The use of MSPs (Managed Service Providers) in nearly all IT domains has become highly pervasive in many organizations. No service, however, is seeing more rapid adoption than the cloud. According to a Frost and Sullivan survey of IT decision makers, 35 percent of organizations in the U.S. already use a managed cloud service. Further, half of current organizations using managed cloud services plan to increase that usage over the next two years.
A managed cloud service allows an organization to tap the true power of cloud computing without the pain of having to learn or do everything by itself. The managed cloud service provider assumes the responsibility of managing the customer’s computing, storage, operating systems and networks, along with the complex tool and application stacks that run atop all that infrastructure.
Below are the top five reasons why organizations are adopting managed cloud services:
1. Handle the complexity of the hybrid cloud
Many organizations frequently discover that designing, implementing and managing a workable yet effective cloud strategy is harder than they thought. More than 90 percent of organizations turn to third-party assistance when trying to implement a cloud strategy.
A managed cloud service provider will work with your organization to optimize your deployments over their entire lifecycles. This optimization includes tasks such as design, workload assessment and migration, deployment, and the ongoing management, governance and compliance issues.
2. Lower the total cost of ownership
From the early days of cloud computing, organizations have deployed cloud services in the hope that it would lower their IT costs significantly. In reality, many organizations experience higher-than-expected costs mainly due to costs related to cloud management. For more than 61 percent of businesses that have deployed a cloud model, the organization spends $3 or more on cloud management for every $1 it spends on cloud infrastructure.
A managed cloud services provider gives an organization better visibility and predictability of cloud management expenses. The right managed cloud services provider can ensure that your cloud workloads are properly optimized by utilizing the correct on-premise infrastructure (for hybrid clouds) and provider to deliver a favorable price-performance.
3. Change how you handle your IT functions
In such a fast-paced, global service economy, organizations are rapidly transforming their operations and business processes, and IT leaders are now tasked with guiding the organization into the digital age. Organizations expect their cloud strategies to free up their IT staff to pursue various business challenges and solutions.
A managed cloud services provider takes full responsibility for deploying and managing your cloud services, thus freeing up your IT staff to focus on developing innovative solutions. This benefit can mean higher productivity and faster-to-market times for your new products.
4. Gain better visibility into workload performance and cloud costs
Many organizations no longer treat IT expenses as an overhead to be shared among various departments. Rather, technical managers now demand uniform and granular visibility into actual costs per workload, department and project.
The ideal managed services partner will offer you ready access to sophisticated technology platforms that provide granular visibility and comprehensive reporting, which are designed to help your IT and business managers make more informed decisions.
5. Build a strong foundation for strategic growth
As businesses continue to evolve to meet the challenges of a new digital age, they shift from using the cloud for point-solutions for specific applications to adopting a more holistic approach to create a foundation for strategic growth.
The best managed cloud service provider will provide a platform that helps you leverage a full range of applications and technologies using various APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). The platform evolves as your organization grows, allowing you to take advantage of new technologies and standards.
Whether your organization is encountering problems implementing a hybrid strategy or is simply looking to maximize a return on its cloud investment, you will discover that a managed cloud service could be the answer for you.
Spearhead Blog
October 10, 2016
