Top 6 Cloud-based Services Every MSP Should Offer

By Jerod Powell, CEO, INFINIT Consulting, Inc.

As the pace of business becomes faster and competition takes new leaps every passing day, cloud services have become more mainstream, something which small to large businesses can’t do without. In fact, cloud computing had been at the core of the genesis of agile business tools that allow an enterprise to replace on-premises hardware with an internet connection and just a few monthly subscriptions.

Cloud-based applications are not only revolutionizing the way corporate giants conduct their business, they’re bringing greater ROIs for the SMEs too. Therefore, adopting the cloud is a no-brainer, but picking the right services for your business can be a bit tricky. We have compiled a list of the top six services every MSP should offer in order to allow their partners swifter transition and optimized functioning within the cloud.

1. Cloud Monitoring: Groundwork For Your Cloud Infrastructure

It is obvious applications spanning global boundaries need more than just basic monitoring. The entire infrastructure stack needs to be monitored on a continuous basis and core issues requiring quick resolution need to be pinpointed with agility. MSPs these days provide a comprehensive array of monitoring services ranging from remote monitoring for regional zones to agent-based monitoring for gathering information from inside each resource. A dependable MSP will help you keep track of virtual server instances, TCP ports, databases, SSH access, issue notification in case of server failure, and eliminate time-consuming setups. To keep pace with the ever changing cloud environment, agile and functional cloud monitoring becomes imperative.

2. MSPs Should Offer Common Ground For SaaS And IaaS

The cloud journey for most partners begins with SaaS services like Office 365. However, 2016 calls for a common ground for SaaS and IaaS services wherein the enterprises can swiftly move their workloads to IaaS platforms such as AWS and Azure. As corporate leaders have started digging into the world of cloud, an integration of SaaS and IaaS is on the horizon, whilst partners also get to leverage APIs and umbrella dashboards enabling them to manage workloads across SaaS and IaaS.

3. Managing Public Clouds For Their Clients

Most organizations find it difficult to manage their public cloud as they lack proper expertise for doing so. Management can become way too complex if you are dealing with multiple cloud providers. MSPs should aim at easing their client’s public cloud management rather than becoming full-blown CSPs. Whenever you plan of availing cloud services, cost is the topmost consideration on your mind. Apart from delivering results within a reasonable cost, your MSP should provide effective VM migration, storage, and auto-scaling. Most organizations have on-premises VMs they migrate to public cloud. Your MSP will provide the most relevant mechanisms for importing current VMs into the cloud, but confirm beforehand if your service provider offers a graphical interface or one that requires operations to be performed programmatically. Management of public cloud should include VM network connectivity, storage choices, regional support, and custom image support — all without upping the costs.

4. MSPs Should Quickly Assume The Role Of Integrators And Hybrids

The vast majority of enterprises intend to leverage the hybrid cloud advantage. In such a scenario, the role of the MSP should expand beyond cloud backing for on-premises deployments and focus on providing optimum hybrid infrastructure support. Essentially, the hybrid cloud consists of at least one private and one public cloud along with some business resources that are not cloud-based. MSPs performing the role of integrators should take care of sensitive data and security, as well as legacy systems. A cloud integrator should provide faster and easy deployment with self-provisioning so that no coding is required on the part of the user. In the year to come, those predicting a pendulum swing from cloud to on-premises deployment will be proven wrong while integrators and VARs will emerge as the big winners.

5. Automation Is At The Core Of Utilitarian Cloud-Based Services

Automation is the best way to create a PaaS-like platform for your development team that assists you in centralizing documentation and moving from one IT environment to another within a short span of time. In order to derive the cost and agility benefits of cloud, the degree of automation offered by your MSP is of utmost importance. A good MSP can help you achieve agility in business operations by reducing complexity of business and IT operations. By automating the client’s cloud infrastructure, a MSP can help its patrons to replicate changes automatically across instances and spin up and down in new environments in no time. Automation empowers cost-effective experimentation and, when combined with orchestration software, the risk of human error is reduced substantially and the speed of development can be increased promptly. MSPs capable of providing the initial setup and then taking care of deployment pipelines are a huge value addition for enterprises.

6. Selecting An MSP: Traditional Roles Are Becoming Extinct

Migration to cloud is not an easy process and enterprises need a dependable partner to assist them in their journey. Although, your search might begin with the usual SLAs, monitoring, and break/fix criteria, you need to realize the role of an MSP has expanded to include everything from managing devices to managing user experience. When selecting a cloud MSP, look for a team that understands how faster deployment is achieved through the right infrastructure and how this can help in smarter product development.

For a quick review, evaluate your Managed Service Provider on the following criteria:

• Cloud expertise: this may sound too basic and predictable, but when we talk about cloud expertise, you have to go beyond the years of experience mentioned by the partner and check if the MSP is an approved partner. Also, inquire if your partner has been audited for this expertise and how many cloud certifications does the MSP hold.
• Mobile access: the biggest selling point of cloud computing services is their widespread access. From desktops to iPads and mobile phones, you can access content anytime, anywhere with cloud services. The best MSPs provide greatest range of mobile access, including apps for widely used smartphones and the option of logging into your account from any mobile browser.
• User-friendliness with ease of use: being intuitive and straightforward is at the forefront of successful functioning in the cloud. It is imperative that the services offered by your MSP are user-friendly and offer maximum ease of use.
• Cloud R&D: the cloud environment is ever-changing and being on the cloud involves constant R&D. A good MSP will understand that setting up the cloud perfectly right in the first day is not possible but at the same time is capable enough for successful change management.

Concluding With A Guarded Forecast

2016 will see greater opportunities for MSPs, upping their role to the point that their services have become indispensable for ongoing operations of many IT departments around the world. A trusted MSP with verified security credentials can go a long way in assisting successful transition to the cloud. Managed Service Providers must offer an all-inclusive range of services, right from cloud hosting to unified communications and backup and cloud disaster recovery in order to help the enterprise derive the requisite ROI from its cloud endeavors.

Jerod Powell is CEO at INFINIT Consulting, Inc., a highly acclaimed IT provider and consultancy company he founded in 2006. Jerod develops strategic business plans, identifying key IT services to support business objectives and is the key facilitator in developing partnerships to support business priorities and objectives. , Jerod serves on several advisory boards and boards of directors. He is a member of the Cloud Partner Advisory Council of Microsoft. He has also been repeatedly named Tier 1 Cloud Champion and partner of the year for Microsoft. He is a member of Microsoft’s SMB Advisory Council and Cloud Champions Club. Jerod is also a member of the Cloud Community Council and the Ingram Micro Partner Advisory Council.