Enhancing Security and Flexibility with Managed Servers

In today’s ever-evolving business landscape, companies are constantly seeking ways to improve their IT infrastructure to stay competitive and secure. One of the key solutions gaining popularity is the adoption of managed servers. Managed servers offer a wide range of benefits, including increased flexibility, scalability, collaboration, security, and the transition from upfront capital expenses (Capex) to manageable operational expenses (Opex).

What are Managed Servers?

Managed servers refer to physical or virtualised servers that are owned, hosted, and managed by a managed service provider (MSP) as part of a subscription-based service. Rather than purchasing standalone servers, businesses essentially “rent” server capacity, storage, security, and other capabilities tailored to their requirements while the MSP oversees management, monitoring, maintenance, and support.

Managed servers reside in data centers operated by the MSP, where resources are pooled and shared securely across their customer base. Businesses can configure and control their allocated servers remotely over the internet. This gives them access to enterprise-grade server infrastructure without large upfront investments.

Utilising Managed Servers for Business Enhancement

Businesses can leverage managed servers in various ways to enhance operations, including:

• Server Lifecycle Management – As physical servers reach end-of-life, transitioning to a managed service provides continuous operations without purchasing new hardware.
• Secure Application Hosting – Line-of-business apps can be hosted securely on managed servers with controlled remote employee access, improving efficiency.
• Remote Desktop Services – Managed servers allow remote-hosted desktops through RDS, keeping sensitive company data protected.
• Rapid Scalability – Managed services enable fast provisioning of additional resources to match workload changes.
• Data Centre Connectivity – Managed servers deliver reliable connectivity to data centres for uptime and resilience.
• Development Platforms – Agile development teams can leverage managed servers for flexible staging and testing.
• Disaster Recovery – Managed servers provide an offsite infrastructure option for disaster recovery planning.

In essence, managed servers function as an extension of a company’s on-prem infrastructure, serving a wide variety of use cases.

Maximising the Value of Managed Servers

To fully capitalise on the advantages of managed servers, proper planning is necessary. Companies should thoroughly analyse their workloads, capacity needs, security requirements, and growth projections to determine the ideal server configurations and managed service levels.

The MSP will offer customisable packages balancing factors like compute power, RAM, storage, backup, operating systems, software licenses, management services, and more. The goal is to right-size server capacity based on current and future resource estimates to maximise efficiency.

Ongoing assessments of utilisation and performance are also key to optimising value over time as needs change. With visibility into usage data, server allotments can scale up or down efficiently.

The Managed Server Advantage

There are compelling reasons businesses are adopting managed servers versus maintaining their own infrastructure:

• Opex Cost Model – No large capital outlays to purchase hardware, just predictable monthly fees based on consumption.
• Optimised Scalability – Resources scale up or down through the MSP based on changing needs, eliminating over or under provisioning.
• Enhanced Security – Servers are monitored and updated constantly for vulnerabilities by the provider’s experts.
• High Availability – Georedundant infrastructure and clustering ensure continuity of operations.
• Increased Agility – Rapid deployment of additional resources accelerates development and testing.
• Reduced Labor – No need to hire specialised server management and administration staff.
• Focus on Core Operations – Frees up resources to work on business-critical initiatives rather than maintenance.
• Access to Enterprise-Grade Technology – Take advantage of advanced server hardware, networking, security, and tools.
• Geographic Reach – Providers operate data centers in multiple strategic regions for redundancy and distributed access.

For businesses today, managed servers check off many critical boxes: cost efficiency, performance, security, availability, technology leverage, labor reduction, and agility.

Public Cloud, Private Cloud, or Hybrid?

Within managed services, companies can choose between public cloud servers, private cloud servers, or a hybrid model. Key differences include:

Public Cloud Servers

• Server resources provisioned dynamically from a public cloud shared by the provider’s clients.
• Highly flexible pay-per-use model but less control over physical infrastructure.
• Ideal for spiky workloads, cloud-native apps, temporary capacity bursts.

Private Cloud Servers

• Dedicated single-tenant servers provisioned from the provider’s private infrastructure.
• More costly but greater control, security, customisability, and dedicated resources.
• Ideal for sensitive data and steady predictable workloads.

Hybrid Cloud Servers

• Combines private cloud servers for mission-critical apps and public cloud for cloud bursting.
• Provides the control of private infrastructure blended with the flexibility of public cloud.
• Ideal for balancing security, control, and agility requirements.

Harnessing this blend of options, MSPs can deliver customised solutions tailored to unique needs. Public cloud provides flexibility while private cloud boosts control – together they offer the best of both worlds.

Transitioning to Managed Servers

For companies considering a move to managed servers, the transition process entails:

1. Assessing workloads and infrastructure to estimate sizing needs.
2. Selecting the right provider based on capabilities, reliability, security, and cost.
3. Determining the appropriate mix of private, public, and hybrid cloud servers.
4. Migrating physical and virtual servers over to the provider’s data centers.
5. Testing performance, connectivity, and backups thoroughly.
6. Setting up monitoring, management, and support protocols.
7. Establishing employee training programs to leverage new portal access and tools.

A phased approach is best to minimise disruptions to operations. The MSP will work closely with IT teams to plan and execute a smooth migration leveraging best practices.

Within a few months, the transition will take place, freeing up resources from server maintenance and establishing a foundation for scalability and innovation. Companies should see enhanced security, availability, productivity, and a reallocation of IT budgets into more strategic initiatives over time.

Managed Servers enables Businesses to reshape their IT environment

Adopting managed servers enables organisations to reshape their IT environment for the demands of modern business. The transition eliminates inefficient standalone servers and manual upkeep while gaining access to enterprise-class infrastructure. Resources scale dynamically to match needs, only paying for capabilities as they are utilised. Company data remains protected within state-of-the-art facilities while talent is freed up for higher-value tasks. With their infrastructure in the hands of specialists, companies can pursue innovation and next-generation technologies. Managed servers pave the way for an IT environment that is secure, resilient, cost-efficient, and primed for future growth.

Harness the Potential of Managed Servers with HBT Communications

In today’s dynamic business environment, the right IT infrastructure can be the catalyst for your organisation’s growth and success. With HBT Communications as your trusted partner, you can unlock the full potential of managed servers, enabling your business to soar with increased flexibility, scalability, and security. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation and assessment. Let our team of experts provide tailored insights and solutions to address your specific managed server requirements. Reach out to us at hello@hbtcommunications.com or call 02476 867400, and embark on a journey towards optimised IT infrastructure and enhanced business performance.