With Public Cloud Do You Need a Managed Services Partner?

The public cloud market has been growing like crazy over the last few years and is projected to continue to expand. Gartner forecasts that by 2020, the total public cloud market globally will grow to $383.35 billion in 2020 from $246.84 billion this year.

Organizations are embracing the public cloud for many good reasons. It’s cost-effective, easily accessible, and relatively easy to deploy. With such a low barrier to entry, do you really need a managed IT services provider (MSP)?

In many cases, the answer is yes.

Consider this:

1. Easy access doesn’t mean easy management.  “Self-serve” access to the public cloud means IT teams can quickly deploy new infrastructure and applications; however, managing cloud workflows is not as simple. Running a decentralized cloud environment is a complex process that requires a variety of policies and procedures. You need to consider governance, data security, compliance and so on. Navigating and implementing a sound cloud strategy requires more expertise, time and resources than many in-house teams have to give.
2. The cloud requires specialized skills. It’s challenging for your IT team to keep up with all the latest cloud trends, developments, automation processes and threats. Technology and user requirements are constantly evolving; securing sensitive data requires constant vigilance as threats are changing daily; and if you don’t properly manage your risk, you can seriously jeopardize your business.
3. Recruiting and retaining the right talent is an ongoing challenge. Demand for technology and security skills is high — and supply is low — leading to talent poaching and high turnover. After time and money have been spent to recruit and train new talent, you may quickly be back at square one.

The Pros of Managed Service Providers

A managed services provider can solve the problem of talent, expertise and cloud support, and bring value to the table that includes:

• Mitigating the possible risk with using the public cloud
• Enhancing the security of your sensitive data in the cloud
• Ensuring compliance with industry regulations
• Providing ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting

Perhaps the biggest value is the MSP’s expertise to know which workloads are appropriate for the public cloud and what policies need to be in place to safeguard your data. Additionally, MSPs have the resources to respond to any issues that arise 24/7/365.

But what about the cost?

Organizations often cite cost as a barrier for hiring an MSP. In reality, an MSP can not only save your organization’s IT budget but provide the peace of mind that’s hard to quantify. As your digital footprint and workloads continue to increase, and your requirements scale to require a more complex infrastructure, many organizations move to a hybrid cloud and find their MSP invaluable.

An experienced partner can assess your business demands and work with you to ensure your hybrid journey to the cloud is smooth. And as the public cloud continues to be a viable solution, it’s critical to ensure your strategy is sound — and allows you to innovate without risking your assets.

Not sure where to start? We’re here to help. Let’s talk about what makes sense for your business. At OneNeck, we believe your cloud starts with you.

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