The gold rush is on for technology providers.  Actually, the gold rush started a few years ago when Amazon Web Services (AWS) moved to market with a sales model that relied on managed services providers and IT professionals to bring their technology to end customers. True, some large and well funded organizations maintain direct relationships with cloud providers like AWS and Azure. But the vast majority of customers consume their cloud infrastructure with the help of a third party provider. This provider might be an ISV that operates their software on the cloud. Or perhaps its a local IT shop that serves small businesses in the community. Regardless, most of the cloud is consumed through the channel and not directly.

As such, it’s never been a better time to be in the managed services business. The market is growing quickly as organizations of all sizes and in all sectors recognize the role technology can play in growing their businesses. Old hardware ages out of use. In-house System Administrators age out of the workforce. On and on and as a result more and more businesses look to a third party to deliver on their IT objectives. More and more of those third parties are able to offer the best possible technology because of the accessibility of AWS, Azure, and other cloud infrastructure providers.

And this is exactly why smart MSPs also have a private cloud option in their portfolio.

The prevalence of the public cloud has been a boon not just for end users but IT companies alike. But because this technology can be accessed, sold, consulted on, and managed by most everyone there is less and less differentiation for service providers. As important, the “sameness” of cloud offerings in the IT channel mean that organizations with very special requirements or needs have even fewer options than ever before.

Private cloud environments address these specialized needs. For example, some companies have specific security requirements that cannot be addressed in the public cloud. These companies need their own, contained environments that are finely tuned to their specific requirements. In some cases, a company may need to run applications that require fine-tuning not available through conventional public cloud infrastructure. In both cases and many like them, the user is left to either manage their own infrastructure or work with an MSP that can help them survive and thrive in a private cloud

So What is a Private Cloud?

With the private cloud, infrastructure can be tuned to optimize the applications and needs specific to your client. No longer will they share resources with other users as in the private cloud. The private cloud means that your clients can count on robust performance, excellent security, and cost optimization they won’t find if you only offer them a public cloud option.

Additionally, the private cloud allows users to have control and administrative rights that aren’t often available in the public cloud. When, for example, a financial services company needs additional safeguards or an analytics company needs to keep workloads separated, the private cloud isn’t just one option; it can often be the only option.

Flexibility and variety are great reasons for managed service providers to offer a private cloud option. But as important is the fact that in more and more competitive markets, being able to offer some, but not all, of a client’s needs is a competitive disadvantage. More and more organizations are consolidating technology resources to a sole provider. If your clients need public cloud infrastructure for some applications and private cloud infrastructure for others, you’re unlikely to win (or keep) their business if you can only serve part of their needs.

Private cloud infrastructure can also lead to reduced total cost of ownership for clients if they have predictable usage needs. Whereas the public cloud often prices by use, private clouds can offer fixed prices. In the case where your clients want the full power of cloud infrastructure, it is possible that a private cloud will provide a cost effective option when the public cloud will not.

The Most Capable MSPs Will Thrive

All told, it’s never a bad idea to offer a variety of solutions to your current and future clients. While we would encourage you to be mindful about offering too many choices, the overlap in skills necessary to support both public and private clouds is so significant that you are doing your company a disservice to not offer both. Your next prospect could need a private cloud. What’s more, your current best client could be looking to a private cloud as well. Remaining competitive and winning new markets comes by offering specialized and differentiated solutions. With so many competitors leaning on the public cloud, and only the public cloud, offering private cloud infrastructure puts an arrow in your quiver that sets you apart.

If you don’t know how to design, deploy, and support private cloud instances just yet, the team at Connectria can help. Our expert team of engineers and architects can help even your most specialized client needs seem simple, supporting you with a 24/7 NOC and an understanding of even the most complicated technical requirements.  Contact us now to learn more about how Connectria can support private cloud environments and a solutions architect will contact you shortly.