In order to operate your own cloud environment, you need a lot of resources: in addition to the hardware and software, the right public cloud provider, qualified staff with know-how, time, and money. If running your own environment eats up too many resources, it's time to think about managed services. How nice would it be to simply hand over the operation to an expert, pay a predefined amount for it every month and receive a short status report?
What are Managed Services?
Managed services basically describe the managed operation of an IT environment. You outsource the ongoing operation of your environment, including monitoring, troubleshooting and integrated standards for security and compliance, to a service provider. The same procedure applies to managed services in the public cloud. You outsource the operation of your Google Cloud environment to a managed service provider like us.
To standardize and simplify operations, many service providers integrate automations into your IT or cloud environment. This includes creating interfaces to enable continuous monitoring.
A general standard for managed services is that the type and scope of the services are discussed in advance and recorded in a service contract. This gives you the freedom to choose which parts of your cloud environment are managed and which you want to continue to operate with your own resources.
Choosing the right support model
In addition to the services, you can also opt for a support model. This describes the periods during which the service provider can be reached in the event of disruptions or queries. Here is a practical example: we offer our customers 8×5 (8 hours a day, 5 days a week) and 24×7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) support. The choice of the right support model does not primarily depend on the price, but on your business case, the susceptibility to errors and the necessary availability for your customers.
Another feature is the pricing of managed services. The costs are due to flat rates that are incurred for the respective services that you have selected. In addition, there is the selected support model: a “round-the-clock” service is correspondingly more expensive than a smaller model.
Maximum transparency
Managed Services are always billed monthly. This also gives you security and an overview of the faults and analyses that have occurred in your company in the past month. Part of the invoice should always be a list of the services rendered. Such a list is normally not a great effort. A good managed service partner documents all changes, faults, and processes in a system. There are various tools for this, such as Confluence.
Many advantages of managed services
Many parts of the advantages of managed services in the public cloud coincide with the characteristics they describe. Nevertheless, we would like to give you a detailed overview of the added value again:
- Cost control: Monthly billing allows you to keep an eye on your costs at all times. You notice changes in your cloud environment immediately, budgets can be planned one to three years in advance, and you are well-prepared for any discussions about IT costs.
- Compliance & security: Managed services are distinguished by a high standard of compliance and security. Data is highly encrypted and the selected hyperscaler such as Google Cloud guarantees secure storage and processing.
- Scalability: Not only an advantage of the public cloud in itself, but also a decisive factor of managed services. You can adjust the scope of your required managed services at any time. For example, if you operate customer environments via our managed services, the scalability can also be automated. Little effort and the right cloud platform at all times.
- Support: First and foremost, you are free to choose which support model suits you and your company best. In addition, you get German and English-speaking contacts from us, who are located all over Germany. You can reach them by phone, email or directly via the integrated ticket system.
- Individual solutions: Although managed services are standardized and automated in execution, they are tailored to you in terms of style. Decide on the right services for your company.
- Relief for your IT staff: Operating a cloud environment is complex. However, you certainly did not hire your employees to take care of administrative tasks, but to drive your core business. Managed services enable you to use the skills of your employees properly again.
When is the right time for managed services?
For many companies, managed services are only at the end of their cloud journey. The first thing to do is migrate the environment to the cloud, train employees, and then optimize the environment. Others, on the other hand, rely on managed services right from the start. This is particularly efficient for software manufacturers who want to make their products available directly via the cloud.
Nevertheless, it always depends on the business case of the company, the existing infrastructure, the list of internal competencies and the current challenges. Even if managed services are just the home stretch of your cloud journey, it makes sense to deal with them right at the beginning. Cloud environments can be aligned from the start, which saves you time and money in the later configuration.
Managed services for Google Cloud with Public Cloud Group
As you can see, there are many good reasons why you should rely on managed services when operating your cloud infrastructure. As a managed service provider, we specialize in Google Cloud. Benefit from the many years of experience of our Google Cloud experts and contact us now!