We are experiencing a growing trend in demand for cloud solutions and services. With today's fast-paced digital transformation, businesses are continuously seeking ways to leverage technology to drive efficiency, scalability, and innovation. Cloud computing and the services it provides can be the answer to these needs, which explains the accelerated adoption of cloud technology.
However, lingering customer concerns may be slowing down migration to the cloud. For example, cloud solutions overall require constant internet access, which can be expensive and implies higher latency compared with local access. Furthermore, it requires more knowledge to integrate cloud solutions.
As a result, the overwhelming trend towards cloud adoption has lately shifted to hybrid cloud solutions. These comprise a mix of cloud, on-premises, and edge computing environments which combine the benefits of both public and private clouds. This allows you to dynamically distribute workloads based on specific requirements such as performance, security, and compliance. The optimal setup is dependent on customer needs and intended usage.
New opportunities for managed services
While hybrid cloud solutions offer advantages in terms of enhanced security and stability – in addition to providing greater efficiency and flexibility – they also introduce opportunities for companies (e.g., service providers) to offer managed services. This means that the company will take added responsibility to host, deliver and run digital services for customers and keep the system up to date to ensure availability, performance, and cybersecurity. Services often include a range of tasks and functions and varies dependent on the system and business needs. There is typically a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that defines the expectations and quality metrics of the delivered services.
Increased demand for managed devices and applications in the security industry
As more hybrid cloud solutions emerge, we’re also seeing an increased demand for managed devices and applications in the security industry. Vendors of devices and applications are offering managed services to system integrators and customers to ensure smooth integrations and improved security. Such services provide round-the-clock support, monitoring, and troubleshooting services to ensure optimal performance and availability. These services may be built-in and included as it is also of interest to vendors to ensure that their devices and applications provide high-quality solutions for their customers. By establishing digital relationships between the customer’s devices and applications and the vendor, you get mutual benefits such as improved performance, quality, and strong security measures that conform to industry standards.
A managed system leads to less friction and more peace of mind
Managing different components across multiple environments requires expertise and resources that not all organizations have. Without the right knowledge, unmanaged or self-managed systems may lead to lower security, increased manual maintenance, and a lack of support for the users. A managed system is more reliable and ensures smooth integrations, proactive cybersecurity, consistent performance, and automatic updates (e.g. software), ensuring less friction and better peace of mind for the customer.
Embracing digital transformation with managed hybrid cloud services
As businesses continue to embrace digital transformation, the adoption of hybrid cloud solutions will accelerate. Taking advantage of the full potential of hybrid cloud environments, however, requires a proactive approach to integration, management, optimization, and security. Managed devices and applications from vendors provide mutual benefits, as well as improved performance and quality. Depending on a customer’s knowledge level and system setup, most services are designed to be gradually introduced to ensure a smooth migration at the customer’s own pace so that organizations can unlock the full benefits of hybrid cloud solutions.
