Companies may manage cloud applications in-house to maintain control over their data and access to applications. However, in-house cloud management can result in increased risk, such as Shadow IT or Rogue AI that crops up when employees take the cloud into their own hands without oversight.
Managed cloud services providers provide an alternative to Do It Yourself (DIY) cloud management. Instead of managing the cloud in-house, companies can outsource cloud management to a managed IT provider.
Both DIY cloud management and managed cloud services have their pros and cons. Comparing the available options will help your company decide whether to manage the cloud in-house or go with managed cloud services.
What Does Cloud Management Involve?
Managed cloud services are a way for companies to outsource their cloud management to a third party. Depending on the managed IT provider, managed cloud can include a variety of services:
- Migration helps companies shift from on-premises data centers to cloud environments.
- Configuration tailors the cloud setup to meet a company’s specific business needs.
- Optimization focuses on enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of cloud resources.
- Security protects data, applications, and infrastructure from cyberthreats through a proactive approach.
- Risk Management transfers risk to cloud provider
- Maintenance ensures the cloud environment is reliable and up to date.
- Infrastructure Management handles provisioning, configuring, monitoring, and maintaining the cloud infrastructure for your organization.
- Application Management manages and maintains your cloud-based applications and workloads running on cloud infrastructure.
- Ongoing Support provides 24/7 monitoring, incident management, and technical support for your cloud environment.
When Does In-House Cloud Management Make Sense?
In-house cloud management makes sense for companies when they have the internal resources to manage the cloud effectively. When a business has internal cloud expertise and enough staff to cover management requirements, in-house cloud management is a good option. For in-house cloud management to work, the internal IT team must be capable of handling ongoing management, cybersecurity, maintenance, and optimization.
What Are the Challenges of Managing Cloud In-House?
While managing cloud in-house works well for some companies, this approach can create challenges. Cloud management requires specialized expertise and ongoing attention. Some of the challenges in-house teams struggle with relate to:
Configuration
How to integrate cloud operations with existing systems while scaling
Monitoring
How to monitor the cloud environment around the clock to detect threats, respond to incidents, and provide support
Maintenance
How to conduct preventative maintenance and keep on top of updates to avoid downtime
Security
How to access the specialized expertise needed to detect, identify, and prevent cybersecurity threats
Optimization
How to uncover opportunities for optimization of cloud resources and workloads
Troubleshooting
How to identify the root causes of issues with the cloud environment, data, and applications so they can be resolved quickly
Managing cloud applications and infrastructure independently, or with limited resources, can be overwhelming and requires deep knowledge to be successful.
When to Consider Managed Cloud Services
Companies should consider adopting managed cloud services when they lack cloud expertise and the bandwidth to cover monitoring and support. The specialized expertise available at a managed cloud services provider can help control costs and get more return on cloud investments by optimizing cloud resources.
A managed cloud services provider should have a deep bench of experts that can help your company migrate data and applications to the cloud, make the most of cloud resources, troubleshoot issues, and protect your cloud assets from cyberthreats.
What Do Managed Cloud Services Include?
Managed cloud services may offer different options depending on the provider. Typical managed cloud services include:
Migration
Moving from on-premises operations to the cloud
Configuration
Developing cloud operations for your business
Optimization
Enhancing cloud resources through performance monitoring and resource allocation
Security
Proactive threat detection, compliance, and implementation of data protection controls
Maintenance
Regular updates, system health checks, and ongoing support to address and resolve issues
| Managed Cloud Services | DIY Cloud Management | |
|---|---|---|
| Expertise | Access to a deep bench of cloud experts | Expertise of in-house team |
| Day-to-Day Management | Routine management handled by a third party | Internal IT team handles routine tasks |
| Monitoring | 24/7 monitoring by managed IT provider | Monitoring coverage depends on internal team bandwidth |
| Optimization | Strategic guidance on getting more from the cloud | In-house staff may uncover opportunities for optimization |
| Scalability | Managed IT provider can monitor capacity and provision additional resources | Ability to scale on demand due to flexibility of cloud resources |
How Can Managed Cloud Services Help Control Costs?
Managed cloud services can help control costs. However, there is no guarantee. At ISOutsource, we see our managed cloud services clients experience 30% to 40% in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings.
When managed expertly, the cloud can save companies money and show ROI. Managed cloud service providers can control cloud costs by optimizing resource allocation, monitoring performance, and preventing overprovisioning of cloud infrastructure.
How Can Managed Cloud Services Help Reduce Risk and Downtime?
Managed cloud services can help reduce risk and downtime by promoting cybersecurity and business resilience through monitoring, maintenance, security, and support.
Around-the-clock monitoring ensures that any threat or incident gets detected early so that it can be remediated quickly before it interrupts operations and triggers downtime.
By conducting preventative maintenance, a managed cloud services provider can help a company avoid equipment failure that would bring production to a halt.
Managed cloud services can identify cybersecurity risk and create a proactive strategy for preventing attacks on cloud data, applications, and infrastructure.
Support through managed cloud services increases the level of coverage your company has available to handle technical and security issues.
What About a Co-Managed Approach to Cloud?
Businesses don’t need to choose between in-house and fully managed cloud. For example, at ISOutsource, we offer both fully managed and co-managed cloud engagements.
Co-managed cloud services augment your internal team. With co-managed services, the managed cloud provider works with existing IT teams, filling in skills gaps, managing projects, and providing additional human resources when needed.
How to Decide Between DIY and Managed Cloud Services
When deciding between DIY and managed cloud services, spend time assessing your company’s existing resources and needs, as well as how they align with the capabilities of either option. To find the right fit, consider:
- Expertise: Do you have the necessary skills in-house?
- Capacity: Can your team cover cloud monitoring sufficiently?
- Complexity of Environment: How much visibility do you have into your cloud infrastructure?
- Need for Support: Does your internal staff have the bandwidth, experience, and expertise to troubleshoot technical problems and respond to security incidents in the cloud?
ISOutsource provides Managed Cloud Services as part of our Managed IT Services. We can optimize AWS and Azure environments through cloud management services that control costs and increase productivity.
If you are trying to decide between in-house, fully managed, or co-managed cloud services, ISO will work with you to evaluate your requirements and resources so you can make the right choice.
Need help managing your cloud environment? Talk with ISOutsource about your options.