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The Importance of Partnering with a Managed Service Provider

By David Dyson, Director, Partnerships

October 13, 2021

What does a managed service provider bring to the table when you are planning a cloud migration strategy? Do you really need to find a partner to help plan and manage the migration? What if you have enough in-house expertise from your existing IT team?

These are just some of the questions you will be asking as you start building a migration strategy. Are cloud partners really essential or can you manage the migration and ongoing administration internally?

One of the immediate – and most important – reasons that some executives use to avoid working with a managed service provider is the perceived cost. It’s true that some specialists will take every cent they can from your consultancy budget, but at WatServ we don’t think that way – we aim to build long-term relationships with customers and partners, and we have worked with small companies of just 10 employees up to large organizations with thousands of employees.

People collaborating on laptop

I wrote an article recently about some of the awards our team has won and what that means for companies that are seeking a Microsoft Azure cloud partner. There are many accredited organizations out there, but I don’t think there are many that are experienced and prepared to work with companies of any size – offering the same level of expertise to smaller customers and partners that might be concerned about how to find a partner they can rely on.

Some organizations that have always used internal IT infrastructure, and an internal support team, find it difficult to understand why the same team can’t just transition to manage the cloud infrastructure. There is no reason why they can’t, but this entirely new infrastructure requires new skills and a new approach – so any transition of internal resources cannot take place quickly or without diverting them from other projects.

I believe there are three very clear and simple reasons why any executive thinking about a cloud migration program should be seeking a reliable cloud partner:

  1. Internal resources may be lacking – you need new skill sets for planning, architecting, managing the migration, building security, and then monitoring the cloud. That’s a lot of new skill-sets and it’s unlikely they will all be available internally or you will have enough time to train for the new requirements.
  2. Change is constant – companies like Microsoft are constantly improving their Azure cloud and advanced specialist cloud partners like WatServ are continually monitoring all these upgrades and new features. When you have a specialist on board they can advise on upcoming changes and can even recommend where new features may be advantageous or problematic.
  3. Security is 24/7 – your cloud needs protection 24/7 and no single security manager can cover every possible area of attack. A specialist cloud partner can use automated tools to track and detect unusual activity – helping to ensure that there are eyes and ears on the network 24/7.

Partnering with a managed service provider is not just about hiring a consultant to get you through the cloud migration. First, you will need help to plan your new infrastructure, and then a specialist cloud partner will work with you on an ongoing basis to really help ensure your cloud is secure and constantly optimized for your business.

Please click here for more information on WatServ cloud managed services.

About

WatServ is an IT solutions provider that helps organizations digitally transform through cloud technologies and managed services.

Serving clients as a trusted advisor since 2006, WatServ provides experience-tested, strategic solutions across all stages of the digital transformation journey. Clients choose WatServ to migrate infrastructure and applications to the cloud, secure critical data, implement disaster recovery, deploy virtual desktop, enable data-readiness for productivity solutions and manage IT environments.

Our clients span a broad range of industries, and we’re a global supplier of IT services for many Brookfield Portfolio Companies. To help our mid-size clients, we provide scalable offerings that simplify cloud adoption and drive business optimization. For enterprise clients, we co-create cloud solutions that enable stability and efficiency for complex IT tools and processes.

With more than 15 years of experience, WatServ has a track record of delivering quantifiable business results and a superior client experience. Ranked as one of Canada’s Top 100 Solution Providers for the last three years in a row, WatServ is always on.

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