Amazon.com, which provides a suite of cloud-based hosted server and storage solutions in addition to books, is looking to engage the channel in its delivery of this lineup.

In a newsletter, the company says Amazon Web Services (AWS) will be offering technical training in its lineup for those who qualify:

"AWS is offering technical training for qualified systems integrators building solutions and practices on our cloud computing services.

"Trainings are conducted on a recurring monthly basis at several locations in the U.S. and Europe. To apply, please send an email to aws-ecosystem@amazon.com."

We wrote about Amazon Web Services several weeks ago, and its technology and offerings are fairly straightforward. But keep in mind the potential for all cloud services to run into hiccups - - including Amazon's own high-profile outage last year. Still, the company has one of the largest and most geographically diverse cloud offerings in the industry.

Anyone who has been around IT and the channel for any length of time knows not to read too much into what Amazon is attempting - - the proof will be in a continued commitment to working with channel partners to deliver services.

But for those folks at IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, EMC and elsewhere: Consider this a warning shot. Not only could Amazon start poaching VARs, it has the potential because of its size and scale to aggressively drive down pricing.

To be continued.