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Is my business fit for managed cloud services?

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The “Cloud” is a new and disruptive trend that has been gaining momentum in businesses for some time. With many businesses unsure how cloud computing and cloud services can fit into their business strategy. Managed Cloud Services may sound like a complex concept; however, it is simply storing your data offsite in a data centre or a private cloud.

Benefits of the Cloud

Businesses who make the shift to cloud software often do so for many different reasons. The most common include flexibility, scalability, cost savings, as well as the uses of cloud services such as data backups, disaster recovery, and so forth.

Managed cloud services are not limited to small businesses or start-ups, and are beneficial for companies of all sizes. Many businesses will often associate managed IT services as unaffordable and unnecessary. However, managed cloud services are affordable, easy to deploy and simple for businesses to manage.

Evaluating your business needs

Before obtaining managed cloud services, you need to evaluate your business from a strategic and operational perspective. Does your IT demand fluctuate throughout the year? Do your IT costs negatively impact on your ability to grow your business? If your answer is yes, making the move to managed cloud services may be in your best interest.

Businesses will typically choose a cloud service from three distinct types of models: private cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud. Unlike a public cloud, private and hybrid clouds require businesses to maintain, manage and update their data centres through dedicated administrators. Often the cost and ability to execute these tasks are not in the best interests of the business; this is where managed cloud service providers step in.

What cloud service is best for you?

Each business is unique, their size, business objectives, industry and IT software; therefore, every business deserves a customised service. With a variety of cloud packages available, you can choose which services and features are best for you, your budget and strategic needs.

Co-location providers

Co-location services provide businesses with an opportunity to install their own servers in a managed facility. The location provider then has the responsibility of keeping the servers on and maintained. However, the responsibility of physically maintaining the servers rests with the owner of the server (i.e. the business).

The next step up – Managed Co-location

Providers have begun to offer managed co-location services, where businesses can buy a server from the provider, who then oversee the installation and ongoing management. Using this framework allows businesses to reduce operational overheads as well as take advantage of the increased resilience of off-site systems.

Experience more freedom – Managed Apps and IaaS

The next service in the managed cloud includes full hosted and managed applications in the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This also includes large platforms such as Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure, allowing businesses to move key applications to the Cloud.

The support, management and maintenance of their cloud infrastructure is the responsibility of the service provider; everything else is left to the business to handle.

The Saving Grace of Cloud Services – Fully Managed Cloud

Fully managed cloud services allow you to hand over the management and stress of the entire platform, as well as all of its parts to a third party (that’s us!). Here at eStorm, we take the time to understand your business’ IT needs and identify and deploy new services that help you reach your goals.

Why we recommend Managed Cloud Services

Including managed cloud services into your business strategy, your business will experience the following benefits:

Cost Saving

Managed cloud services can help you control and reduce your costly IT maintenance costs. Maintaining an in-house IT department is expensive and is often unnecessary for businesses with simple networks. Making the switch to a managed cloud service provider means you decide how much you are willing to pay for IT services and have a consistent monthly bill.

Future-proofed technology

Migrating your data to a secure cloud is the first step in setting up your business for success in the future. The friendly technicians at eStorm are always prepared with the newest technology. We are by your side when new technology comes on the market, or a required update is released, supporting you every step of the way.

Custom and integrated service

At eStorm, we understand each business is unique and requires a custom cloud solution for a seamless transition and minimal downtime. To accommodate this, we offer a variety of services to unlock your business potential, including, private and hybrid cloud, Microsoft Office 365, Sharepoint, Amazon Web Services and many more. View our full list of services, here.

If you are unsure if your business is ready to make the transition to the Cloud, book an appointment with the friendly team at eStorm Australia today.

What to look for in the best Managed Service Providers.

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Business owners and IT professionals alike know better than anyone that as your company grows, one of the most important items for consideration is your IT infrastructure.

