Source: Tier1research

Jamcracker, well known for creating the Jamcracker Services Delivery Network (JSDN), which aggregates a wholesale catalog of cloud services and non-cloud services (software downloads or hardware delivered via channel partners or part of the service bundles) and provides lifecycle service management to enable cloud service brokerage, is under the spotlight in the service provider market. Jamcracker's JSDN-wide sell-through revenues increased by an average of 12.5% m/m in the second half of 2010. Aside from communication service providers, which have been the primary customers, Jamcracker has started striking deals with hardware and software distributors, including Cisco and BroadSoft in the past few months. Jamcracker has built out a wholesale catalog of more than 200 services through signing master distribution agreements (MDAs) with some 60 cloud providers, many of whom have multiple service offerings across the three layers( IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) of the cloud stack.

To maintain its growth momentum with increasing profits, Jamcracker will strive to push the cloud service brokerage (CSB) model, which has been the key to drum up interest from service providers, distributors, and ISV-branded ecosystems, introducing extended capabilities beyond aggregated cloud services delivery and making incremental changes in the JSDN platform to increase customer and channel stickiness.

Three imperatives driving growth opportunities

Investing in technologies to build a unified delivery platform: Jamcracker has built the JSDN from the ground up. JSDN is a multi-tenant, multi-tiered cloud service delivery and management platform that is based on open-standards architecture and Web technologies such JBoss, Java and J2EE with a configurable workflow engine. JSDN is designed to integrate easily with existing OSS, BSS and IMS infrastructures. There are several hundred APIs, which are exposed to develop 'adapters' for new services and applications. More importantly, the service delivery platform provides the business process lifecycle management components that matter most to service provider customers for a single point of provisioning and settlement for a wide array of heterogeneous applications.

Growing a cloud service broker ecosystem: Jamcracker has been expanding its cloud service broker ecosystem, working with dozens of ISVs and cloud providers to create a service delivery platform spanning the three layers (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) of the cloud stack. Approximately 40 providers have adapters to the JSDN. At present, the Jamcracker delivery platform is made up of six broadly defined service categories (IT services, communications, collaboration, security, mobility and applications). Each category has four to five subcategories, and each subcategory has one to two providers that offer multiple services. With more than 200 cloud-based services, Jamcracker's service delivery platform is growing fast at the global level with approximately 20% of providers from Asia-Pacific and Europe. Also, aside from working with existing cloud providers to populate a wholesale catalog for cloud services, Jamcracker's platform enables service providers to onboard their own and deliver them to their end customers using a unified service delivery and management framework.

Leveraging strong, established relations with key players in the marketplace: From establishing distribution agreements and negotiating volume discount to forming cooperative programs for unified service management, Jamcracker has progressively established a wealth of strategic partners while pursuing its content aggregation business. Partnerships with the likes of Amazon, Rackspace, Microsoft, Cisco's WebEx are just some examples. The recent partnership with IBM, where JSDN is part of IBM's Cloud Service Provider Platform (CSP2) announced last October, has enabled Jamcracker to take part in several joint deals with IBM's telco customers. Being well connected with key industry players is critical for Jamcracker's growth prospects in the cloud enablement market.

A living example: T-Suite

As the leading telecom provider in Australia, Telstra is under constant pressure to show investors that it is more than a dump pipe. As part of business transformation, Telstra was keen to take on a role of being a cloud service broker leveraging its network as a delivery mechanism. Telstra worked with Jamcracker in phases to enable the running of its cloud broker business, branded as T-Suite. As the first phase of the T-Suite rollout in November 2008, Telstra leveraged the Jamcracker service delivery platform to aggregate and unify management of a combination of applications with which it had pre-existing commercial agreements as well as applications that are sourced out of Jamcracker's global services catalog. In less than six months, Telstra moved forward with phase two T-Suite rollout plan targeting SMB customers. As expected, Telstra expanded its T-Suite lineup by adding a number of localized SaaS applications that are sourced from Australia and New Zealand and onboarded to T-Suite in partnership with Jamcracker. Also, the design of Jamcracker service delivery platform enabled Telstra to support its channel partners such as VARs using role-based access and management.

T1R take

Although Jamcracker does not disclose its sell-through revenues, the growth trajectory is promising. The growing appetite for the cloud service brokerage model is indicative of a rising trend in the service provider market where telcos like Telstra and TELUS have tightened up their business models and transition to service platforms less dependent on their core connectivity and broadband businesses as they are slowly eroding from stiff price competition. Also, existing providers cannot ignore the rise of Internet giants like Google and Facebook in transforming the traditional ICT business. With that in mind, providers who are on the verge of tapping the value of Internet (cloud computing) will see Jamcracker as key enabler to connect the dots of cloud providers across all layers of the cloud stack. The white-label channel and revenue sharing model (in a single digit percentage point) has already helped Jamcracker to boost service appeal in the communications service market and now extending into the vendor community. Thus far, the notion of a cloud service brokerage model is well received in the still-evolving cloud computing market and it is likely to become an integral part in bringing cloud adoption to the next level.