The Service-Focused Cloud

Why Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting provides a powerful alternative to traditional cloud computing models.

AT THIS POINT, MOST PEOPLE ARE FAMILIAR with the concept of the cloud. Even if they don’t know exactly what it is, they’re using it, especially at work: a predicted 83 percent of enterprise business workloads will be in the cloud by 2020, according to Forbes. 

It’s no coincidence that the majority of work is performed in the cloud; virtualized servers offer flexibility, convenience and expediency, freeing them from the limitations of conventional physical servers. They also accommodate a growing mobile and distributed workforce, making it possible to share and update data in real time, from anywhere around the globe.

What Is Cloud Hosting?

The cloud isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to a business’s computing needs, however. Since most organizations run a variety of workloads and processes over the cloud, it makes more sense to tailor cloud instances around the workload. 

This means, for instance, that organizations may be using major cloud applications like Microsoft Office 365 while hosting their own private dedicated server and running their business website over a seperate public cloud.

For many businesses, the cloud isn’t composed of a single service or server, but multiple resources spread across a variety of different cloud instances. From an infrastructure perspective, those different cloud instances are being hosting through a variety of different virtualized servers rather than a single dedicated resource.

Cloud hosting draws from that infrastructural philosophy. Under this model, providers rely on a network of different servers to deliver top-tier performance, scalability and flexibility. This allows you to draw resources from a network of virtualized physical servers as you need them. The result is a more stable, reliable network with the traditional benefits inherent to any cloud solution.

This model can be used to host not only websites, databases and applications but also IT infrastructure such as your voice system, surveillance and more. Essentially, it’s an ideal solution for businesses that have chosen to migrate resources to the cloud.

Cloud Hosting (noun):
A model of computing in which resources are distributed across multiple servers, rather than hosted in a single location.

What Kind Of Resources Can Be Hosted In The Cloud?

• Public, private and hybrid servers — a combination of public and private resources
• Multiple cloud environments (also known as multi-cloud)
• Enterprise applications, such as Quickbooks
• Email servers
• Databases and storage
• Hosted voice systems
• Hosted surveillance systems
• Other IT applications and systems

Top Benefits Of Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting has virtually revolutionized the way businesses operate by giving them a more mobile, efficient solution to their computing needs.

Here are some of the key advantages at a glance:

• Reliability.  Distributing resources across a network of servers means that workloads can be shifted to avoid server outages with no impact to performance.
• Cost Savings. The cost savings associated with a hosted cloud solution vastly outweigh those of private on-premise servers or hosted virtual private networks. What’s more, when you opt for a cloud hosting plan, the burden of server maintenance and equipment upgrades falls to cloud providers, not you.
• Scalability. Distributing resources across servers makes it even easier to adjust configurations, add new instances, and scale workloads up and down as needed.
• Security. Although the cloud once had a bad rap for security, things have changed. These days, cloud providers implement the highest standards of data security, with teams of dedicated professionals trained to implement the latest security protections.
• Redundancy. Automatic backups and multiple instances mean that you won’t lose data if a drive fails or you experience network downtime.
• Mobility. Hosting IT systems, like VoIP, over the cloud enables a mobile workforce, allowing employees and vendors to access tools and assets from almost anywhere.
• Flexibility. An endless array of cloud services, cloud network configurations and online applications allow organizations to manage a wide range of workloads in the cloud.
• Guaranteed Uptime. Most cloud provider contracts include at least 99.99 percent uptime guarantees, meaning more consistent access to resources for employees and customers.

Cloud Services Without The Service

Although the cloud holds the promise of more efficient, flexible computing, without adequate mechanisms for technical support, the cloud can be a source of worry and financial drain.

The cloud looks very shiny from a distance — but upon closer inspection, it often comes with a host of new problems. Despite all the good that the cloud does for organizations, it can also result in cost overruns, compromised data security, an inefficient use of resources and a lot of worry on the part of IT leaders everywhere.

The main problem with many of today’s cloud services is that their business model is built to accommodate the greatest number of customers possible. Under these circumstances, the ability to endlessly customize cloud instances is often more of a burden than a convenience. Without a knowledgeable IT vendor to tap for support, customers are expected to wade through very complex configuration details without the technical expertise they need to set them up correctly. 

