6 Things to Consider When Moving to the Cloud

Ryan Walsh

By Ryan Walsh, SVP of Partner Solutions, Pax8

Making the leap to the cloud is becoming more of a necessity than a choice for managed service providers (MSPs). Gartner predicts that public cloud services will grow by 18 percent in 2017 compared to 2016; by 2020, cloud-adoption strategies will influence more than half of IT outsourcing deals.

These numbers make it apparent that companies of all sizes are realizing just how much cost savings, scalability and efficiency can be gained from moving key functions to the cloud, and they’re not going to wait around for you to start offering those services. If customers can’t procure cloud services from you, they’re likely to look elsewhere.

Most organizations are already using the cloud in some capacity, but they’re ready to move more of their business processes and infrastructure to the cloud.

Whether it be standard business applications, such as Microsoft 365 or Exchange Online, cloud-based applications have become commonplace at most companies. Because of these widely-used cloud app successes, many organizations are more comfortable with the idea of moving bigger functions – like infrastructure – to the cloud.

Two drivers for cloud adoption are: getting a premium experience at an affordable price, and time savings.

Premium Experience at an Affordable Price

Many customers rely on critical cloud apps to manage key business functions such as payroll, banking, collaboration, document sharing, etc. The security and control fears of a few years ago aren’t as prevalent today. In fact, some organizations cite enhanced security as a reason for moving to the cloud. Even though data isn’t housed on-site, companies can typically achieve higher measures of security at a lower cost by using premium cloud infrastructure and cloud-optimized security solutions offered through their MSP.

For example, there are Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) vendors that deliver to clients 99.95 percent uptime and best-in-class security. MSPs that partner with such top cloud infrastructure providers, that often have locations across the globe, give their customers access to reliability, scalability and security features that traditionally only Fortune 500 companies could afford.

Achieving 99.95 percent uptime and holding top security credentials is both costly and difficult to maintain with an on-site or homegrown solution especially one challenged with workloads that must quickly scale. However, by “renting” space in someone else’s state-of-the-art data center, organizations can benefit from top-notch security standards, instant scalability and much more. That’s the beauty of cloud services.

Time Savings

Through automation and integration, tasks that once took days for MSPs to complete, virtually go away — freeing employees to focus on more strategic work like accelerating service innovations on behalf of their customers, or improving operational excellence by simplifying processes. Many cloud distributors offer tools that help MSPs shorten the time it takes to get things done. Whether it is through aggregated billing, auto provisioning of cloud services, or building custom stacks of solutions for your customers, look for distributor partners who understand how …

… to help you in the cloud. Removing process friction can help you become more agile for your customers.

6 Things for MSPs to Consider When Selecting Cloud Service Vendors

The channel is increasingly trying to capitalize on the hot cloud business opportunity. To make sure your organization is successful in developing a cloud practice, or expanding its cloud practice, factor these six essential elements into your decision-making process:

Ryan Walsh is senior vice president of partner solutions at Pax8. He has more 15 years of experience helping channel partners build successful cloud practices by enabling them to easily sell, bill, and support cloud subscription services.