The concepts cloud services and IT services sound familiar to most people who pay even casual attention to IT trends, but not everyone understands the distinction between them. At least not until it comes a time when they need hosting services and has to research the features and advantages of each option.
In this article, we will explain how both services work separately. In this way, you will be able to compare both services and conclude which one is the best for your company. Let us see.
- What do we mean when we talk about cloud services?
- Which types of cloud services can we find?
- How is the cloud infrastructure set up?
- What are cloud platforms?
- What do we mean about managed IT services?
- How can I benefit from IT service management?
- What are the challenges of managed service providers?
- Which service is better: cloud service or IT service?
1. What do we mean when we talk about cloud services?
Cloud computing refers to the on-demand availability of computing resources as services over the internet. This technology saves companies from having to provision, configure or manage resources and allows them to pay only for the resources they use.
Therefore, cloud services consist of infrastructures, platforms, or software systems hosted by third-party providers. These become available to users via the internet. In addition, they facilitate the flow of user data over the Internet from frontend clients. For example:
- The servers
- Tablets
- Laptops or desktop computers.
In other words, any system at the user’s end will have a facilitated flow of information. This also includes the provider’s systems and vice versa. To access cloud services, users only need a computer, an operating system, and a connection to the internet or a virtual private network (VPN).
2. Which types of cloud services can we find?
Cloud services include all infrastructures or software systems that are accessed by users over the Internet. As well as the solutions as a service mentioned below. First, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) makes computing, network, and storage resources available to users.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides a platform on which applications can run. As well as all the necessary IT infrastructure to make it work. On the other hand, Software as a Service (SaaS) provides users with an application in the cloud. Also, the platform on which it runs and the underlying infrastructure.
Finally, Function as a Service (FaaS) refers to an event-driven execution model that allows developers to design application packages. Moreover, without having to worry about infrastructure maintenance.
2.1 What other types of cloud services deserve to be mentioned?
Many people consider these types of services to also include clouds. Clouds enable cloud computing: the execution of workloads within a cloud environment. They also constitute a type of PaaS, in that a person (other than the user) provides the underlying infrastructure on which a web-based platform provides.
Therefore, private clouds are broadly defined as a cloud environment designed only for the end-user, usually located inside the user’s firewall and sometimes hosted locally. Knowing this, public clouds are then cloud environments created from resources outside the end-user that can redistribute to other users.
Hybrid clouds, on the other hand, consist of multiple cloud environments that have some level of portability. And finally, multi-clouds refer to IT systems that include more than one cloud and can connect to a network.
3. How is the cloud infrastructure set up?
When providers make a cloud infrastructure available to users, they separate the computing functions from the hardware elements. When providers make a cloud infrastructure available to users, they separate the computing functions from the hardware elements. This happens with the processing power of central processing units (CPUs).
CPUs remain the main ones, but we can also see this in other hardware. Such is the case of the active memory of random access memory (DRAM) chips. Also, the graphics processing of the graphics processing units (GPU). And lastly, the availability of data storage in the data centers or hard disks.
Typically, virtual machines and virtualization are used to separate these compute, storage, and network elements. They offer them to users via the internet as a service (IaaS). This type of service has led to an increase in cloud storage, where big data resides as part of the internet of things (IoT).
4. What are cloud platforms?
Cloud service providers can also use their hardware resources to create cloud platforms. These include online environments where users develop code or run applications. Designing them involves much more than extracting computing functions from hardware elements, as occurs when a cloud infrastructure comes into play.
A higher level of development requires incorporating technologies such as containerization, orchestration, coordination, application programming interfaces (APIs), routing, security, management, and automation. User experience design (UX) must also come into play when creating an accessible online experience.
Cloud platforms represent a type of PaaS that can be considered clouds as long as the infrastructure elements that support them can easily adapt and share. The best examples of PaaS clouds include managed private clouds and public clouds.
5. What do we mean about managed IT services?
Businesses incorporate technology more and more into their daily processes. This means an increased demand for IT resources which, in many cases, represents a saturation of the company’s IT department. This is the context in which IT-managed services come into play. They were created to respond to a situation of the collapse of the IT department of a business organization.
It refers to the total or partial outsourcing of IT solutions on a permanent or temporary basis to meet a peak workload that is difficult to manage by the company’s IT staff. Managed IT services involve all those resources that a company needs to hire to meet the technological demand of the company, remotely managed through software that allows remote monitoring.
Managed IT services are presented to companies as an excellent way to reduce costs on tedious tasks and leverage the organization’s internal staff to carry out tasks related to innovation and new product development. Companies can increase their portfolio and, consequently, increase their turnover and become more competitive in a market characterized by saturation and stagnation.
