“For decades the IT industry has been focused on the business credentials of the channel partner – from general testing, authorisations and certifications to more recently performance and business valuations,” says Neal Bradbury, vice president of Channel Development, Intronis and member of the CompTIA Cloud Trustmark+ Steering Committee. “It’s great to see the spotlight turned on the vendor and distributor community – especially as it relates to cloud – and allow those of us who continue to invest in R&D, partner enablement and support services to more clearly differentiate our value proposition and business credentials by earning the vendor Cloud Trustmark from CompTIA.”
To obtain the CompTIA Cloud Trustmark+ vendors and distributors must pass a comprehensive third-party review covering a detailed list of business and technology criteria. Several documents will also be required around five distinct categories including:
• Corporate and Product Overview
• Go to Market Strategy
• Partner / Channel Strategy
• Security and Infrastructure
• Internal Operations and Support
Businesses that earn the Cloud Trustmark+ have demonstrated a commitment to providing IT channel partners with best-in-class technology, integrations, support and enablement resources.
“CompTIA’s Cloud Trustmark+ makes it far simpler for channel partners when it comes to the time-consuming task of vetting emerging and established cloud vendors,” says Lester Keizer, CEO and co-owner of Business Continuity Technologies, a successful MSP and premier member of CompTIA.
“Too many cloud players and cloud technologies are here today and gone tomorrow,” says Chris Johnson, chairman of the CompTIA IT Security Community and CEO of Untangled Solutions, a specialty IT service provider and premier member of CompTIA. “The CompTIA Cloud Trustmark+ acts as a seal of approval that channel partners can trust and cloud vendors and distributors should definitely pursue.”
Members of CompTIA’s Cloud and Security Communities including thought leaders from a number of channel distribution and vendor organisations, as well as several respected solution providers worked with CompTIA to develop the vendor-neutral Cloud Trustmark+ including Ingram Micro and Tech Data.