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3 Steps to Optimize Azure Hybrid Cloud Spend and Maximize ROI

Investment in cloud services has accelerated in recent years, particularly as the effects of COVID-19 took hold across the globe. This trend is not anticipated to slow any time soon.  In fact, Gartner forecasts worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services to grow 21.7% to reach $482 billion in 2022 and, by 2026, public cloud spending will exceed 45% of all enterprise IT spending, up from less than 17% in 2021.

While it’s essential that organizations continue to invest in cloud services to drive business, the real value of cloud comes from optimizing solutions to make them work best for your unique business requirements—and maximize your return on investment (ROI). Not optimizing cloud solutions can mean a loss of efficiencies and productivity across the board.

Here are three essential steps to maximize ROI on your cloud journey.

  1. Get a clear vision of the future and build a roadmap that includes costs. It’s one thing to decide to simply invest in cloud. It’s another thing entirely to take your business to another level by researching what cloud platform (such as Microsoft Azure) will work best for the changing needs of your organization. Taking your business to the next level involves building a clear roadmap of digital transformation that includes costs and time—and not just the cost and time of deploying cloud services. The roadmap should also include the cost and time of underlying training and maintenance, along with the technology upgrades needed to ensure your existing processes and solutions will integrate seamlessly with your cloud platform.

  2. Set up and manage cloud services with a three-step approach. Once you’ve settled on a cloud platform, taking a proven three-step process will help to successfully achieve your deployment vision:
  1. Realize the full cloud potential through ongoing optimization, control and flexibility. Taking a set-it-and-forget approach to the cloud can put businesses at risk for failing to achieve their full potential or ROI. Cloud technologies advance rapidly. By continually assessing and reviewing cloud platforms and investing in ongoing optimization, you can futureproof your business and achieve greater control and flexibility.

How to realize the full value of hybrid cloud with an IT managed services provider

While organizations need to maximize the return on their cloud investment, squeezing every last drop of value from the cloud requires an expert level of know-how and experience that most businesses don’t have—either due to IT skills gaps, talent shortages or resource constraints. This can impact the ability of businesses to agilely respond to the fast pace of change. In fact, a recent Forrester report on the value of IT services providers suggested that:

“Firms that can adapt and respond quickly are more likely to have a competitive advantage and delight their customers…IT leaders who have an established relationship with strategic IT services providers are positioned to limit disruptions to employees and customers, ensuring business can continue and outcomes can still be achieved, even during times of change.”

Working with a proven and trusted partner can help you not only build a cloud strategy and roadmap and achieve your deployment and migration vision, they can also help you realize the full transformative benefits of cloud through ongoing management. By investing in support from a managed IT services provider, your team can focus on scaling and innovating for your business, while leaving the day-to-day management of your IT systems up to experts that can maximize their value.

Logicalis: Expert Azure hybrid cloud solutions and managed IT services providers

As a longtime Microsoft Gold Partner and, now, a Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Services Provider, Logicalis works closely with our customers to help them maximize their ROI on their journey to the cloud.

We combine best-in-class cloud technologies—our Logicalis Production Ready Cloud on Microsoft Azure—with a proven methodology so you can optimize your business and achieve your transformation vision. The result is a secure, scalable pre-configured foundation that helps you outpace change and eliminate configuration, security and risk headaches.

For more information on how we can help you transform your business through the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, consider a tailored cloud workshop or contact the team today.