By Gina Murphy

Now that companies are beginning to deploy a broad range of cloud services to meet complex and varying user needs, it is becoming extremely apparent that there is a significant amount of work associated with using cloud services for enabling and enhancing enterprise applications that was not previously understood. As more and more services are deployed, cloud integration, customization and management have become extremely complex. Many of the benefits of using a cloud infrastructure are often lost as organizations scale due to the complexity, but more importantly don’t explore the opportunities to integrate various cloud services and associated features.

Managed service providers (MSPs) have been aggregating, integrating, customizing, deploying and managing infrastructure and applications for years and are now becoming critical players in the cloud ecosystem.

Here are 11 reasons why resellers should consider partnering with a managed application service provider for their next application deployment in the cloud.

1. Technology Experts. MSPs focused on applications are typically technology experts in the areas of cloud infrastructure, data warehousing, security and business continuity, as well as in core business applications such as collaboration, supply chain, finance, HR and analytics. They invest significant resources in keeping their staff current with the latest technology and application developments.

2. Extensive Cloud Vendor Relationships. MSPs have developed their own cloud ecosystems with technologies, and other feature specific service providers. They excel at vendor management as well as packaging services from multiple cloud service vendors that collectively create new functionality, but as a single service to the customer.

3. Efficient Operations. MSPs offer the lowest TCO when it comes to IT operations. As cloud experts, infrastructure and operations become a utility and the MSP will focus their premium skill sets on the business of cloud based applications with enhanced application functional support, integration, and data analytics.

4. Skilled at Large Cloud Deployments. MSPs regularly deal with large and/or complex application deployments. They are experts at understanding how the applications will run in various cloud environments and across multiple geographies. Because of their broad experience, MSPs comprehend the intricacies of what works and what doesn’t work that could easily be underestimated. Customers shouldn’t underestimate the benefits of leveraging the knowledgebase of what an MSP has collected over years of experience.

5. Customization. MSPs understand that one size does not fit all and almost all cloud deployments require some level of service integration and customization. Unlike pure-play IaaS, MSPs are skilled at mass customization and expect to customize components of every deployment as well as offer a full range of professional services to support that.

6. Application Experts. MSPs understand applications, how they run in various environments and offer functional support for the application in use and the business processes that those functions represent. These application experts truly understand their customer’s business workflow and how to enhance it.

7. Simplification Experts. MSPs are experts at taking the complex and simplifying it for their customers. They understand how to take complex tasks and make them repeatable processes.

8. Single Point of Contact. MSPs serve as the single point of contact to enable complex business workflows regardless of the services used. They own any problems that should arise and ensure continuity. Support is delivered by a global support team that is empowered to serve and support your business 24x7x365 with complete transparency at all levels without surprises or hidden costs.

9. Service-Centric. MSPs are completely service-centric. They become an extension of their customer’s team and understand what it takes at all levels of the organization to make the relationship work.

10. Anticipate Problems. Proactive management of both the infrastructure as well as the application is a mainstay of MSP services. MSPs anticipate problems and try to resolve them before they impact their clients.

11. Simplified Billing: MSPs have been using the recurring business model for years and understand its benefits in the predictability for their customers.

When delivered effectively, cloud is simplistic, secure and economical and delivers more value to the customer. However, as enterprises deploy more applications in the cloud, the complexity of deployment, integration and management increases. Look toward partnering with cloud-savvy MSPs that offer a suite of services to reduce risk during migration and give you the lowest TCO possible. 

As executive vice president of TriCore Solutions, Gina Murphy is responsible for all of solutions, service strategy and sales Enablement. This includes product management, account management and supporting sales and operations with strategic guidance from the customer’s perspective to take TriCore’s products and services to the next level.