<p>This year's Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference had few surprises, but one of the rare shocks from the annual partner confab was Microsoft Corp.'s admission that only 3 percent of its partner network is actively selling cloud computing services.</p><p>"Twenty-thousand Microsoft partners are transacting with us in the cloud. Two things: one, thanks to the 20,000 we appreciate it. You're doing it. Two: come on, man, where's the other 630,000 [partners] we have? What do you need? Let's talk!" COO Kevin Turner implored WPC attendees.</p><p>Cloud computing spending continues to rise, as business adoption of cloud services expands to replace legacy systems. Yet, cloud computing in the channel remains low. Many solution providers dabble in cloud services, either hosting infrastructure or providing rudimentary applications such as hosted e-mail. Few are truly embracing the cloud revolution, providing comprehensive suites of application, infrastructure and consultative services.</p><p>And that's putting cloud vendors like Microsoft in a sticky situation. They see cloud computing as an opportunity to revolutionize their businesses models and revenue streams but if the channel doesn't support their vision and meet the opportunity, more are saying they will go direct.</p><p><a href="http://channelnomics.com/2013/07/17/channel-may-forcing-some-cloud-vendors-to-go-direct/">Keep reading...</a></p>