Helpdesk and service desk, the main function of the people in charge of offering this service is to solve all the incidents that arise both from the client and the different departments of the organization. Installation and maintenance of equipment, Thanks to this service all the company’s devices are updated and optimized for the highest performance.
5.1 How do IT managed services work?
As mentioned above, managed IT services provide an outlet for the tasks normally covered by a dedicated department, giving companies the flexibility to hire more or less volume according to their needs.
In addition, finding and training the right professionals requires time and dedication, often years, while outsourcing this type of service to an external company provides highly qualified professionals without the need to go through the process of hiring and training them.
As a consequence, the concept of managed IT services arises as a way of outsourcing monitoring, maintenance, support, and management of information technologies. It is important to highlight that when we talk about this type of service, companies offer everything necessary: professionals, tools/technology, and processes.
5.2 What other features do IT managed service providers have?
24/7 technical support. With a managed service provider, companies will always have a qualified and experienced technician who will be watching over the proper functioning of their IT resources. The support of these services extends every day of the year and 24 hours a day, ensuring that when a service request or IT incident occurs, there will be an immediate response, regardless of when it happens.
Reduced monthly costs. Managed services are scalable, so the client can contract the services they need at any given moment, and can expand them whenever they want, quickly and easily. The subscription costs for this type of service remain under the control of the company. Which knows the fee to pay periodically, thus providing better control of expenses.
Advanced network management. The MSP acts as an extension of the internal teams, eliminating the complexity of the IT architecture and offering a unique and flexible infrastructure management service.
This field is very broad, so having a multidisciplinary team allows you to have specialized technicians in the different areas of networking: firewalls, connectivity, VPN, VLAN, security elements, voice, and data. All of them with their different technologies.
5.3 What types of companies are they suitable for?
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often hire a managed service provider when they have limited internal IT capacity, delegating the MSP to manage their IT resources. Large corporations hire the services of an MSP in many cases, such as when they have a global presence in different time zones and want 24/7 support, regardless of physical location.
Technology companies in general (regardless of SMBs or large corporations) use managed service providers to support their core business. They offload their workload on tasks such as server maintenance and upgrades and implement solutions with a high level of security for their platforms and systems.
These types of companies are looking for a high degree of specialization in this type of service. Government agencies and public administrations also turn to MSPs, especially when they have budgetary constraints or when hiring specialized IT staff. The predictable costs of the MSP subscription model allow any kind of company to benefit from its advantages.
6. How can I benefit from IT service management?
Cost savings and greater control. One of the most amazing benefits of IT outsourcing involves saving money. While it may seem that having staff and resources in-house is always easier than outsourcing, the reality is just the opposite.
Increased efficiency. A service provider knows how to help your business become more efficient. It can help you redesign workflows, automate tasks and upgrade equipment, has the latest technology to make operations more efficient, and helps you stay current so you don’t succumb to the competition.
Experts and experience at your disposal. An in-house team only sees problems as they arise. When you hire IT services, you are hiring experts who see a wide range of similar problems every day. When they arise, they know how to solve them quickly and cheaply. IT professionals at a managed IT service provider get continuous education to provide the best service available.
Security enhancements. Security is an extremely important issue. Your network has vulnerabilities that you need to protect against. IT outsourcing allows you to leverage the extensive knowledge of trained IT experts to provide you with security solutions for your business.
7. What are the challenges of managed service providers?
Despite their advantages, managed service providers can also present challenges. For example, not all MSPs offer security measures. Many MSPs do not focus on cybersecurity. Reliance on third-party organizations.
Organizations that rely on an MSP to handle day-to-day tasks may depend on them. If the MSP does not meet the SLA, the organization could experience system downtime. Time to wait for a response. An MSP may take time to respond to a problem.
Potential for additional sales. An MSP may try to sell an organization technology or services it does not need. Inaccessible information. An organization’s information may not be openly available if the MSP uses a proprietary software tool to manage and monitor its IT infrastructure.
8. Which service is better: cloud service or IT service?
But what is the distinction between a cloud service and a computer service? Simply put, an IT service provider is also a cloud service provider, but a cloud service provider is not a managed service provider.
Ultimately, at Connect Tech, we can point out that while cloud service providers will offer several hosted solutions to help streamline your business processes within certain limitations, they will not support your business at a higher, comprehensive IT level.
Are you interested in learning more about these digital infrastructures? Connect Tech will help you with all your questions. You can talk to us by calling at +971 43 316 688. On the other hand, you can also send us an email at contact@connectech.dev.
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