It’s no secret that cloud communications play an integral role in today’s fast paced business world. As businesses both large and small begin to rely on cloud services more and more, cloud consultants such as cloud services brokers are becoming essential to helping providers bring these kinds of services to their valued customers. In fact, recent research revealed that a growing number of cloud computing customers now rely on cloud brokerage services in order to take care of a broad range of services, including custom application monitoring and discounted pricing.
So who are cloud consultants exactly and what do they even do?
Cloud consultants can be thought of as intermediaries that facilitate the professional relationship between a cloud provider and their customers. If the important role that cloud consultants play still doesn’t make sense to you, consider that they act in much of the same way that a car dealer does in coordinating the sale of a car manufacturer’s vehicles to their respective car buyers. Or better yet, think of it this way; cloud consultants aggregate, integrate, and also tailor services for customers. For the most part, this is some that cloud providers may find difficult to do.
Take a look at this handy dandy break down of the three aforementioned aspects of cloud consulting.
Aggregation: The more the merrier
Cloud brokers often bundle a variety of different individual services in one neat package and present them as a single unified service. For example, a provider may offer a single billing service or unified cloud provisioning by partnering up wit a cloud consultant.
Integration: Making it work from the inside out
Often times, businesses rely on cloud brokers and consultants to integrate a variety of different services. This in turn provides an entirely new sense of functionality! As such, cloud brokers can assist in moving data onto the cloud and integrate the customer’s network with the provider’s own network.
Customization: Any way you like it
Cloud brokers and consultants also customize various cloud services for individual customers in order for them to better align with the needs of their specific business. This typically happens around the edge of the network as cloud services can only be modified by the cloud provider itself.
Although most of the responsibility of a cloud broker is to arrange a variety of different cloud services for cloud computing customers, they can also be a valuable partner to cloud providers. How? Cloud consultants that are on top of their game can put services and cloud solutions in place that may not necessarily be apart of a cloud provider’s core business. Common examples may include service level agreements and customized user interface design, although there are many more.
Further, cloud security continues to be a growing concern, especially since data thieves and online hackers have upped their game and take full advantage of the technology that’s now available. Again, this is a perfect example of how technology, like any tool, is neutral in and off itself. It’s how its used that determines whether it’s “good” or “bad”. Unfortunately, hacking into a cloud is never really a good thing.
Luckily, cloud brokers and consultants are happy to help with that. They’re experts at working out the security and monitoring requirements at the customer’s physical location or in the cloud itself. This takes a huge and much needed load off of the cloud provider, who usually doesn’t have the time or the resources to appropriately address the all security concerns of each customer.