Today, most organizations are availing cloud technology to meet their unique and specific requirements. This saves them significant time, money, and effort. Managed services involve giving the responsibility of business administration and management to an external party. Managed IT services are the most popular of all the types of managed services. Cloud managed service providers handle the cloud computing activities, storage services, network operations as well as application stacks. As per a report from Markers and Markets the worldwide cloud managed services market size will reach a substantial USD 116.2 billion by 2025. For your information, North America held the maximum share of 33% in the global cloud managed services market in 2023. However, Asia Pacific is expected to have the fastest growth in the coming years.

What are Cloud Managed Services?

Cloud management services involve a separate entity carrying out daily IT management of the cloud infrastructure of a particular organization. The latter may not have the expertise and experience of administering a cloud environment. So, they outsource the work to a third party. The work may include managing cloud security, computing, storage, vendors, and other responsibilities. If your IT department is not equipped to manage cloud-related activities then it makes sense to hire a third party having the necessary skills and knowledge. We explore how a managed cloud service provider can help your organization gain a significant competitive edge. Note that there are a number of benefits of cloud managed services.

Advantages of hiring cloud MSP (Managed Service Provider)s

• Handling Vendors

Dealing with vendors may prove to be a cumbersome process. The cloud managed service provider asks relevant technical questions to vendors. Usually, most cloud managed service providers have cordial relations with the vendors. The former will contact the vendors and collaborate with them to fix relevant as well as pressing issues.

• Minimize Time to Respond

The provider remotely observes, tracks, and repairs any cloud issue quickly. As they are both experienced and proficient they respond in real-time and expertly resolve any technical challenges and performance issues. MSPs are usually faster and more efficient than internal IT teams.

• Implement Disaster Recovery

You never know when and where a disaster can happen. The provider makes sure that the business processes of the organization are not affected by disasters. The former ensures that the important company data is safe as well as secure. Cloud managed service providers skillfully incorporate redundancy and resilience into the existing cloud infrastructure.

• Superior Quality of Services

Cloud managed service providers usually have a service level agreement (SLA) in place. It ensures that they respond to issues within predetermined deadlines. The onus is on the provider to ensure optimum performance and hassle-free maintenance. By leveraging their significant experience and expertise, MSPs deliver better, faster and seamless service. 

• Centralized Approach to Network Services

The cloud managed service provider manages all network activities from a centralized location. Benefits include ramped up staff productivity and seamless access to centralized data. This is leveraged by delegating networking specialists to the respective tasks. 

• Round the Clock Support

Your internal IT team may not be available outside office hours or on weekends. But technical issues can crop up anytime. Most cloud managed service providers offer 24/7 support. Technical issues can cause your systems to fail, interrupting business continuity. In such a scenario your staff is demoralized, your customers are angry and your reputation goes for a toss. Prevent such incidents from occurring and causing damage by outsourcing your cloud infrastructure administration to a reputed cloud managed service provider. This step will prevent reputational damage and the incurring of financial losses.

• Concentrate on Growing Your Business

Any organization’s priority is to generate more revenue and profits. This is achieved by offering better products and/or services. So, if your employees are bogged down by cloud management issues it decreases the time, effort, and money you can devote to your core competencies. Outsource the cloud administration to MSPs and be free to focus on your business.

• Save Substantial Money

You need to pay salaries to the members of your internal IT team. If a new technology emerges, you have to train them on it. All these steps entail major expenses. As MSPs deliver the same services as your internal IT team at a fraction of their cost, it makes sense to hire a competent and reliable MSP.

Difference between CSP (Cloud Service Provider) and MSP (Managed Service Provider)

Cloud service providers offer useful cloud-based services such as IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a service) and SaaS (Software as a Service). You just need an Internet connection to access such services. Cloud MSPs take care of your technology and infrastructure while a CSP gives access to their infrastructure and technology.  MSP services include infrastructure management and IT-related services including data storage, security, maintenance, and technical support.

What are the Different Components of Cloud Managed Services?

• Ensuring Security and Compliance

The systems as well as processes of cloud managed service providers adhere to the relevant laws and regulations. They ensure your applications and data are secure and comply fully with existing regulations. 

