The mass migration to the private cloud is well underway. Each day, more and more managed service providers (MSPs) take their business to the cloud to increase their profit margins and offer higher level services.
Unfortunately, this transition isn't always easy. The relatively new nature of the SaaS (News 
- Alert) market and the potentially high cost of entry can make it difficult for some MSPs to make a successful leap to the private cloud.
In an effort to help small and mid-size MSPs and telcos take full advantage of the cloud, a group of high-level experts from around the industry are coming together to take part in a free webinar titled, “The Private Cloud Triad: The Model, the Plan, the Platform: Three Steps to Building a Successful Cloud Business.”
The event will help MSPs identify the key steps in choosing the best cloud platform for their business. Specifically, the experts will teach attendees how to effectively ask the right questions of a platform, in regards to both its external and internal capabilities. The panel will also explore ways to take advantage of the lofty margins associated with the cloud while avoiding the high barriers to entry.
The panel will be moderated by Charles Weaver (News - Alert), editor of MSPNews and CEO of MSPAlliance, who will lead the webinar off with an overview of the Saas market and the business of the private cloud.
Joining Weaver will be Mike Marks, VP of Business Development, Cloud Customer Solutions Unit, at CA Technologies (News - Alert), and Steve Stewart, Senior Director of Service Provider Marketing at CA.
Marks will be speaking about the best ways to forecast and plan for the cloud business model, while Stewart will touch on the most appropriate strategies for MSPs, telcos and cloud SPs that are trying to market and sell their services using the private cloud.
The panel will wrap up the talk by describing how service providers can leverage these tips to build a profitable business on the CA AppLogic cloud platform.
The free webinar will kick off on Thursday, September 1 at 1 p.m. EST. CLICK HERE to register.
Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.
Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
