Cloud Adoption Lesson 101: Managed Services is a need!

A recent survey by Frost & Sullivan reported that 80 percent of US companies are planning to increase their use of cloud managed services.

Managed cloud hosting is used by organizations to share and access resources such as databases, hardware, and software tools, across a remote network via multiple servers in another location. In managed cloud hosting, servers are purchased in slices or as a virtual server. Managed cloud services involve outsourcing management responsibilities and functions for saving costs and improving operations.

A Managed Service Provider (MSP), sometimes also known as a Management Service Provider, is an organization that manages information technology services for other companies via the Web. An MSP client may use ASP or internal operations to run its business functions. An MSP helps organizations by managing the customers’ computing, storage, networks, and operating systems, along with the complex tools and application stacks that run on top of that infrastructure.

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MSPs help organizations simplify the process of migrating to a cloud platform. They enhance both top-and-bottom lines by means of multiple components such as asset and service management, business continuity, solution-based capacity management, and more. MSPs are a great alternative to other outsourcing models where the service providers only perform the services that the customers ask.

Why cloud managed service providers are a valuable asset

Cloud computing today is a must for business growth. The simple reason being that they help businesses reap the maximum benefits of cloud adoption by means of cost-effective and well-managed computing resources, IT efficiency, and flexibility. Managed cloud hosting helps create the right balance between the scalability and facilities that a public cloud can provide and the promise of better reliability that on-premise solutions can offer. Businesses that need to give processes a higher priority than IT must analyse the benefits that managed cloud services can bring to the table.

Today’s managed cloud services represent a collaborative effort between service provider and customer. The MSPs contribute to the expertise, technology, and experience for the customers’ inputs on their specific business objectives.

Per a recent Frost & Sullivan survey conducted on IT decision-makers it was found that while 36% of US organizations expect to add managed services by 2017, 35% of them already use managed cloud services. More than half of the organizations using managed cloud are expecting to add more services and features over the next two years.

To enjoy the benefits that managed cloud solutions can provide, it is critical for organizations to find and partner with an experienced cloud provider who has enough expertise in the multiple cloud administration functions and is architecturally sound with dependable infrastructure at his disposal.

Let us have a look at five reasons to understand why subscribing to managed cloud services makes sense.

1. Helps overcome the complexity involved in hybrid

Over the years, as organizations built hybrid environments extending across data center facilities and multiple clouds, they have realized that it is not an easy task to implement and manage a robust cloud strategy.

It is no surprise that almost “91% of organizations turn to an expert third party for assistance with their cloud strategy.” (per the Frost & Sullivan survey).

Being focused, these third-party vendors become experts over a period and have a vast knowledge spanning multiple applications that helps in optimizing the deployments across the entire lifecycle. Their experience and knowledge proves invaluable in areas such as governance and compliance, workload assessment and migration, design and even continuous management.

2. Helps create innovative strategies

In today’s age of digital transformation, Organizations are more than willing to modify their existing business processes and operations. This will eventually lead them towards finding their niche in the fast-paced, globally competitive service economy. Technology assets and good IT leadership is critical for helping organizations transit seamlessly into this digital age.

Per a Frost & Sullivan survey, 60% organizations “expect their cloud strategy to free up IT staff to pursue innovative solutions to business challenges.”

When an MSP partner takes over the responsibility of managing cloud services, it frees up time for the IT staff to spend their time and efforts towards creating and planning other innovative and better solutions for the organization that adds further value. These innovations may open newer ways to generate customer satisfaction and improve time-to-market for commercial organizations.

3. Helps Control Costs

Many organizations usually adopt cloud services hoping that this would help them curtail IT and network maintenance costs. However, many of them now feel that the actual costs are way more than expected. This mismatch in expectations is a result of organizations not keeping in view the costs involved in managing the workload over cloud. Additionally, there may be a communication gap or understanding of the differences in the standard offerings provided by the cloud service providers, that may cause a financial variation.

Small and medium-sized businesses that utilize simple networks do not really need large, permanent IT teams. Associating with a cloud services provider can help them save a lot in terms of cost. Additionally, the cloud managed service providers help understand, customize, and optimize the recurring monthly IT costs. MSPs enable organizations to control and manage cloud costs by optimizing the work load distribution, services, and the infrastructure being used.

4. Helps provide transparency into costs and performance

Organizations need to implement practical and realistic strategies that are based on variables such as the work involved, departments, and the actual costs involved per project. Almost 75% of organizations say it is important to have visibility into infrastructure performance across all components of a hybrid cloud, per a Frost & Sullivan survey.

Technical managers need to have transparent and in-depth visibility regarding the performance of workloads, without worrying about the deployment models being used. An experienced MSP offers organizations the much-required accessibility to advanced technologies that help improve the visibility and reporting for the projects. This enables the Business and IT managers to take and implement smarter strategies.

5. Helps form the base for future growth

Today organizations know that investing in the cloud means investing in a robust future. Per a Frost & Sullivan survey, while 64% of organizations consider investing in the cloud as an essential strategy to remain competitive, 61% expect that it will help them to reap the maximum benefits by implementing new technologies.

MSPs provide advanced technologies that help organizations move their cloud services to effective hybrid clouds. This helps organizations to continuously make use of a range of applications and technologies.

Enterprises across the globe have recognized cloud as a critical enabler of business transformation and innovation. Cloud has emerged as a powerful technology disruptor that constantly challenges the existing IT landscape, compelling enterprises to adopt newer cloud-based paradigms or risk losing the game. With a plethora of cloud migration services available, choosing the right migration partner, the right service model, the best-suited deployment option, and the type of workload to be moved, are of paramount significance. Ensuring data privacy and security in cloud adoption is another crucial parameter for consideration.

Author @cloudspacevn