The first step into the Google Cloud has been taken and your own cloud environment is continuously developing. But after the migration, the next big challenge is just around the corner: the operation of your Google Cloud environment. When it comes to infrastructure operations, managed services, or as we call them, managed cloud operations, are not far behind. But when is it actually worth considering them?
We'll explain the various internal drivers and good reasons for integrating Managed Cloud Operations into your Google Cloud operations in this article today.
5 good reasons to use managed cloud operations
There are many good reasons and internal drivers for using Managed Cloud Operations within your cloud operations. Below we have compiled the most important reasons from our point of view:
1. Getting to grips with complexity
IT environments grow at the same rate as their businesses. As the number of employees increases, so do the number of IT workstations to be managed, the tools required for day-to-day work or the management of processes and, last but not least, the number of servers in your basement or the resources rented from a service provider.
Quite rightly, many IT employees often talk about the internal jungle and the complex management of the environment. Outsourcing your cloud environment to a managed service provider counteracts this complexity. For a smooth integration of these services, the entire cloud environment is screened and provided with automated processes. This uncovers duplicate or unnecessary items in the environment and reports them to you. If required and after your approval, these can also be addressed and optimised directly in the process. This makes the cloud environment leaner through Managed Cloud Operations.
In this case in particular, the monitoring service plays an important role: regardless of the size, structure and thus complexity of your cloud environment, the monitoring tool keeps an eye on all processes throughout. Faults are recorded automatically and in some cases resolved autonomously. This simplifies the handling of the environment enormously, because support personnel only have to process the faults that trigger an alarm and therefore require manual effort.
2. Minimise utilisation – maximise effectiveness
An important insight to start with: no matter how automated your IT environment is, or which services are outsourced to a service provider, your in-house IT professionals are the core of your IT structure. Managed Cloud Operations, therefore, do not aim to replace your employees, whom you have trained or recruited through hard work. On the contrary, they support your staff by taking over time-consuming and laborious tasks. With the time gained, your colleagues can refocus on their core responsibilities or concentrate on the actual business, such as an upcoming international expansion of your company.
Furthermore, it's worth noting that the actual work taking place in your cloud environment remains the same. Managed Cloud Operations are primarily focused on the operation and ensure the performance and availability required for your work. For instance, if you operate a development environment in the cloud, your IT experts and developers will continue to code and process the coded results. The service provider takes care of ensuring that the cloud-based development environment is available in the manner and scope you need.
As a result of outsourcing, your team can now fully concentrate on development and leave the administrative tasks of the environment to others.
3. Close knowledge gaps and start know-how transfer
The IT industry and the issue of a shortage of skilled workers go hand in hand, much like a well-matched pair. As IT service providers, we encounter this challenge daily, and it's likely that your own IT team is well-acquainted with this matter too. An increasing number of medium-sized companies in Germany are taking the initiative to train their own IT staff. However, as you grow your in-house cloud environment, the demands on your team also expand.
In our extensive experience with Managed Cloud Operations projects over the past years, we've noticed a recurring theme: the importance of knowledge and know-how related to the cloud environment and its operation. Your IT team excels in managing internal and external processes crucial for maintaining seamless operations. However, the public cloud domain is relatively new, and even though some team members may undertake self-education, knowledge gaps tend to persist within your team.
A Managed Service Provider effectively bridges these knowledge gaps with integrated expertise. During the integration of automated services, your employees receive training on handling incidents and mastering the ticketing system. Furthermore, there's always the option to identify additional topics that require specific training. The great thing is that an expert is readily available to provide qualified answers to questions, share pertinent links, articles, and blogs, or simply demonstrate practical processes. This ensures that the learning process is smooth and efficient.
4. Handle business growth with ease
As your business expands, considerations like internationalisation or acquiring new business units through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) naturally come to mind. However, it's important to realise that your internal IT or cloud environment needs to keep pace with these developments. In the past, addressing these needs might have meant investing in more servers and hiring additional IT staff, but in today's hyperscaler cloud environment, the dynamics are different.
Cloud environments are inherently scalable, without any restrictions or upper limits. This means that your environment can effortlessly adjust to the size required to meet your expanding needs. Nevertheless, when it comes to managing and operating this growing cloud environment, there's a different story. With growth, the number of users, workflows, issues, and tickets increases substantially. We've previously discussed the challenge of recruiting experienced cloud consultants who can bring structure and efficiency to your team and effectively handle technical issues. This is where Managed Cloud Operations from a service provider come into play.
These operations share the same characteristics as the public cloud itself: they're scalable and continually adaptable to the demands of your cloud environment. Thanks to integrated automations, managing the environment remains straightforward and manageable even as it grows. This ensures that your IT team remains efficient and can focus on their core responsibilities without unnecessary distractions.
5. Streamline Budget Management and Simplify Oversight
In the world of IT, one of the foremost concerns at the end of the day is inevitably: "What will this cost?" The realm of Managed Cloud Operations for Google Cloud is no exception. In essence, the billing process works like this: for each service, there's a price determined by the chosen support model (either 8 hours a day for 5 days a week, or 24 hours a day for 7 days a week). This price then combines with the size of your environment to yield the monthly cost for these services.
But regardless of the pricing details, billing is of paramount importance for you. With monthly billing for Managed Cloud Operations, you have a clear view of your necessary budget. Furthermore, you can conduct early calculations if, for example, your environment is slated to expand by more than half in the coming year. This means that you can leave rough estimations and the constant need to invest in new hardware firmly in the past.
Managed Cloud Operations for Google Cloud with Public Cloud Group
As you can see, there are many good reasons why you should rely on Managed Cloud Operations to run your cloud infrastructure. As a managed service provider, we specialise in Google Cloud. Benefit from the many years of experience of our Google Cloud experts. You can find everything you need to know on our service page for Google Cloud Managed Services.