Cloud computing has enabled businesses to operate more efficiently. Businesses worldwide are modernizing their entire IT infrastructures and processes, applications, and assets on virtual platforms: Gartner predicts that over 80 percent of global data will be moved to the cloud.

Since cloud applications have become so popular recently now that companies are implementing “work-from-home” policies, cloud-managed networking is also becoming quite interesting, as a way of managing a company’s network infrastructure.

The Cloud Managed Services market will be worth $116.2 Billion by 2025 (report by MarketsandMarkets). These numbers tell you one thing. Cloud technology is rapidly gaining popularity amongst businesses and clients, and it will be no longer that every company must think of moving all their business to the cloud

But how can cloud-managed networking be beneficial for your company and what we can expect from in the future? We’ll briefly explain this in this article.

What is a cloud computing network?

Rather than managing your  company’s network physically, with any network equipment, software or any other physical resources, cloud-managed networking is usually offered as a service, which helps you manage it remotely through resources that are already in the cloud. This means you will be able to maintain and manage multiple sites, devices or users from one place and this way allows your employees to create their workspace anywhere they are.

The pandemic was for sure a driving force for companies who were yet having second thoughts for remote working. But this working model has become important for the future as well.

A cloud managed network is offered as a service, therefore it uses SaaS to enable visibility and analysis with the opportunity to troubleshoot and raise security amongst the network. This makes the job of any IT team much easier.

Once connected to the network, a device can easily obtain its running configuration from the cloud. In addition, a single platform enables businesses to scale from a small number of devices to a large number of devices under a single platform.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Managed Networks

One of the most challenging things that companies deal with is whenever new network equipment must be implemented. Since set-up and configuration usually takes time, this raises costs too.

With cloud networking deployment is easier. All of the devices are already configured prior to installation, which makes the set up much more flexible. Any device that is connected to a network, has the configuration immediately downloaded which makes it available to run right away.

In a cloud managed network managing issues and errors is much easier than usually dealing with limited resources or network performance like it happens in everyday business.

As most cloud-managed networking solutions are offered as a service instead of businesses having to pay a large upfront cost, maintenance and support are usually included as part of the service, and can provide significant cost savings over the long run as compared to traditional networking.

Security and access are concerns when using cloud tools, as a key benefit is that users can access them from anywhere. If a business wants to use a cloud-managed network provider, it must make sure that it supports different levels of IT admin access and multi-factor authentication to ensure that only authorized users can access the network.

There are also potential connectivity issues with an externally managed system. In the event of an outage, it can be much harder to resolve it quickly and without disruption to your business’ core functions.

What are Cloud-Managed Services?

Managing Cloud Services means having all your cloud and IT management services managed by someone else. So, through outsourcing, you get tech support to help your business operation run smoothly.

In most of the cases, having an IT department inside your company, can’t provide the necessary solutions. Especially if your business has nothing to do with IT. This is why most companies outsource cloud managed services to a third party so they can help manage security, storage, operations and more.

Hiring such companies can be crucial to your business success. And in most cases will cost you less than having an inside tech department.

Here, let’s mention some benefits of working with a Cloud Managed Service Provider:

1.   Financial savings

If your company is small to medium, your network is probably simple. Having an entire IT department work full time to maintain your network is not necessary. Instead, you can outsource cloud-managed services to a provider who will control and manage all of these services. This will help you reduce costs so you can save for other types of investments. Once your business grows, you can then think of having an IT department of your own.

2.   Up to date with technology

Working with a Cloud Managed Service Provider means you get to work with professionals familiar with the latest technology. Expect nothing less when outsourcing such services. 

3.  You choose what you want

Instead of paying for all services and only using some, working with a cloud managed service provider means you can choose any of their payment plans. This way you can focus more on investing in your business growth. Most cloud providers offer cost-saving solutions. The good thing is that they guarantee security, monitoring, and maintenance of all your needed services.

4.  Centralized data center

In a cloud-managed network all applications and servers are located in a central data center. This means, you can have remote users access this data center. You can also have the storage and backup built inside this network.

5.  Security

One of the greatest benefits of working with a cloud managed service provider is that they guarantee your data security, backup and recovery too. What this means is that if a disaster occurs, your business operations can continue to work, with minimum interruptions. Their response time is also quick and they can easily repair any network issue.

Conclusion

How cloud networking helps your company’s future?

Regardless of size and sector, businesses face similar financial challenges whether they are private, public, or non-profit. Their main objective is to increase productivity while reducing expenses. Because of this, you’ll find IT services  in almost every organization you can think of. Even small businesses can lower expenses through IT, which has become more affordable for them—providing it is used and maintained properly.

This is why cloud technology has been so popular in recent years. The use of cloud computing allows you to improve computing power without investing a lot in hardware and software.

In the past, a company’s networking applications and network management software were all purchased and maintained in-house, along with all the associated costs, such as acquiring new hardware and servers, and paying staff. You can imagine how expensive this can be when you only have one location, but when you have several branches and need to deploy and maintain your networking equipment at these locations as well, your resources are stretched to the limit. That is where cloud networking comes in handy.

By using a cloud infrastructure, a business can create and manage secure, private networks online. All your traditional network functions and services, such as connectivity, security, management, and control, will be in the cloud. These networks can be set up and managed without spending additional money on hardware and staff to manage them.

Cloud networking is efficient, and limitless when offering solutions that can help your business in so many different ways.