How Managed Cloud Services Optimizes Performance, Alleviates Skill Shortages and Supports Innovation

No matter where our customers are on their digital transformation or IT modernization journey, at Rackspace Technology® we approach each partnership as an opportunity to help them successfully adopt cloud technology and maximize their benefits.

Cloud-enabled operations support a wide range of business goals, including innovation, customer experiences, new work models and revenue generation. To help make every cloud journey a success, we provide expertise at four stages: Advise. Transform. Manage. Optimize.

We’ve featured our advise and transform stages in recent blog posts. Now, I’ll dive into the manage stage to give you a better idea of the services you can expect when Rackspace Technology helps manage your cloud.

Manage cloud to realize the maximum benefits

The cloud is a fantastic technology that delivers many benefits that companies can’t get anywhere else. But, despite the ease with which organizations can now procure and configure cloud infrastructure, managing clouds is a critical function that can present challenges without the right skills.

Day-to-day operation of cloud services are significantly different from managing traditional business-as-usual tasks in on-premises IT operations. The skills you use for on-premises management typically don’t transfer seamlessly to cloud management. You need specialized skills and a disciplined approach to correctly monitor and maintain applications, data and security in the cloud.

Cloud requires multiple layers of management

Another major cloud-management challenge is related to public cloud providers’ rapid release of new features and capabilities. The pace is so brisk that only large companies with massive internal IT departments can stay on top of the new developments. However, adapting to cloud providers’ services and features as they are released is critical to getting the best value for your cloud investment.

Along with cloud platforms themselves, the applications, data and security measures you use on your cloud infrastructure also require ongoing management. Virtual machines need to be monitored. Software patches need to be applied. Operating systems need to be updated. Databases need ongoing attention to maintain data quality. Security and compliance need to be vigilantly observed. 

Lastly, although cloud technology has been around for well over a decade, there is still a shortage of experts with the required skillset. This can be a major challenge for many companies. In our 2022 study on Managing IT in Challenging Economic Times, we found that 56% of respondents were struggling to retain skilled IT staff. 

Gain the power of proven cloud services

Many of today’s organizations have found themselves on a journey from traditional IT operations, with separate application development and IT operations teams, to a cloud native operation, where they are using Agile and DevOps practices. To facilitate this challenging journey, they are looking for expert assistance.

Achieving the best outcome in the cloud is possible, especially with the support of a cloud service provider like Rackspace Technology®. With over 20 years of experience running the production workloads for large and small organizations, and over 15 years working with cloud computing, our 3,000+ certified cloud experts provide the full range of cloud management services to today’s enterprises.  

Recognizing that businesses will have different needs as they transition from traditional to cloud native IT operations, Rackspace Technology offers two core service options that complement each other. They can be combined to support an organization’s specific requirements according to how far they have progressed toward full cloud native operations.

Rackspace Modern Operations delivers a broad range of 24x7x365 support for end-to-end lifecycle management in any cloud environment. Basic, but critical, support needs are covered and the organization gains freedom to focus on its core business objectives instead of IT. 

Rackspace Elastic Engineering provides on-demand access to a team of highly skilled cloud native experts who are available to work side-by-side with an internal IT team on any project. Designed to help businesses adopt cloud native practices, Rackspace Elastic Engineering helps accelerate project backlogs, shortening time-to-market and boosting a competitive advantage.

This unique service model is a cost-effective way to gain the high-value and high-impact cloud expertise many businesses today need. For example, McGraw Hill leveraged Rackspace Elastic Engineering to automate its Amazon Web Services (AWS) image build process. The global education company automated its baseline buildout of AWS images across 190 accounts, reducing the build time from six months down to just two weeks.

Complementing these two solutions is our range of data management and database operations services that help companies cope with the vast volumes of data they generate every day, including unstructured data. The right data management solutions are critical for any data-driven function and are key to enabling AI and machine learning.

Not having critical cloud management capabilities in-house does not have to be a barrier to gaining cloud benefits. Experienced and well-equipped partners like Rackspace Technology can be your greatest ally for maximizing your cloud investment — and helping you realize the full potential of your digital transformation or IT modernization journey.