When companies are small, they often handle their IT needs themselves, but as they grow, so does the need for better and more reliable infrastructure. Likewise, as the business grows, so do the number of staff hours being spent unproductively trying to resolve computer and other IT related issues. This is one of the many causes for lost staff productivity, which costs businesses a fortune.

One study showed that for every $13,291 worth of salary, unproductive employees account for a $4,520 cost to their employer.

It’s vital for growing businesses to partner with a reliable and proactive IT managed service provider. Your MSP (Managed Service Provider) can not only remove the burden of day-to-day IT management, but generate and implement solutions and strategies that ensure the company is able to grow and operate more efficiently by leveraging new and existing technology.

What exactly is an IT Managed Service Provider?

An MSP is an outsourced company that takes ownership of a defined set of IT tasks or operations. You can think of a managed service provider as an extension of your business—your own dedicated IT team—without the significant cost associated with an in-house IT department.

Managed service providers are predominantly used by small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) who don’t have a dedicated IT team. For example, a medical office uses a number of computers for managing patient records, data and billing, as well as utilising computer systems in their medical practice. This may not require a full-time IT employee, but still requires immediate expert attention when an issue arises to fix the problem, as well as the management of infrastructure over time. This is where an MSP would be useful.

For example, at eStorm Australia, our managed services deliver:

  • Day-to-day IT management and planning
  • Both on-site and remote technical support
  • The supplementing of existing IT staff
  • Proactive monitoring of your environment 24×7
  • 99% up-time on IT systems
  • A local and friendly help desk
  • Request responses within an hour

It’s important to note here that MSPs go by a long list of names. These include IT Support Provider, IT Managed Services Provider, Remote Monitoring and Management Provider as well as many others.

What to look for in the best Managed Service Providers

An Involved Partner

It goes without saying that all businesses are unique. Even within the same industry, each company differs on how it operates, the governing organisational values and culture, the people and what it’s aiming to achieve. That means a one-size-fits-all approach to managed services just doesn’t make sense.

The best managed service providers take the time to truly understand your business, your needs and what you’re trying to accomplish. Only when this is fully understood can an IT support provider suggest, design and implement strategies and technology that align with the goals of the business and help your business grow.

Proactive Monitoring and Support

Partnering with an MSP isn’t just about having a reliable expert in your corner when something goes wrong. A truly valuable managed service provider performs a number of proactive tasks in order to aid the prevention of future issues.

For example, at eStorm we proactively monitor your IT systems and environment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This allows us to identify and address any issues long before they cause interruptions, damage or financial loss.

Backups and Data Recovery

A vital service that should be provided by your managed service provider is robust and reliable backup and data recovery procedures. The true value of an IT provider isn’t shown until a catastrophic data failure takes place that ultimately requires data to be restored from backups.

Oftentimes if your managed service provider doesn’t have a way for your critical data to be securely and reliably backed up, it can mean they lack the necessary experience in this area, which could be disastrous in the event of data loss.

On-site and Remote Support

Having a fast, knowledgeable and responsive help desk that can deliver expert IT support remotely is the gold standard for an MSP. However, there are likely going to be times when a phone call or remote access aren’t going to be enough.

Partnering with a managed service provider that has the capacity to deliver on-site support, whether it be to remedy IT issues or manage on-site IT infrastructure, provides an additional layer of reassurance, reliability and growth potential.

Having a dedicated team of knowledgeable experts who are able to deliver remote and on-site support means, no matter what your current or future IT requirements may be, your MSP is equipped to handle all your IT needs.

Get in touch!

With over 15 years experience, we deliver an extensive range of IT services that help small to medium businesses, across a wide range of industries, achieve their goals and objectives.

At eStorm Australia, our managed service solutions have been designed with the core goal of reducing IT stress placed on businesses and staff, as well as increasing overall efficiencies and business growth.

Talk to one of our Solutions Architects about your IT needs today today.

07 3120 0640
[email protected]