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that can optimise resources , deliver end-to-end application management and steer strategy for the future . These partnerships will become particularly important as new legislation around data protection – think GDPR – starts to come into effect .
Below , two experts in the field give their own opinion about what these latest findings say about the hybrid cloud and managed services market as well as what customers should look for when choosing to work with a third party provider .
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Jake Madders , director at Hyve Managed Hosting , comments , ‘ It ’ s no surprise that this recent research proves the managed services market is soaring . As the number of organisations beginning their cloud journey increases , so too does the demand for the expertise , knowledge and tools that make the transition successful . The survey found that 60 per cent of organisations would be willing to pay twice as much to have a single , trusted advisor to fully manage their IT needs . And as much as throwing money at IT definitely buys quality , companies should be smart about investment as the dependency on IT is all encompassing .
‘ Investment in a hosting provider is a wise use of this budget , but as the recent cyber breach of ABTA has shown , consideration must be given to a third party ’ s service quality . Factors to consider include security , compliance , scalability and performance , but , as the findings also show , support services are the area most likely to see the biggest increase in demand in the coming year . ‘ As more and more businesses move away from traditional IT , there is greater emphasis on the reliability of the service provider to guide and support the change . Any good hosting provider will offer 24 / 7 support as standard , reinforced by a robust SLA . However , having full confidence that your provider will pick up the phone during a crisis and have a person on the other end of the line that knows and understands your business is priceless .
‘ There are a lot of managed services providers willing to offer the world , but these are the areas where they will truly stand out .’
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Jake Madders , Hyve Managed Hosting .
Paul Mills , Six Degrees Group .
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Paul Mills , group sales director at Six Degrees Group , says , ‘ Recent research conducted by Microsoft and 451 Group has once again highlighted the importance of value-added services when it comes to cloud adoption . It is no surprise that hybrid cloud services came out on top as the most attractive deployment for businesses , offering the most flexibility and choice for workloads . This hybrid approach extends IT ’ s resource capability for existing on-premises infrastructure and maximises return on existing investments .
‘ To help lead them through this digital transformation , it is clear that customers want a trusted advisor . As the number of cloud suppliers increases and the technology landscape becomes more complex , it can be a daunting task for companies to identify a single cloud provider to meet all of their ever changing needs . Managed service providers are perfectly positioned to advise on digital transformation and the implementation of a hybrid strategy . This allows IT teams to focus on delivering competitive business advantage and drive service , satisfaction and profit .
Based on this research and the views of industry specialists , it ’ s obvious that there is a huge opportunity in the cloud market for businesses to take advantage of the performance , scale and availability that cloud architecture provides . In turn , managed service providers clearly have equal opportunity to capitalise on the surge of adoption if they are able to offer expertise , key add-on services and superior support . It will be interesting to see where the market goes in the next few years , how businesses continue to adopt hybrid cloud models and how managed service providers deal with the growing demand for their guidance .’
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May 2017 | 37 |