Does your business rely on the cloud for its processes? You may have been handling your cloud platform on your own for a while now, and that might have been the best business decision at the time.

However, once your business scales, so do the tasks you perform on the cloud. Your processes and applications may need to be migrated and optimized alongside data. When your business cloud platform becomes too much to handle, you end up with too much on your hands.

It may be time to outsource your cloud management. With cloud-managed services, you can delegate the important task of overseeing your cloud platform. A group of skilled professionals in the field of IT can help manage, improve, and maintain your cloud infrastructure.

Hiring a cloud managed service provider is a must if your in-house IT staff lacks the skills required for cloud management. However, what exactly does a cloud-managed service provider offer?

Keep reading to learn more!

Cloud Managed Service Providers

What is a cloud-managed service provider? A cloud-managed service provider (or CSP) consists of a team of IT specialists. These specialists work to render services that enable you to configure best and set up your cloud platform.

You can outsource your cloud platform to a cloud-managed service provider. A CSP can help you with complex IT tasks related to doing the following for your cloud platform:

• Protecting it from security threats
• Preventing data loss
• Secure certain parts of your platform for added data protection
• Allows for the distribution of access to members of your team
• Handling interconnections between cloud services and on-premise networking for hybrid solutions
• Cloud control plane, cloud resources, and virtual server maintenance and monitoring
• Cloud management services outside your regular business or office hours
• Change Management
• Issue Resolution
• Automation
• Disaster Mitigation
• 24/7 Monitoring

This list of cloud management services comprises only the tip of the iceberg. In short, CSPs improve your cloud management platform. Also, CSPs ensure that your cloud platform becomes an asset to your business and not one more thing to worry about.

Why Do Businesses Need Cloud Managed Service Providers?

To understand the benefits a cloud management service provider has to offer, we need to look at why cloud management is crucial.

The Rise of Cloud Storage and Cloud-Related Security Threats

With processes and applications growing and being used rapidly, hardware storage may not yield immediate returns on the investment made in hard drives and data terminals. Hardware storage users often purchase expensive storage equipment ahead of time, anticipating the need for high storage capacity.

Early on, not much data needs storing. So, it takes a long time to accumulate data for the investment to be worth it.

This development has engendered a clamor for cloud storage. The principal value proposition of cloud storage is its limitless storage capacity. Aside from that, cloud users can benefit from paying for the storage capacity they currently use without the large investment in storage upfront.

Cloud storage is also an off-location way of storing computer-generated data of any sort. Online storage is synonymous with cloud storage. With data readily accessible, your employees or team members can access data anywhere with internet access.

“The cloud,” in other words, is another hub for data storage, virtual computing resources, and operations. However, it does have its drawbacks. The decentralized nature of the cloud makes data, processes, and applications susceptible to online threats. This is true for on-premise as well. Each Cloud provider is very protected.

In addition, cloud resources are also vulnerable to misuse and misconfiguration. There is also the contingency of accidental data deletions by in-house staff due to unfamiliarity with a cloud platform. With the cloud’s technical intricacies in mind, one can easily recognize the need for a team that is competent and knowledgeable in cloud resources and applications.

Cloud-managed services can help protect your cloud platform from security threats with layers of security. Also, cloud-managed services have an array of services geared towards data protection, retrieval, and backup.

Skills Necessary To Work With Cloud Platforms

Working with services and processes in the cloud requires very specific skills. Not only are these skills specific, but they are numerous. There are at least 20 skills necessary to work in the cloud these days.

These skills include:

• Programming, scripting, and automation tools
• Linux, Windows, and other operating systems
• Multi-cloud deployment
• Data management
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Serverless architecture
• Cloud security or cybersecurity
• App or data migration
• DevOps

These are just some of the skills necessary for a company to manage a cloud platform in-house and on-location. In an ideal world, you would hire a handful of people to perform these tasks.

Unfortunately, many of the skills required are high-level skills that may require countless resources and time for training. In the worst-case scenario, you may even have to hire one employee per skill.

In short, as you integrate cloud storage and management into your business, you are obtaining more things to manage. If you are a small business, outsourcing to a cloud-managed service is your best option.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Cloud Management

There are several pros to hiring a cloud-managed service. We have narrowed it down to these four:

#1: A Cloud Managed Service Can Complement Your In-House IT Team

As mentioned earlier, it can take a long time to train your staff to acquire all the skills necessary for cloud management. In addition, your team needs to be trained further if new technology emerges.

CSPs already come equipped with an IT staff capable of all the skills needed for cloud management. With a CSP, your IT staff can work better knowing that assistance for cloud-related issues is within reach.

#2: You Will Save a Lot of Money

The costs of hiring new IT staff and fixing issues can pile up quickly. With a cloud-managed service provider, your cloud platform remains maintained for a fixed cost. However, the cost-effectiveness brought by a CSP does not stop there.

Costs can pile up due to addressing architectural and design problems. Fixing these issues can require additional cloud resources that can add to repair costs. By preventing issues with architecture and design, a CSP can help minimize costs.

Hire a CSP, and you can enjoy more savings and an always-intact cloud platform.

#3: Future-Proofed Cloud Management Services

New developments emerge in IT all the time. One of the areas where this is true is cloud management. Your IT team may be equipped with the skills and knowledge of cloud management now. However, what do you think will happen when new developments arise?

A cloud-managed service provider sees being updated as part of its job description. Hence, you can leave the unpredictable future in the capable hands of a CSP.

Final Thoughts: Digital Maelstrom Is the Solution You Need

If your business relies heavily on the cloud a CSP can open opportunities for cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Not only will outsourcing your cloud management save you money long-term, but doing so can also prepare you for the future.

Most importantly, a cloud-managed service provider can keep your cloud platform as functional and performant as you need it to be. It can render an array of cloud management services during and outside your office hours.

The main value proposition of any CSP worth its salt needs to be added security. Cloud management is a technical field where not all providers are security experts.

Where can you find secure cloud-managed services that go the extra mile to improve your cloud platform? Look no further than Digital Maelstrom!