• Management of Applications

The provider's responsibility is to manage and maintain the enterprise applications operating on the cloud environment. The tasks include installation of software, regular updates and resolving issues so the applications work satisfactorily.

• Optimizing Performance and Scaling

The providers help enterprises to scale resources as per varying demand. The former strive to optimize infrastructure as well as applications such that their level of performance is the maximum possible. There is the facility to seamlessly scale up or down as per demand.

• Provision for Disaster Recovery

The managed cloud service providers devise robust disaster recovery strategies. Backups of data are regularly taken; redundancies are provided and recovery plans are devised to achieve business continuity whenever a disaster takes place. The providers have team members who have specialization in the domain of data recovery. They expedite the process ensuring minimum downtime. 

• Tracking and Support Services

The cloud infrastructure is observed round the clock by the managed service providers. Application issues are proactively detected and swiftly fixed. Support is accessible by all clients irrespective of the time and their geographical location. 

• Handling of Infrastructure

Components of cloud infrastructure such as networking systems, storage devices, server hardware and others are skillfully managed by the provider. The latter takes care of the infrastructure such that it is able to meet the enterprises requirements round the clock.

How to Choose an MSP Provider?

It is advised not to hurry to finalize a managed cloud service provider. Shortlist potential providers and contact them to obtain inputs. Do not take an individual decision. Consult your team members and hold discussions with them. Fix your budget and desired SLA (Service Level Agreement). Contact each provider to find out whether they are able to work within your budget and desired deadlines. Next, evaluate their proficiency and reliability. Ask for the contact details of past clients. Speak to the past clients at length to discover pertinent factors such as quality of delivered service, punctuality, adaptability, flexibility, and others. Have a legal contract in place so that commitment is established. Other deciding guidelines are given below.

• Should be Able to Complement Existing Expertise

An important step is to identify your organization's in-house capabilities. You need to have a suitable cloud managed service provider positioned to complement your existing in-house expertise instead of simple replacement. So, your in-house expertise is not wasted and money is saved in the process.

• Must have an Effective Strategy Tailored to Your Unique Needs

Check whether the service provider's cloud managed service strategy is clear and flexible. The strategy should match your budget, deadlines as well as business goals. Compatibility and clear vision is definitely a major factor..

• Need to Have Deep Understanding of Your Business

Look for providers having experience with organizations in your domain. Thus, cost overruns, delays and errors can be avoided or minimized. The provider should be able to deliver customized services as per your unique needs and preferences. Expertise in similar domains helps the provider to offer faster as well as better service.

The Importance of Cloud Solutions

Cloud computing is the supply of vital computing resources such as software, hardware, networking etc to enterprises mostly via the Internet. The advantages include access to services 24/7 and from any geographical location. Cloud providers ensure that there is no loss of data and security is robust. Organizations have to pay only for what they use. They have the freedom to scale up or down the resources they want. A benefit is that you don't have to buy software, hardware and network systems. The cloud provider has these resources and makes them available to you at significantly less cost. By using cloud solutions, businesses experience increased speed, agility and are free to innovate as well as focus on their core competencies.

Why Choose CoffeeBeans?

CoffeeBeans has a substantial pool of qualified and experienced individuals in the domain of cloud managed services. Our team will liaison with your organization to fully leverage the benefits of cloud managed services. We have an impeccable track record of delivering products/services within the stipulated deadlines. Our team is familiar with both local and global government regulations. They will help your organization fully adhere to the relevant regulations. Additionally, we have considerable expertise in cybersecurity. As such we can help organizations to implement best cybersecurity practices in their day-to-day operations. This averts downtime as well as ensures business continuity.

Note that we have prowess in a wide variety of domains ranging from aviation to agriculture. So, we have employees well versed in different domains. As we are based in India, we can offer you high-end expertise at reasonable charges. CoffeeBeans has perfected the outsourcing process. Clients get to know what is happening in their respective projects in real-time. Any doubts or queries are answered instantly. Our technical service team is available 24/7 to deal with any outages. Note that we greatly value quality and set high standards for our technical teams. Our employees are adept in the English language and well trained in soft skills. Partner with us to achieve your technological and domain objectives.