Outsourcing AWS managed services is among the most effective ways to capitalize on the numerous advantages of AWS cloud computing. Allows you to concentrate on the key aspects of your business, freeing you from the day-to-day operational concerns of AWS management, while saving you time and money.
Even so, you can only enjoy these advantages if you select the ideal AWS managed service provider for your business. Before making a decision, you should consider the following factors if you are interested in outsourcing AWS managed services to maximize your return on investment.
Factors think before selecting an AWS managed service provider
If you are aware of the criteria by which to evaluate a service provider, making an informed decision is not difficult. Consequently, when discussing with a prospective AWS managed service provider, you should consider the following common features and project-specific aspects.
Expertise in Infrastructure Management and Proactivity
Acquiring AWS expertise or employing AWS specialists full-time is time-consuming and costly. By outsourcing AWS to a specialized service provider, you are relieved of these responsibilities.
Even so, the AWS service provider you select must be able to effectively manage your infrastructure. To allow a comprehensive AWS managed services offering, the company must have resources with expertise in various areas, such as resource optimization, system configuration, access control, disaster recovery, security and patch management, automation, etc.
Managing Cloud Operations
Now, infrastructure knowledge is not the only factor that determines an AWS service provider's knowledge and relevance for a specific project. People and processes are also relevant. Therefore, one of the most important and common criteria for evaluating a vendor is the company's AWS knowledge and AWS process. To maximize the benefits of AWS, your prospective AWS partner must have certified AWS specialists with clearly defined roles, as well as the ability to develop project-specific AWS processes.
Change Support and Scalability
Along with businesses and customers, the cloud continues to change and evolve. Support for business growth and scalability are additional factors to consider when selecting an AWS service provider.
Therefore, the outsourcing company and its AWS-specialist resources must have the ability and strategy to evolve with technology and leverage it for the benefit of your organization.
Second, the outsourcing firm needs to be able to scale its AWS support to keep up with your company's expansion. It will assist you in ensuring uninterrupted and consistent AWS managed services throughout.
Outsourcing must result in cost savings
If the cost of outsourcing exceeds the cost of building an in-house infrastructure and resources, outsourcing is impractical. AWS is no exception to this rule. To ensure this, you must request a report from the vendor or have your team prepare one that provides a reasonable comparison of the costs of insourcing and outsourcing. However, do not sacrifice the required services and quality to reduce expenses.
Contracts and Agreements
This is a high priority, as this documentation determines the Service Level Agreements, future performance, and technical aspects of the project.
Consequently, as you deliberate and draft such agreements, ensure that your IT team is involved, particularly in defining the service levels. Your IT team will be in a good position to understand what services and resources to request to fulfill the outsourcing objective without consuming company resources.
Your contract must include clear expectations and requirements regarding factors such as resource availability, data access and ownership, vendor response times, technical support availability and its levels, and disaster recovery, among others. Your IT department can handle all of these concerns, and you can review the final product to ensure you receive everything your business requires.
To avoid service issues, refusals, etc., it is essential to have a contract with every point spelled out. It will assist you in optimizing AWS and its benefits.
The Expertise, Capabilities, and Status of the AWS Service Provider
These are equally important factors that give an insight into the service provider's capabilities and reputation on the market. A brief conversation with a few of its most important clients can be helpful in this regard. It will assist you in receiving real-time feedback, as well as calculating the company's customer satisfaction levels and the success rate among companies that have outsourced AWS projects to this company.