As more organizations seek to adopt cloud computing in any of its forms, many will find that it may not always be as simple to implement as one might think. Cloud providers often offer very generic services to companies that vary widely in business practices and in on-premise technology. Cloud service providers must offer more options to their customers, just as they would with on-premise solutions. Moreover, some may desire for a unified IT system, one that converges both public and private cloud systems into a single cohesive infrastructure (compute, storage and networking). Companies like Datalink are stepping up to make this happen.

The overall goal of converged infrastructure is to simplify IT. Those companies that struggle with making sure their private and public cloud implementations play nice with one another will find cloud convergence refreshing because they can have an all-in-one approach to their overall IT infrastructure. Datalink’s offerings, namely its Virtual Dymanic Data Center and IT as a Service aim to offer customers convergence in stages: consolidation, integration, automation, IT as a service and ultimately federation of services. Its services come from a pool of highly-regarded partners, including Cisco, EMC, HDS, NetApp, Quantum, Symantec and VMware

Datalink also offers a try-before-you-buy service called Datalink On Demand Labs. This allows customers to experiment with cloud solutions before they decide on the ones they want. Many people in the business world may have decided to use the cloud but may not be sure what type of cloud they want. While some businesses jump straight to the public cloud to get the availability and agility it offers, others may have data tied in legacy applications or security concerns that keep them at least partially tied to a private cloud setting.

According to Mark Myers, Director of Cloud Service Management at Datalink, most clients end up in the hybrid cloud, but good channel partners begin, “helping them figure out what their processes are, understanding what they have to deliver, aligning that to business, moving to a private cloud, and then moving to a public cloud, but also finding places where public cloud can help right away.”

Aligning to the business means helping IT departments make their way out of the data center and actually engaging business units to understand how they operate. When they seek out cloud providers, they will have a clearer understanding of what their businesses need.

Datalink is not the only channel partner steering customers toward converged infrastructures. Its competitors include Sirius, Forsythe and Trace3. The service provider that gains an edge in converged infrastructure, especially as it pertains to the cloud, will be the one that can help organizations understand their business needs and apply those needs to their infrastructure in a holistic manner.