, Security and Compliance services, and enables Cloud Sherpas to deliver a set of cloud computing products and services.

As an Authorized Reseller of Google Apps, Cloud Sherpas is working with enterprise customers to leverage tools such as Gmail webmail service, Google Talk voice, video and instant messaging service, Google Calendar, Google Docs productivity suite, and Google Sites enterprise wiki and intranet to work together more effectively. Combined with storage solutions from EMC, Cloud Sherpas now offers rapid deployment services, system integration expertise and ongoing application support for a number of enterprise-ready cloud computing solutions.

September 12, 2008, by Allan Maurer

ATLANTA—Cloud computing providers such as Google, EMC and others rely on a channel partner to educate, train, migrate and support firms using their products. Cloud Sherpas, a startup founded in July and one of 15 in the Atlanta CapVenture program this year, plans to be that guide to cloud computing.

Founder and CEO Michael Cohn tells TechJournal South the company is self-funded now and seeks a $500,000 angel round to establish itself as a cloud systems integrator.

“We’re building a service practice and a support organization to help companies move to the cloud,” he says. On the Google side, for instance, the company plans to help large organizations migrate from Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes to Google Apps for Enterprise.

The idea is to give firms migrating to the cloud environment “a local throat to choke,” says Cohn.

“Companies with 100 to 2,000 seats is our sweet spot,” he says.

Cohn says the initial stage of the business looks like a consulting organization, but its goal is to build a platform that enables secure integration.

The advantages of cloud computing are obvious, Cohn notes. “It’s a much lower cost (than licensing software outright). It enables a company to reduce capital expense and move the cost to operational expense by paying for IT as a service. Cloud computing takes the concepts of Software as a Service and utility computing and puts them under one umbrella.”

Cloud Sherpas will have a charge back on vendor per seat fees and will charge a recurring support fee, which Cohn says will be “nominal.”

“If you compare the cost of total ownership to ours, it’s a savings of from 50 to 70 percent while getting higher levels of service,” he says.

“Cloud computing is future proofed. In the traditional model of installed software, you have to update and patch it. In cloud computing, as improvements are made, you get them on the fly. That’s the benefit of multi-tenant architecture.”

Cloud Sherpas currently has a staff of four counting Cohn. “We expect to grow to half a dozen by the end of the year and to 12 by July of next year,” he says.

His partners include Eran Gil, VP of Business Development; David Hoff, VP of Technology, and Neal Miller, CFO.

All have years of experience.

Cohn says CapVenture coaching has been “very valuable.”

“We’re partners with Pete Privateer of Reflex Security (as a coach in the CapVenture program). It’s fantastic that they partner entrepreneurs with seasoned veterans,” he says. “It’s a great benefit to be able to bounce your ideas, your business plan, and your issues off of people who have been there before.

“The access is remarkable for someone who does not necessarily have a deep network in Atlanta. Just getting accepted to CapVenture opened a lot of doors for us. We hope to close a couple of new partnerships in a couple of weeks that are a direct result of being part of the program.

The CapVenture program runs from August 19, 2008 through October 7, 2008 and will conclude with an investor event to be held at the ATDC on October 7, 2008. It is sponsored by the Advanced Technology Development Center and the Technology Association of Georgia.

This year’s coaches include some of Atlanta’s most highly respected entrepreneurs and executives including: Jamie Bardin, James Davis, Mike Eckert, Kelly Gay, Scott Geller, Dave Gould, Doug Hadaway, Sanjoy Malik, Sanjay Parekh, and Peter Privateer.

On the Web: www.cloudsherpas.com; www.atdc.org/capventure/; www.tagonline.org