Managed Cloud Services: Optimizing Use of Public Cloud Providers as Partners Using an Integrated Matrix

Managed Cloud Services: Optimizing Use of Public Cloud Providers as Partners Using an Integrated Matrix

This IDC Market Perspective provides insight into enterprise preferences on which public cloud platforms to deploy assets (software, hardware) when consumed as part of a managed cloud service. These assets span applications and ISVs, development and deployment software, systems infrastructure software, and infrastructure at a worldwide level, though these requirements do vary by geographies and industries. This document also provides a framework that IDC refers to as an "integrated matrix" by which managed SPs can optimize where assets should be deployed based on the combination of the value (benefits, challenges, and strengths) that firms have experienced in using different public cloud providers as part of managed cloud services and on which public cloud provider platforms firms prefer to deploy the assets when utilized as part these services."Optimizing the use of public cloud providers and their platforms to support an increasingly extensive set of assets spanning software and hardware will require managed SPs to have a holistic set of capabilities in not just managing across all these assets but understanding what is the best combination of public cloud providers to use across these assets while meeting critical enterprise business and IT objectives," says David Tapper, program VP, Outsourcing and Managed Cloud Services at IDC. "Investments that managed SPs must make to ensure that they can effectively provision assets deployed across public cloud providers and their platforms requires developing a robust governance structure, creating a new operating model, defining positioning of critical ecosystem partners, investing in COEs and labs, building an integrated digital services supply chain, and constructing an integrated matrix."

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