The ClearScale Cloud Newsline - The Managed Services Issue

Cloud Managed Services Provider or DIY? Here Are 5 Things to Consider

It’s a quandary many organizations face regarding cloud and related IT services. They can go the do-it-yourself route, keeping most, if not everything, related to their IT environments in-house. Or, they can outsource some or all the responsibilities to a third-party company to perform cloud managed services.

Both options can offer opportunities for cost savings and other benefits, depending on a company’s specific circumstances and business needs. The problem – one of them, anyway – is that IT operations today go far beyond applications and desktop computers. They’re now critical to executing and meeting key business initiatives.

That creates a challenge for many organizations. Their IT staffs already are busy deploying new software, trying to stay on top of constantly changing cyber threats and compliance requirements, maintaining hardware, and handling all the other day-to-day tasks. Few have the time or expertise to step back and create a comprehensive strategy that aligns with and supports their organization’s overall goals, much less to ensure that it continues to drive business value.

That’s why organizations must consider how outsourcing certain aspects of their IT operations to a managed cloud services provider can help them beyond taking on the traditional, time-consuming routine IT tasks. The following are five benefits of managed services to consider when determining whether to outsource to a cloud managed services provider or go with the “do-it-yourself” approach to managing your cloud infrastructure and applications.

1. Free Up Internal Resources

In discussions about managed services, freeing up internal resources gets raised a lot, and for good reason. It’s one of the biggest benefits of IT outsourcing.

Offloading routine IT tasks, such as system monitoring and patching, enables in-house IT professionals to focus on the business, whether that entails developing products, improving operational efficiency, or any number of other strategic endeavors. These are the kinds of initiatives that are essential to enabling organizations to undergo critical digital transformation and gain and maintain a competitive edge ─ and that benefit from the insider knowledge in-house teams have.

But it’s not just routine tasks that you can hand off to managed services providers…

Continue reading to learn more about the five things to consider when deciding whether to outsource to a managed cloud services provider or go the “DIY” approach.

Did You Know?

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence , cloud managed services represented just under $11 billion in 2021 — expected to increase to $26 billion by 2026, a CAGR of 19.8%.

Most of the security leaders surveyed by Kroll believe that third-party providers can help the most with speeding up containment and response to threats (55%), augmenting in-house expertise (53%), and increasing process automation (50%)

Tales From The Trenches

CommissionTrac Frees Engineering Capacity with Cloud Managed Services

CommissionTrac was looking for 24/7 DevOps support for its AWS infrastructure. The CommissionTrac engineering team was small, which made it difficult to address everything that had to be done from an IT monitoring standpoint. CommissionTrac’s CTO wanted to spend more time developing and deploying new features in addition to maintaining the company’s core application. Open to ideas, CommissionTrac reached out to AWS for suggestions. Read the case study.?

Quik! Leverages Managed Services, Works With AWS Premier Partner to Ensure Maximum IT Performance

Because of Quik!’s rapid growth trajectory, the business needed to maintain top infrastructure performance. However, it was hard to do that while investing in new initiatives. Quik!’s leadership team decided to create additional capacity by working with ClearScale, an AWS Premier Consulting Partner that could implement the latest features available from AWS. Through this partnership, Quik! was able to free its engineers up to focus on higher-level business goals rather than on day-to-day IT administration. Read the case study.?

ClearScale Keeps Fast-Growing FinTech Platform Online

As SavvyMoney has grown, the company has continued to stay in front of its IT infrastructure requirements. A key success factor in that effort has been working with ClearScale, an AWS Premier Consulting Partner. Previously, ClearScale helped SavvyMoney re-architect and optimize its SaaS platform, as well as deploy a new AWS environment to enhance overall scalability. More recently, SavvyMoney started leveraging ClearScale’s Managed Services to free up developer capacity for forward-looking projects. Read the case study. ?

?Technology Trends?

Cloud Managed Services Provider vs. DIY: 5 Considerations? Whether to keep IT services in-house or outsource to a cloud managed services provider is a pivotal choice in today's tech-driven world. This article sheds light on the complexities of IT operations and offers a deep dive into the substantial benefits of outsourcing, including freeing up valuable internal resources, tapping into expert knowledge, and enhancing security. Read the Article

How to Choose The Right IT Services Firm for a Post COVID World Today’s companies face a pivotal challenge in selecting an IT services firm in the evolving business landscape shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Generally, they have three primary options: traditional IT consulting firms, IT outsourcing companies, and cloud systems integrators, each dissected for their strengths and weaknesses in the current climate. Which option is best for you and your organization? Read the Article

Managed DevOps: Why It’s Needed. Where to Get It Managed DevOps, or DevOps as a Service, is becoming increasingly crucial in the IT landscape. However, there are challenges to adopting DevOps internally, such as significant cultural changes, the need for specialized expertise, and the high costs associated with training or hiring experts. Meanwhile, the advantages of outsourcing DevOps include access to specialized skills, no need for infrastructure investment, and faster software development cycles. Learn how Managed DevOps can transform your application development strategy and drive your business forward.? Read the Article

Featured Cloud Resource

Emerging and evolving cloud technologies often promise to help businesses save time and money. The reality is, for IT anyway, these technologies can entail a sizable time and financial commitment.?

In A More Efficient Approach to IT and the Cloud: The Case for Managed Services, we explore the advantages of offloading the management of your company’s cloud infrastructure and cloud applications to a third-party organization. We highlight 10 benefits of using a managed services provider compared to keeping these IT responsibilities in-house.

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Learn From the Experts

Webinar: New Capacity with Cloud Managed Services: A CommissionTrac Story Learn more about the benefits of leveraging managed services for the cloud to free up engineering capacity and improve IT infrastructure management.

Hear about the advantages of using managed services within the context of a real-world case study involving CommissionTrac, a SaaS platform for commercial real estate brokerages. Through managed services support, CommissionTrac hoped to enhance IT monitoring and address performance issues related to recent growth.

Watch It On Demand

Cloud Computing Terms Defined

Managed Service Provider (MSP) A managed service provider (MSP) is a third-party company that provides ongoing services to help organizations maintain their IT infrastructure. MSPs generally offer network, security, and application support services through an existing data center or another third-party IaaS provider. Read more in the Glossary of Cloud Computing Terms .?

Learn More About Cloud MSP

Focus on your business instead of cloud operations when you enlist ClearScale Managed Services. With our robust toolset and experienced engineers, the ClearScale Managed Services team can help you reduce your IT costs and improve the efficiency of your cloud infrastructure. Visit ClearScale’s MSP web page to learn more.?