Peter Koliopoulos of Arrow and Barbara Spicek of Brocade each gave their perspectives on cloud, virtualization and big data at a Cube interview from the VSPEX launch event this week (see full interview below).  EMC’s new converged architecture aims to make it easier for clients to setup a deployment, and that applies to partners re-distributing the offering to their own customers as well.

Koliopoulos started off the discussion by noting that the channel is evolving at the same pace as technology, and today the emphasis is on services. Data migration and installation are usually more profitable than reselling hardware and software, with the significant of that amplified by current market conditions and the demand for that.

SiliconANGLE founder John Furrier picked up the topic and contextualized it with VSPEX. The architecture’s simplistic approach means that more partners can become so-called cloud brokers without having to drastically expand their talent pool. It can accommodate existing infrastructure without rendering it obsolete.

Barbara Spicek, VP of Worldwide Channels at Brocade  then shared some insight as well. According to her the change in networking environments has been directly led by trends such as virtualization and the cloud, a shift that is impacting the market as a whole. More pecifically, Spicek’s view is that this modernization is opening up new services opportunities for resellers beyond today’s standard portfolio, as well as in new areas.

This was one of the more interesting highlights. The conversation bounced back to Koliopoulos, who discussed one of these emerging directions: big data. He sees a market in selling consumer behavior insight to other VARs – this can generate more leads, seal deals more effectively and enhance other metrics that can have a positive influence on revenue.

The interview revolved around VSPEX but branched off to a number of different angles. For the rest of the interview, be sure to view the video below.