Cloud computing has long since become the norm in our increasingly digital world today; whether you’re streaming videos online or collaborating real-time with colleagues, it’s safe to say that every digital interaction is powered by the cloud in some way or another.
It’s no surprise that businesses are now increasingly reliant on the cloud too; with customers, suppliers and even employees connected, it’s a no-brainer to not evolve and stay in lockstep with all your stakeholders. However, cloud management can still be a complex endeavour. For this, enter cloud outsourcing services, that provision and manage all cloud resources on your business’s behalf.
In this article, we delve into just that: what cloud outsourcing companies can do for you, and how to make your partnership with one a success. But before we get into all that, we start from the basics, such as the key offerings of cloud computing solutions (especially those that businesses often consider, irrespective of specialty or size).
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Cloud computing refers to digital infrastructure that is accessed via the internet. Software, servers, virtual machines and even application development environments (also known as PaaS – Platform as a Service) can be accessed, configured, deployed and used through the internet, without the need to purchase or store any physical equipment.
Cloud computing is now indispensable, as its all-encompassing nature and the level of scalability it provides is unmatched. As a result, almost every asset in the digital space that is focused towards the storage and processing of data, is now hosted in the cloud – even if partially.
Storage is one of the most common use cases and therefore, the most commonly known offering of cloud computing solutions. For enterprise use, businesses can subscribe monthly or annually to receive a designated amount of storage, for safekeeping data. Many SaaS storage management solutions also offer CMS (Content Management System) capabilities to intelligently search for, organise and retrieve data from documents and databases.
This therefore makes cloud storage more than simply a service to safekeep valuable intellectual assets, but instead, a complete knowledge management system that can help teams make better sense of their data.
Containers are pre-packaged applications that contain all the necessary requisites for an application to function, such as code, runtime, config files and libraries. This way, containers can be deployed across any environment (hosted or on-premise), to deliver virtualised and isolated solutions that do not negatively impact other working parts, in the event of malfunction – unlike its monolithic counterpart.
All leading cloud service providers facilitate container orchestration services, with this being one of the biggest solutions on offer.
User provisioning, deprovisioning and access facilitation are all functionalities that are provided by cloud service providers, to ensure tight security for data that is stored within their infrastructure. Teams can further reinforce access security through RBAC (Role Based Access Control), which offers tiered levels of access. This therefore enables access provision only as necessary per user, to avoid unwanted sprawl and subsequent risk.
Cloud computing service providers offer reporting and analytics solutions that are tailored to the needs of each use case. Data lakes and data warehouses are used as repositories to store data, while ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) and AI-powered data modelling facilitate fast turnarounds – without having to worry about compute, servers, and other constituents, in some cases.
Cloud computing solutions now have all the resources necessary to custom-build AI models: from dedicated model development/training environments, to the compute and storage that would be needed for processing and runtime.
If you already partner with an IT outsourcing company for your software development needs, chances are that they may also be able to manage your cloud resources for you. However, if you haven’t used the services of an IT outsourcing partner just yet, here are some steps to help guide you on what to do before, during, and after your search for a trusted managed cloud services provider.
Gather relevant members from your team to determine where business needs and problems lie, and where cloud services can possibly help. Detail these in a brief, which shall then serve as the primary point of reference for both your team, as well as for prospective cloud outsourcing companies that you discuss your enterprise needs and objectives with.
It helps to start the discussion with members from each department sharing any bottlenecks or obstacles that they may find challenging on the daily, or how KPIs may be getting negatively impacted. Subsequent questions to investigate should follow, so that as much information as possible can be unveiled to share with prospective cloud outsourcing companies.
Upon screening and deciding on which cloud outsourcing company you choose to partner with (this can involve a combination of productive discussions that are budget as well as objective focused, and where you feel confident with their offerings as a result), it’s advisable to start with bite-sized goals.
Whether it’s for managing cloud costs, or facilitating virtual resources, directing your cloud outsourcing service provider to start with a smaller quantity or price range where possible is always prudent, as this helps your teams gauge whether their services are efficient and reliable.
Make sure relevant KPIs are established for both core operations that are undertaken by your cloud outsourcing provider, as well as how these are impacting other KPIs that are out of their scope – but are still dependent on the quality of their services.
For example, the time it takes for HR to import employee details may reflect on processing speeds that are configured for your proprietary HR application, by your cloud outsourcing team. Metrics like these need to be brought to the fore periodically, so necessary adjustments can be made to improve and scale in alignment to your business’s end objectives.
Having a cloud outsourcing partner by your side can be highly beneficial for your business, for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s your software outsourcing company that doubles up as a cloud outsourcing partner, or a brand new and dedicated cloud services company, enlisting the competencies of subject matter experts for managing your cloud resources can help you save money, while enabling smooth scalability, in the long run.
Cloud service providers are now one-stop hubs for all things digital – from readily available software to individual servers and virtual machines. As a result, provisioning these in a resourceful manner, while being cognizant of wastage through inefficient pricing models entail attention that is strategic as it is nimble.
As a result, it is important to make sure you are partnering with a cloud outsourcing services provider that you can rely on for the long-term. Some tips to adhere to in order to choose the best managed cloud services provider include:
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