Traditional cloud providers offer very little support beyond documentation — unless you want to pay for additional support plans. And then, the impersonal nature of these support plans means you often don’t receive the advice and guidance you need to configure cloud solutions with confidence. 

The Dark Side Of The Cloud: Wasted Capital, Compliance Issues And More

• 20 to 30 percent of live servers in a typical enterprise database are not being used for anything at all. (Source)
• Businesses waste an estimated $62 billion per year paying for cloud capacity they don’t need. (Source)
• 57 percent of surveyed IT leaders say they’ve spent more than their budget for cloud solutions. (Source)
• Many private virtual servers in Amazon Web Services are not actually private, due to misconfigurations and user error. (Source)
• Almost two-thirds of cybersecurity professionals say that misconfigured cloud servers and applications are their top security concern. (Source)
• Almost half of IT leaders say they’re struggling to create an effective cloud management strategy. (Source)

Service-Oriented Cloud Hosting Is
The Future Of The Cloud

Service-oriented hosting is emerging as the new model for multi-cloud computing strategies.

THERE'S NO GETTING AWAY FROM THE CLOUD — at least for most businesses. According to the 2018 Cisco Global Cloud Index, 94 percent of all business workloads will be run through public or private clouds by 2021.

Fortunately, there is a solution. As problems with the cloud have become more and more apparent, a new model of technical support has evolved to help customers realize their goals for cloud computing. 

This model is known as “service-oriented” cloud hosting. Rather than impersonal technical support plans, service-oriented cloud offerings take a more personalized, in-depth approach to cloud support. These solutions, typically offered by managed services providers and IT vendors, assume the role of cloud management and offer guidance on cloud strategies as their customers’ business models evolve. This allows businesses to take advantage of the best cloud services and infrastructure without the responsibility of configuring and managing these tools.

Service-oriented cloud hosting (noun):
An IT model that takes a “business first” approach to cloud infrastructure, using business processes to drive cloud architecture.

The Service- Oriented Advantage

The service-oriented model boasts obvious advantages for businesses, particularly those that are too small to hire a dedicated staff of IT employees, or those without the budget or interest to do so. Opting for a service-oriented cloud management provider is a bit like hiring a mechanic to work on your car instead of trying to make repairs by yourself. The end result is an expert solution, custom-configured to meet your specific business needs.

That’s service-oriented cloud hosting in a nutshell. But to really understand the benefits, we need to take an in-depth look at how focusing on service can aid your business as it moves more work into the cloud.

ADVANTAGE 1
Expert Knowledge

As with any cloud solution, service-oriented structures offer nearly unlimited ways to customize cloud products, particularly infrastructure as a service (IaaS) products such as business servers deployed in the cloud. 

Service-oriented cloud solutions providers can act as a consultant, helping you select the appropriate cloud products, capacity and configuration details for your end goals. They can help you understand cloud provider SLAs or, in many cases, even offer independent cloud solutions that are 100 percent customized to meet your needs. And they will monitor cloud products and adjust configurations as your business grows and changes.

advantage 2
Improved Security

Security is a major concern for businesses using the cloud — and rightly so. Data breaches and leaks are on the rise, particularly as businesses move more sensitive assets to the cloud. 

As mentioned before, misconfigured infrastructure and applications are some of the top sources of cloud security threats. While cloud providers offer many high-level security protections, those tools are meaningless if businesses accidentally expose sensitive data.

This is where a service-focused cloud management solution offers crucial support for organizations in the cloud. Such a vendor can examine existing cloud architectures to ensure that private data is actually private. It can also review logs and monitoring tools when offered by cloud providers to ensure potential security threats are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

advantage 3
Fewer wasted resources

Abandoned cloud instances are absolutely the top offender for cloud budget waste. It’s easy to understand how this happens: a company purchases additional cloud capacity when it needs it, and then forgets (or possibly doesn’t understand how) to scale down once that capacity is no longer needed.

