The Economist has called data "the new oil" and "the world's most valuable resource." Businesses flourish (and perish) on the ability to quickly collect and analyze their enterprise data — and the vast majority of them have decided that the cloud is the place to store it. According to a 2018 survey, 96 percent of organizations now use cloud computing in some fashion.
But rather than go it alone, many businesses are choosing to work with managed cloud services providers, giving their clients strategic guidance as well as access to the cloud. According to research firm, MarketsandMarkets, the managed cloud services market will nearly double in the next five years: from $27.2 billion in 2017 to $53.8 billion in 2022. Below, we'll discuss four of the most important reasons that organizations choose to partner with a cloud service provider.
Better Performance
With so much that can possibly go wrong during a cloud migration or deployment, IT projects represent a serious investment of time and money. When your organization is pushed to its limits trying to put out IT fires, there's very little time for higher-level, long-term strategic thinking and planning.
By partnering with a managed cloud service provider, you don't have to worry about ongoing support and maintenance issues. Instead, you can focus on what your business does best: your own core competencies.
Cost Savings
Maintaining a full-time IT staff is an expensive proposition, especially for smaller organizations. Not only do you eat the costs of hiring, onboarding, and training, you also have to pay monthly salaries and benefits, regardless of how much your employees actually worked.
When you work with a managed cloud service provider, you only pay for the hours of IT time that you actually used. As a result, your IT costs are usually lower and more consistent. This is especially useful for businesses that experience predictable levels of higher demand, such as accounting firms during tax season.
Greater Expertise and Technology
Cloud services providers have an entire team of IT professionals with expertise in different areas, from automation and monitoring to backup and recovery. This broad base of knowledge is something that's extremely difficult to build from scratch within your own organization.
Armed with this knowledge, your chosen cloud service provider can represent and advocate for you, interfacing with third-party vendors on your behalf. Cloud MSPs also have access to the latest cloud hardware and software technologies, so you don't have to spend money to construct a modern cloud solution on-premise.
Availability, Reliability, and Security
A cloud services provider can almost guarantee greater cloud performance for your organization. For one, they can leverage multiple redundant servers and other network technologies to increase your uptime - which means that any and all performance issues can be solved quickly.
Plus, the longer you maintain a relationship with the same cloud MSP, the more familiar they'll become with your organization and the easier it will be for them to provide your team with proactive cloud care (allowing you to avoid problems altogether).
High-quality cloud service providers are also familiar with common information security standards such as HIPAA and PCI DSS. This allows them to implement the solutions that will keep your enterprise data safe and your organization compliant.
If you'd like to learn more about what a cloud service provider can do for your business, feel free to send us a message. We deliver custom cloud solutions and services to companies throughout Colorado, and we'd love to talk to you.
