Thinking About the Cloud with a “Cloud First” Service Provider

​​​​​The cloud is here to stay. It provides enormous benefits to customers, especially the SMBs, that have never been realized in the technology world.

But, what is the cloud? Quite simply, cloud computing means that premises-based IT systems, applications and databases are hosted in one or more state-of-the-art datacenters managed by a cloud services provider. Examples include Microsoft Office 365 for software as a service (SaaS), and Microsoft Azure for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).

There are huge benefits to having a cloud-driven business

For many reasons - productivity, security, accessibility, costs, etc. - ​cloud services have become enormously popular for companies of all sizes from the SMB to large enterprises.  The cloud is universally believed to represent the future model for the delivery of IT services. 

Through advanced virtualization technologies, an experienced technical support staff, and a major investment in hosting facilities, a cloud services provider can operate more efficiently and cost-effectively in delivering hosted IT services than a company which owns and manages their own dedicated, on-premises datacenter.

Cloud services come in many forms - sometimes as point solutions and sometimes as fully integrated applications and services that solve a range of business challenges. ​

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Let's explore a simple example: hosted email.

By moving a company's email service from a customer's on-premises system into the cloud as a hosted service, many benefits are immediately realized by the customer.

First, the server itself is eliminated. No longer will a costly and complex device require floor space, electrical power, cooling, system upgrades, software patching, maintenance, and repair. Email service in the cloud removes this costly overhead and replaces it with a hosted service; heavy and unpredictable capital and operating expenses associated with an on-premises solution are replaced with a predictable monthly or annual service fee that dramatically reduces Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Even better, the simplicity of a hosted solution and the reach of the internet enable untethered, universal access to the service for users located anywhere, using any device. The cloud is not only a cost saver, it's an enabler of mobility, information access and device independence.  

Now imagine that all the benefits (and more!) associated with our simple email example are applied to any and every application or service that migrates to the cloud. Savings and organizational benefits are greatly multiplied.

Customers today have an extremely broad range of cloud services available to them. Think of them as a collection of building blocks that you can use to solve problems and enable business objectives. The Modern MSP must have a "cloud first" mentality to de-mystify the cloud and help customers reap the rewards. As a Modern MSP, Fuse have the knowledge and experience to ensure adopting a "cloud first" strategy is a success.

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