Market research from Gartner predicted it: more and more organisations are making a conscious decision to move towards a managed cloud to invigorate their business. By 2022, as many as 60% of companies worldwide could be purchasing managed cloud services from an external partner, according to Gartner. For comparison: in 2018 this was just 30%.

By outsourcing that cloud management, companies gain access to a solid IT foundation that offers flexible availability and is perfectly monitored. This means their own IT team can focus on the more strategic projects that really bring added value to their business activities.

Managed cloud as a springboard to success

Agility, the ability to respond rapidly to new circumstances and opportunities, is therefore one of the main reasons to go for a managed cloud. As a company, you will be able to get ahead of your competitors more easily: you can work with the latest technologies and applications as soon as your organisation can benefit from them. Launching new services and products or integrating an additional site can also happen much faster through a flexible cloud environment that grows with you.

Always the capacity you need

Investing in IT capacity ‘for growth’ in advance is a thing of the past with the cloud. You always have exactly the infrastructure you need to optimally support your activities. If more or less capacity is needed, it is immediately adjusted. Much simpler than having to buy and install a server yourself in your data centre. Temporary peak times – for example due to marketing campaigns – are also easily accommodated through the cloud.

Equally productive everywhere

A fixed workplace at the office disappeared long ago. Employees should be given the option of working equally efficiently at any location – at the office, at home, with customers or on the road – and with any device. This can only be good productivity. Of course, then it’s important that they also have the necessary software tools to work, communicate and collaborate in teams efficiently and remotely. Security too is certainly a concern, for which you can contact your managed service provider.

Your IT budget under control

By using IT infrastructure through a managed service provider, your IT budget becomes much more predictable. You don’t have to make large capital investments in hardware and software licences, and instead you only pay for your usage and the service. Moreover, all kinds of additional costs are eliminated, such as the energy consumption of your own data centre. There is more flexibility in how you use your IT budget and capital is also released for strategic investments and innovation.

Resilience and continuity

By having your IT infrastructure run and managed elsewhere, for example in a managed hybrid cloud setup, you are assured of maximum continuity. Your managed service provider takes care of continuous monitoring, optimal security and redundancy, backup and disaster recovery. It would be impossible for you to provide that level of security yourself. So you can be a lot more confident about your business continuity – your IT infrastructure will keep running in all circumstances. Since your activities are undoubtedly highly dependent on IT, this is a major concern that will be taken off your hands.