Simply put, the term ‘Cloud computing’ refers to the storing and accessing of systems and information over the internet instead of on-premises infrastructure. It’s an on-demand service that follows the pay-as-you-go pricing, adding the advantage of cost-saving to its vast list of business-centric benefits. Today, most organizations hire outsourced IT managed service providers for skilled resources to maintain of the cloud-based systems. Examples of services offered by such vendors include managed security operations, IT life cycle management, managed network operations, etc.
The popularity of cloud-managed services is due to the numerous advantages that they provide to the users. The most significant ones are listed below.
Cost-Effective
Businesses that go for outsourced IT managed services can cut down on their in-house IT staff and those expensive network maintenance costs. This enables companies to save thousands of dollars every year and the money can be spent on the growth and expansion of the business.
Expertise
The in-house IT team of the client may not be fully capable of handling the complexities of the cloud. On-premises services and cloud are very different from each other and companies may have to invest a lot in training their employees to leverage and maintain the cloud-hosted services. However, vendors providing outsourced IT managed services have specialized manpower and equipment trained and designed to tackle all kinds of cloud-service problems.
High Productivity
Managed service providers identify process bottlenecks and eliminate them to empower the client to operate more efficiently. They also recommend the latest and the best technologies to the client and help them create a foolproof strategy if the client wants to embrace them.
Integrated Service
Most reputed cloud-managed service providers offer different plans to their clients that can be chosen as per the nature and budget of the engagement. Such options include pay-per-use service, converged solutions, etc., giving the client a high degree of flexibility.
Focus on Business Objectives
Since businesses have limited resources, the top management has to regularly involve itself with the IT and development teams for making complex cloud-related decisions. Thus, it drifts from its set business objectives and runs the risk of losing sight of the competition. But outsourced IT managed services relieves the management of this task and allows it to focus on the other critical areas of the business.
Data Security
Organizations want to take no chances on the security of critical business information and hence opt for the professional services of an expert managed services provider. The outsourcing vendor knows the network vulnerabilities of the client and has all that’s needed for protecting and securing sensitive information of the client.
Compliance Needs
Several compliance standards must be met by businesses that are leveraging the power of the cloud to carry out their work. Without external support, it’s a difficult job for the in-house team to maintain all compliance requirements, costing the business dearly. Managed IT service providers help the client with strategies for adhering to industry compliance and regulations needs.
These are just a few of the advantages that businesses get from outsourced IT managed services. Companies offering these services set up, manage, upgrade, and secure the cloud environment for the client so that processes can be easily managed and productivity is at the optimum level.