Service-focused IT vendors have an intimate view into your business and IT needs. They can regularly review cloud capacity to ensure that you’re not throwing money away on server space and applications you no longer need. Under this model, pricing is more accurate, scalable and controllable. Your technology spending goes toward the resources you use, not the resources you don’t.

advantage 4
less burden on internal IT

Given the complexities of cloud servers and other virtualized resources, most businesses find they need a devoted support person in order to understand the technical ins and outs and assure that cloud solutions are configured and managed correctly.

However, hiring internally for this role can be expensive. It often takes more than one team member to handle the workload, and of course, you’ll have to pay those employees well if you expect top-tier work. Considering that IT professionals are some of the highest-paid employees, this can add significant bloat to technology budgets. Meanwhile, assigning cloud management tasks to internal IT departments diverts bandwidth from other, more valuable technology initiatives. 

The bottom line is that you’ll typically pay less and receive higher quality service if you opt to hire an external managed services provider to oversee cloud products. However, when you opt for a vendor with a service-oriented approach to cloud management, you won’t lose the insider knowledge that comes with a dedicated internal team. Service-oriented cloud hosting providers are in the business of understanding customer needs and business models and deploying customized solutions to suit those requirements — just as an internal IT department would.

advantage 5
Holistic management

In an ideal world, all of your technological assets would work together to optimize performance, efficiency and security. However, with the diverse range of tools available to businesses today, it’s increasingly difficult to implement end-to-end security solutions and ensure that all assets are performing as they should.

Perhaps the greatest benefit service-oriented cloud hosting can offer is to unify cloud solutions with other technological systems. Choosing an IT services provider to manage all your technology assets means we can look at your systems as a whole. We can ensure that devices, servers, applications and cloud solutions work together for a layered approach to security and optimized performance.

Service-Oriented Cloud Hosting At A Glance: Top Benefits To The Service-Focused Approach

Customization
Service-oriented providers help you configure cloud products to meet your specific needs.

Expert Guidance
Managed services providers offer consulting as you move to the cloud and ongoing advice as your business needs change.

Better Security
Tapping an expert for cloud support means you can ensure that cloud configurations don’t compromise security.

Cost Savings
Service-oriented IT providers can help you identify ways to save on cloud capacity while reducing budgets for internal IT.

Unified Technology Solutions
With insight into all your technological systems, service-oriented providers can implement end-to-end security solutions and holistic IT support.

Improved Customer Support
Service-oriented providers will get to know you and your business to develop long-term relationships and build trust.

Taylored Is Leading The Charge With Service- Oriented Cloud Solutions

Taylored cloud hosting customers have the benefits of our outstanding support and IT management solutions.

What Makes Taylored Different?

CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF THE KEY PILLARS  of Taylored’s approach to IT. We work to develop and strengthen relationships with our customers by getting to know each business through and through.

Therefore, it was a no-brainer for us to apply that philosophy to our cloud hosting services as well. Rather than trying to serve a high volume of customers with as little work as possible, we see ourselves as partners with your organization, working to achieve your goals and win your business time and time again.  

• Dedicated IT Resources. When you elect for managed services through Taylored, you’ll get a single dedicated team member to oversee your account. That means a single point-person assigned to your account who speaks with you regularly and understands your goals and pain points.
• Transparency. With accurate reporting and regular updates, we can ensure that you are informed of any issues before they become a problem.
• Vendor Management. Impersonal cloud providers will often punt you back to other vendors when problems arise. At Taylored, we assume the role of support person so you won’t have to deal with external vendor support teams if you don’t want to.
• Consulting. As we get to know your business and your key technology objectives, we can provide advice and guidance to help you implement the newest technologies and streamline existing products.
• Full-Service Solutions. From servers to voice systems, Taylored can oversee all aspects of your business’s IT for a one-stop technology solution.
• Relationship Building. We strive to build long-term relationships with customers so that we can always recommend the best cloud products and new innovations as they become available.
• The Highest Level Customer Support. We take the time to familiarize ourselves with your goals, pain points and unique needs so you can rest assured that our advice is grounded in a deep knowledge of your business.
• An Enduring Reputation. With over 20 years of IT know-how to our names, our reputation for excellence is unparalleled. 

We hope you found this information useful and will be able to implement changes in your company. If you would like a consultation to assist you, please feel free to reach out!