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Home Insights Resources Managed Cloud Services: An Expert Guide
Managed cloud services unlock unlimited potential. This subscription-based utopia is a haven built on a more efficient, structured, and streamlined service operating model. The best part is that, as a business utilising cloud-based managed services, it’s an almost hands-off approach, with the entire package secured, managed, and delivered to you from the cloud. And the numbers speak for themselves.
In 2024, statistics from Zippia reveal that 94% of businesses worldwide are adopting cloud computing – hosted services like data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software – and in 2023, 60% of the data stored in the cloud was corporate data. Specifically, in the UK, 77% of businesses are investing in advanced technologies like the cloud and AI – the cloud vendors are rapidly integrating more AI services, including cloud-based AI chatbots.
In our Managed Cloud Guide, we unpack what solutions are out there and how to assess what your organisation needs for immediate and future needs.
Managed cloud services are third-party partners with expertise in designing, developing, and managing cloud-hosted services that support businesses and ultimately improve the majority of business operations from the inside out, specifically targeting user experience and the productivity of end users. They’re a team of cloud design and management experts who can implement secure, reliable, and scalable solutions using enterprise-grade platforms.
A managed cloud service provider (MCSP) will meticulously manage the specifically designed cloud infrastructure to ensure it’s running efficiently and securely 24/7, 365 days a year, constantly supporting and improving business processes. It removes the expenses of costly IT investments and puts them in the hands of the experts and the cloud. They’re subscription-based services that operate and maintain the cloud infrastructure and data centres, providing further services like performance monitoring and issue resolution.
Most providers will offer services of total control of a business’s cloud infrastructure or specific services or applications across the three main types of cloud computing: public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud. Within those three deployment models, there are four main cloud services: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS), and serverless computing.
The three main cloud services covered by cloud-based managed services are designed to meet all business’s needs.
The public cloud is a cloud-based service offered to anyone over the internet. They’re there for anyone who wants to buy them and cover most cloud services shared by businesses and individuals. Most people will use multiple cloud services. Of the people using single cloud solutions, 9% use public clouds – some of the most popular being Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, and Google Cloud.
Hybrid clouds are the most popular solution, accounting for 80% of the people using multi-cloud solutions. Hybrid cloud solutions combine high-performance private and public clouds, meaning data and applications can move between the two, offering a more comprehensive package. Managed cloud services will carefully monitor the integration between the two, ensuring optimised connectivity between private and public cloud services.
Private cloud solutions are as the name suggests – a private cloud solution dedicated to a single organisation and hosted on internal business data centres or an external Tier 4 UK-based data centre. No matter where it’s managed, private cloud solutions are built and managed for a specific organisation’s needs for industry-leading, secure, reliable and scalable solutions.
The four main cloud services aren’t mutually exclusive – businesses can utilise one or all services depending on their unique business needs.
There are also the following services not always categorised in the main cloud services:
Managed cloud solutions are a breath of fresh air and a weight off the shoulders. Cloud design and management experts will effortlessly design and maintain your cloud infrastructure to ensure your business is getting the most out of it. The main benefits include:
Research the services your business could benefit from and ensure the provider can deliver them. A consultation to discover which cloud solutions your business needs is considered essential. The best service providers will offer all the main cloud services we’ve covered above.
You should be looking at whether a provider has service level agreements specifically looking at uptime agreements, support response times, and the performance metrics they can provide with the services you select. There should be enhanced backup and disaster recovery mechanisms ensuring you’re accessing the most reliable services, especially if you migrate most of your IT infrastructure to the cloud. The recent CloudStrike Falcon update drama and the resulting billions in downtime costs prove what can go wrong.
There are numerous security and data compliance standards service providers should follow, including HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2.
Your business needs managed cloud solutions. They’re the most advanced, up-to-date, and beneficial solutions you can access to improve your IT infrastructure and the overall user experience. The question is, what cloud service will you access, or will it be a combination of all?
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