John Treadway of Cloud Technology Partners (also called CloudTP), discussed the state of the industry in an interview with SiliconAngle founding CEO John Furrier and Wikibon’s Stu Miniman.

Furrier opens the discussion by asking Treadway if the growing number of cloud acquisitions is a sign that the market is consolidating. The executive says that it’s too early to know. The vertical is at its infancy, he highlights, and while it’s true that the big whales are gobbling up emerging providers, new and promising start-ups are also entering the fray. Treadway goes on to say that infrastructure is a big focus today because it is the stepping stone to the application layer, where all the disruption is occurring. Providers are demanding secure and scalable apps that can run in any cloud environment, and they’re turning to solutions such as PivotalOne and Cloud Foundry to address their needs.

The next topic that Treadway tackles is OpenStack. He says that the cloud OS doesn’t compete with Amazon head-to-head, but that it is a major threat. The project is also putting pressure on VMware because it is a free alternative to vCloud Director. The conversation then turns to disruption in the data center and its effect on both solution vendors and consultancies. Furrier notes that the bloated SAP projects of the past have been replaced by a new consultancy model that favors customers by making time-to-value the top priority. Treadway agrees, and adds that the services business remains just as lucrative as before because technologies that drive business value require continuous investments.

Treadway concludes the interview by pointing out that EMC’s cloud expertise gives it an edge over traditional consultancies that are less familiar with modern architectures. He names information security as one of the areas in which novice cloud user customers struggle most.