We get told by MSPs all the time that their new clients can’t seem to grasp the difference between Private, Public and Hybrid Cloud Solutions. If you face this problem, here’s some information that you can share to help them understand what a Private Cloud is and why they need to use one.
The other day I was driving in my car and heard the Rolling Stones’ song “Hey, You, Get Off Of My Cloud.” It got me thinking…What did Mick Jagger know about “The Cloud” back in the 60s and 70s?
Maybe Mick knew the potential pitfalls of public cloud services like Gmail, Dropbox and others. Perhaps he knew that the Cloud brings huge opportunities to small businesses, and allows them to compete on a global stage with their largest competitors.
So, why was Mick Jagger telling everyone to get off his cloud? Well, it’s easy to sum up… Security.
In the world of cloud computing, multi-tenant, public cloud services can present a major security risk. Some small businesses start out using a public cloud.
But, as your organization grows and brings on more team members, wins more opportunities and surpasses revenue expectations…it’s time to get off that public cloud and move to a more secure, customizable private cloud service.
Why Do You Need Private A Cloud?
Private Clouds are just that… Private.
No one else but your authorized users are on your server. Unlike Microsoft Office 365 or Google’s Gmail which are shared across all their clients, your mail server that’s hosted in your Private Cloud is exactly that…Yours. No one else can use it.
With a private cloud service, you control who has access to what, not someone on the other side of the world that you don’t know. You’re in control of its privacy and access.
Plus, private clouds are necessary for compliant-based businesses like healthcare, law and finance.
Another benefit is just knowing that your resources will be available when you need them. Resource availability is one of the largest drivers for why companies move from public cloud services to their own private clouds.
Why Do You Need A Cloud Migration Expert?
Making the move from a public to private cloud isn’t easy. A cloud migration from Microsoft Office 365 to your own cloud Exchange Server requires careful planning to pull off.
There are many reasons why you need a migration expert. Without one:
- You could lose important files if they aren’t migrated properly.
- The migration could take longer than you expected, resulting in downtime where your staff can’t work.
- Once it finally gets installed and launched, you may find that your platform is complicated and difficult for your staff to learn.
Still Confused About The Cloud? What Are The Main Differences Between Clouds?
Private Cloud: A Private Cloud is where IT services are provided over a private IT infrastructure and only for use by a single organization. If your business uses a private cloud, the resources are entirely under your control, and it’s managed within your IT infrastructure. This is what makes it so secure.
Public Cloud: This is a cloud that’s available to the general public over the Internet. You access public cloud services on a “pay-as-you-go” basis. You just use the services that you choose to use.
Hybrid Cloud: A hybrid cloud combines a private and public cloud. You can keep some data stored internally, and other solutions hosted offsite. A hybrid cloud is integrated into your in-house IT infrastructure with other products and services that you use.
What Are The Overall Benefits Of Using The Cloud?
You Can Reduce Costs: You can achieve significant savings on hardware and software. Plus, you’ll have access to large amounts of data storage that you couldn’t achieve with simple hard drives and other forms of onsite storage.
You’ll Have Anywhere-Anytime Access: You and your staff can access software, hardware and your data from wherever you have a computer device and an internet connection.
File Sharing Is Easier: With solutions like Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint, you and your staff can collaborate on documents, presentations and spreadsheets in real time. You’ll never worry if you’re working on the latest version or will need to email them back and forth.
You’ll Experience Fast Deployment Of IT Solutions: Cloud services can be up and running within an hour, rather than the days or weeks it might take to build and implement an internal IT infrastructure.
The Cloud Supports Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery: Many cloud service providers offer unlimited storage and automated data sync and backup services. This reduces or eliminates downtime when your office is closed for any reason, or computers crash. Your data is safe in the Cloud where you can recover it from anywhere you have a computer device and internet connection.
Why Should You Choose a Private Cloud Over a Public or Hybrid One?
Because it provides:
- More flexibility,
- The strongest security,
- Better regulatory compliance,
- Guaranteed resource availability, and
- Reduced costs over a public cloud environment.
Using a Private Cloud is actually less expensive for many businesses. According to 451 Research LLC in New York, it’s cheaper to run a private cloud than a public cloud on a per-virtual machine basis.
And 24 percent of those surveyed said they pay 10 percent less for their private cloud. This is well worth it for organizations that want the other advantages of the private cloud, like meeting compliance for regulatory requirements such as HIPAA, GLBA, PCI-DSS, SOX, FISMA, or GDPR.
Private clouds can be used to run any service, application or website. It’s also best for organizations that need to use big data, databases and machine learning applications.
If you need privacy, more control and increased performance, you should ask your IT services company about a private cloud.
We hope this information helps to clear up some of the misconceptions about the Private Cloud for your clients and helps them understand its benefits.
In the meantime…
What’s The Answer For Your MSP Business When It Comes To The Cloud?
This is where my team at Cloud Services For MSPs comes in. We have years of experience and success providing private cloud services. And you’ll find that being “On the Cloud” is a great place to be with Cloud Services For MSPs.