Cloud computing has revolutionized the business world by giving organizations what they need to streamline workflows, work collaboratively, and operate from anywhere. As a result, a growing number of businesses have been switching over to the cloud. But taking advantage of what the cloud has to offer isn’t as simple as migrating over to a cloud platform. A cloud solution requires proper management, maintenance, and optimization before you can enjoy the benefits.
What Is Cloud Services Management?
Before getting into the definition of cloud services management, it’s important to know that managing cloud solutions can be complicated. That’s why one of the best ways to ensure you’re getting the most out of your cloud environment is to work with a managed services provider (MSP). Using an MSP for cloud services management needs grants you access to professionals who have tools to optimize your environment and can tailor your cloud to fit with your operations.
Now, moving on to the definition of cloud services management. This offering refers to a service where a provider monitors and maximizes your use of one or more cloud environments. Multiple cloud environments could include a mix of cloud models (e.g. public and private) or multiple clouds of the same model. The practice essentially combines different software products and technologies in one cohesive management strategy that allows IT managers to freely move workloads between clouds while managing the cost of resources.
For example, we’ll say your company has a hybrid cloud environment that consists of a public and private cloud. Let’s also say that you have sensitive information stored in your public cloud, but you want it to be stored in your private cloud. With cloud services management, your MSP can safely and securely transfer that data to your private cloud for you.
Why Do You Need Cloud Computing Management?
A leading reason behind cloud adoption is cost savings. Migrating to the cloud enables your organization to avoid or reduce investments in IT infrastructure because your applications are deployed in the cloud instead. However, the more resources you pour into the cloud raises your cloud maturity. Organizations with high cloud maturity tend to experience issues like:
- An inability to figure out how to streamline security monitoring for all cloud-based applications
- Ensuring compliance standards are being followed on all cloud models
- Difficulty managing storage capacity
- Drops in computing performance and reliability
Each of these problems can be handled with better control and visibility over your ecosystem of applications. To achieve the goal of increasing control and visibility, it’s necessary to have an answer that allows you to see your cloud infrastructure through a consolidated platform. With cloud services management, your MSP can pull data from each application, allowing them to optimize and secure those applications.
The Three Focuses of Cloud Services Management
There are three main concerns related to cloud management: data, content, and applications. Your MSP can manage each individually or all three together.
- Data Management: This involves backing up data located in the cloud. Data management is often included in a disaster recovery strategy.
- Content Management: An MSP can separate content that has different accessibility requirements to the appropriate cloud platform.
- Application Management: Allows you to monitor the use of cloud-native applications and easily scale up processing or storage resources when necessary.
What Is Cloud Maintenance?
An important part of cloud services management is cloud maintenance. Like going to the doctor and getting a checkup to keep tabs on your health, the same needs to be done for your cloud environment. If left alone, your cloud environment can become disorganized and lose efficiency.
Your MSP can monitor your cloud environment to find issues affecting performance. Using cloud maintenance techniques, they can clear up any inefficiencies they discover. This way, your cloud platforms continue to run smoothly.
The Benefits of Cloud Services Management
Partnering with a cloud services management provider can help your organization in more ways than you realize. Here are just a few of the benefits you could experience with cloud services management:
- Cloud Storage Privacy: Your MSP can implement additional security measures on top of the cybersecurity measures that come with your cloud solution.
- Reliability: Your data and apps are always available when you need them. Even if a server crashes, nothing of yours is affected.
- Workflow Automation: Using cloud management tools, your MSP can automate workflows. So when traffic hits peak levels, you can automatically leap over from your private cloud to your public cloud. This way you build a private cloud that’s only as big as you need it.
- Cost Management: Cloud management allows you to monitor how and when all your cloud infrastructure resources are being used. This allows you to make smart decisions on when to use your public or private cloud and can save you money.
- Predictable Costs: When you use cloud managed services, you pay a monthly fee. Knowing how much you’re going to spend every month gives you the information you need to create an accurate budget.
- Fast Response Times: If you have a partner like LISS Technologies, you can expect fast response times for any technical issue you run into. We actively monitor your service so we can swoop in and fix problems before they affect your work.
- Improved Cloud Performance: If your cloud isn’t functioning as fast as it should be, your MSP can take a look under the hood and deliver a fix that optimizes its performance.
