MSPs and The Cloud: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Cloud services for MSPs aren’t all created equal. If it’s not managed properly, the cloud can quickly go bad – or even ugly. Do you know how?
Since its introduction to the business world, the cloud has quickly established itself as one of the most integral technologies in modern society. In the private and professional worlds, the cloud has delivered a range of benefits, both in the form of direct consumer products, and cloud services for MSPs.
That’s why you hear so much about it – but you likely only hear about its good qualities, right?
Did you know there’s a bad side to the cloud? And even an ugly one?
All That’s Good About Cloud Services For MSPs
These good qualities are what you’ve probably already heard about cloud services for MSPs – it’s why so many businesses have already started using it:
- Computing Power: The cloud has the ability to activate tens of thousands of CPUs. This unparalleled power can quickly perform deep analytics of your data, and process nearly any ad-hoc queries that you require.
- Easy Scalability: Cloud services have the unique strategic characteristic of being able to stretch or shrink to suit your current level of demand. This is especially useful for businesses of scale or companies that go through seasons of activity.
- Remote Work Capability: This cloud feature allows your clients to work remotely as need be, which will give them the flexibility they desire to have a more balanced home/work life.
What About The Bad Side Of Cloud Services For MSPs?
A possible downside of the increased access to work data offered by the cloud is that it can often be poorly secured.
According to the Cloud Security Firm RedLock and its Cloud Security Trends report, more than 50% of businesses that use cloud services like Amason Simple Storage Service (S3) have unintentionally exposed at least one of these services to the public.
This growing trend of unsecured cloud configurations is due to businesses neglecting known vulnerabilities in the cloud, or failing to properly assess their cloud environment to discover unseen security risks. RedLock researchers found that:
- 38% of organizations have had an administrative user account compromised
- More than 80% of businesses fail to mitigate cloud vulnerabilities
- 37% of databases accept inbound connection requests from the Internet, seven percent of which receive requests from untrustworthy IP addresses
Encryption technology is a great way to protect important data. By making data unreadable to anyone who isn’t supposed to have access to it, you can secure your client’s files that are stored on systems, servers, and mobile devices, as well as files sent via email or through file-sharing services.
This is especially important when client data is stored in the cloud, or in transit – whether being sent in an email or in-between their office and their offsite data storage location. You need to make sure that if in the event the wrong party gets their hands on your clients’ data, they won’t be able to use it against them.
When Do Cloud Services For MSPs Get Ugly?
One of the worst problems you could encounter with the cloud is poor internet connectivity. It doesn’t matter how well managed or properly secured your clients’ cloud data is if they can’t access it. That’s why failover Internet capability is such an important part of effective cloud management. You need to make sure your clients have consistent and reliable access to their cloud data.
Well executed cloud services for MSPs will help your clients take advantage of the good parts of the cloud while avoiding the bad and ugly ones. Don’t expect your clients to settle for generic IT support that isn’t capable of helping them optimize their cloud environment.
Like this article? Check out the following blogs to learn more:
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