Guide To Choosing The Best Managed Cloud Providers

Managed cloud providers are basically the enterprises that will offer solutions for your businesses. They will let customers use their infrastructure and services. On your behalf, they will also take care of the things like security, applications, databases, storage and scalability.

These are the services that will help businesses deploy their applications fast, adjust their scale as it is needed and keep their data safe. We know that picking up the right provider is very important for any business. Why? Because it can save time and money by handling various IT tasks that are linked to running operations.

So, if you still have no idea how to start finding the right managed cloud provider then you are at the right place. We will help you provide the key takeaways about how you can get the right managed cloud provider for your business. So, without wasting any time let’s get started.

What Are Managed Cloud Services?

Managed Cloud Services are used to cover a wide range of solutions and support which is provided by third party experts. They basically help organizations efficiently handle their cloud based resources. It is like having a dedicated team that will handle all the little details and will leave you free to focus on driving your business forward. 

However, for all of this you might need a little bit of help. Like with the help of managed cloud providers businesses can reduce the burden of managing their cloud environment. It will allow them to fully use the cloud potential with confidence.

As we all know, the world is evolving everyday and here is where technology evolves rapidly. It means that managed cloud services become catalysts for your business growth and innovation.

So, whether you are a small startup or a big enterprise; these services will always enable you to embrace the agility, scalability, and cost effectiveness of the cloud while minimizing the risks and maximizing the performance. 

What Are Managed Cloud Providers?

Managed Cloud Providers step into the role of experts who will guide the business through the complexities of the digital world. They will become your trusted partner and will help you unlock the full potential of the cloud for your business. 

A managed cloud provider is a cloud expert that will offer you a wide range of services according to your specific needs of businesses. They will act as a link between your organization and the expansive cloud infrastructure. They will handle the management and optimization of your cloud based resources. 

So, if you get a Managed CLoud Service Provider then they will give you access to a team of cloud experts. It is an extension of your IT department. They will take the time to understand what you are wanting from them and then they will try to align cloud solutions with your goals.

This collaboration will allow you to focus on your core strengths. While the managed cloud provider will handle all the heavy lifting which will ensure that your cloud environment is secure, optimized and ready to meet your growing needs. 

How Can We Choose The Right Managed Cloud Provider?

Choosing the right managed cloud provider can be tough sometimes. Because it can cost you a lot of money and time. So, we understand that your time is pretty important and you wouldn’t like to waste on finding ways to get the right one. Which is why we are with the tricks that will help you in finding the provider that you are looking for. 

Capabilities And Cloud Offering

You should know the fact that every managed cloud provider will come with its own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to capabilities and product offerings. Some products would excel on one platform but they might just be okay on another one. Which is why it is very important to do your research and find the managed cloud service provider that will align best with your needs. 

One big advantage of cloud computing is the ability to adjust your resources as your business requirements change. You should look for a provider that will provide you flexible and scalable solutions. It will allow you to easily adapt as your business grows.

There are comprehensive cloud providers that offer you similar capabilities and products. However, we think that there might be some products that are more strong on one platform as compared to others. It means that you shouldn’t stop your research.

For example; if your application heavily relies on SQL Server and you are looking for an intelligent cloud and database solution then we think that Azure might be the better option to go with. Similarly, if your company is using Google products then Google Cloud is a fair choice to go with.

However, there are some specialized cloud services that are exclusive to certain providers. For example, Microsoft Cognitive Services are a unique AI/ML offering which are specific to Microsoft. While AWS and Google are working on similar services but they are not quite on par yet.

AWS Alexa might be exclusive to the AWS cloud and Microsoft Graph is made for the Azure Customers. Google Cloud also has some unique services that you can not find on other platforms. Alternative offerings might be available from different cloud providers which is why you should make sure that the services you need are offered by your chosen providers. 

Experience

The primary factor in choosing a managed cloud provider is basically your and your team’s experience and familiarity. It means that it doesn’t have to be just one cloud but it can be multiple.

There are many big companies like Fortune 500 ones who will employ more than just a single cloud service provider. However, these large corporations base their cloud choices on the offerings that are available .

So, if your team works with Microsoft technologies like SQL Server, Windows, .net, and Office then we think Azure is a good option to go with. Also, if you already have the license for Windows, SQL and other products then you leverage them in the Azure cloud. Why? Because it will reduce your licensing expenses.

Location

Top managed cloud providers have more physical and logical locations than others. They will split physical locations into regions. There are many managed cloud providers that are willing to provide you that. Having more locations is not a deal breaker but if you want a local data center then we think that it is work checking. 

Cost-Effectiveness

Cost is usually the primary consideration when businesses want to convert to the cloud. It depends on your specific needs. Expenses can differ between different cloud providers. Cost is a very important factor in the overall cost of ownership, covering resources, support, and any additional services that you might need. 

While AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud are highly competitive but with pricing closely matched the individuals products might have varying costs across different clouds. For example, sending back so many emails might be cheaper on AWS as compared to Azure.

There are many people who think that moving to the cloud will always help them save money. Well, that is not always true. So, if you don’t plan well and don’t have experts on your team then your cloud services might just end up costing more than having everything on your premises. 

Enhanced Security

Whenever you are picking a cloud service provider; you should make sure that they will take security seriously. Which is why look for a provider that will use standard security measures like encryption and multi-factor authentication to keep your data safe. Also, you should think about how secure the physical locations of the data center they use are.

Security and Following the rules are the biggest reasons why people go for different public cloud providers. For example there are many providers that will offer you so many security services. But you might have a special security need that one provider supports and the other doesn’t. And just because security options are there, it doesn’t mean that they are turned on.

So, it depends on what industry you are in; there might be specific rules and regulations that might have to be followed. So, it is very important to choose that cloud service provider which can meet your requirements.

Like if you are from healthcare groups then you might need HIPAA compliance and companies dealing credit cards might need PCI-DSS. So, you should figure out on your own what are your compliance needs and you need to make sure that your cloud service is providing what you were looking for.

Performance

We think that performance is a great deal when you have to choose a managed cloud provider. You should look for one that will give you reliable and high performance solutions. Think about things like network speed, storage options and processing power.

Support And Maintenance

When you are choosing a managed cloud provider then you should know that it is very important to go with one that will offer you responsive and useful support. You should think about what kind of support they are offering like phone, email, or chat and check when they are available. Also, you should see if the provider promises you a certain level of uptime in their service level agreement (SLA).

Each cloud provider has a different support and maintenance deal. So, it means that you need to weigh your needs and figure out which provider will suit you the best. Managed cloud providers will offer your different plans and you have to figure out what support you need, the cost and see what plan fits your needs. 

So, you shouldn’t just look for well reputed cloud providers but there are also reseller cloud providers. These providers will repackage Azure, AWS and Google Cloud and add their own managed services.

They are called the managed cloud service providers that we are talking about too. They are great for businesses without technology experts and cloud skills. You pay a monthly fee for someone else to manage your cloud services. Isn’t that great?

Conclusion

We have given you some of our tried best ways to find the right managed cloud provider. We have also mentioned some of the good ones. You can check them out if you feel like.

But we would like to give you a final advice that whenever you are looking to find the right hosting provider then look for the one that is meeting your needs and requirements. You don’t have to rush in the process. We hope that we have cleared your confusions but if you still have any then feel free to ask us.