Top 13 benefits of managed hosting
Explore how switching to managed hosting can radically transform tech environments with enhanced uptime, speed, security, and support.
There are numerous ways that enterprises can enhance operations, ignite fresh new chapters of innovation, and increase profits. For example, organizations can find slivers of competitive advantage via cost optimization, streamlined workflows, extended periods of uptime, and strengthened cybersecurity posture. However, for large-scale and sustainable success, businesses need to do all of these and more at a rapid pace. A robust managed hosting solution is a powerful way to enhance multiple pillars of an organization at once. It can transform companies into the crème de la crème of their respective industries.
In the next four years, the managed services market will reach a value of more than €341 billion. This market has been rising at a compound annual growth rate of 6.2% since 2023. It is proof that enterprises seek to significantly prune overhead IT expenses with the help of managed service providers (MSPs).
The benefits of switching to managed services can be compelling. However, businesses need to know the ins and outs of managed hosting advantages to make an informed decision about their tech environments.
Top 13 managed hosting advantages
1. Uptime
Uptime refers to the availability of cloud resources, including applications, containers, databases, and virtual machines. Cloud service providers go above and beyond to ensure uptime, often in the 99% range.
When choosing a cloud provider, look for one with a strong track record, design for redundancy (leveraging features like autoscaling and load balancing to avoid single points of failure), proactive monitoring, and tests and updates.
2. Data security
Data is every company’s most valuable asset. IBM’s revealed that the average cost of a data breach is a whopping €4.08 million. Data security is one of the most important managed hosting advantages, coming in the form of managed firewall services, enhanced DDoS protection, data encryption, malware and ransomware detection, and incident detection.
3. Compliance
Suboptimal data security practices can have severe compliance implications. Multinational giants like Meta, Amazon, ByteDance, and Google have been on the receiving end of huge GDPR fines. While these fines may be temporary roadblocks for major corporations, small and medium businesses can’t afford to suffer compliance failures. Managed hosting can significantly harden a business’s compliance posture.
4. Customization
No two businesses, even if they are from similar geographies or sectors, are the same. Self-hosted IT infrastructure can be a complex and expensive undertaking, and generic off-the-shelf solutions may not be able to address nuanced requirements. Custom-designed managed hosting solutions can handle any organization's unique requirements, which can include cloud-based servers, dedicated servers, and high-performance GPU servers for heavier workloads.
5. Simplified installation
Irrespective of what kind of server or service a business needs, installation can be time-consuming and resource-draining. With managed hosting, enterprises can free their in-house teams from backend complexities such as establishing configuration settings and patching out-of-date software.
6. Proactive support
While most MSPs feature helplines for general support, they also conduct continuous behind-the-scenes work to optimize web servers, iron out inconsistencies, address network performance bottlenecks, and assess workload performance. By doing so, managed hosting solutions essentially provide 24/7 support in addition to any separate IT queries a business may have.
7. Scalability
Scalability is one of the most critical attributes a modern company needs. That’s because the global business landscape is turbulent, temperamental, and influenced by numerous constantly changing factors. Managed hosting solutions can help businesses rapidly scale or condense their operations ad hoc. Conversely, doing so in a self-hosted environment can be extremely expensive.
8. Backups and recovery
Regular backups are necessary because businesses must swiftly and seamlessly bounce back from outages and security incidents. By backing up servers and applications, enterprises can ensure minimal financial, reputational, and operational repercussions to disasters. Most managed hosting solutions provide consistent periodic backups, while the best MSPs offer daily backups.
9. Automatic updates
Failure to update servers can have significant security and performance implications. Out-of-date applications are security vulnerabilities that threat actors can exploit to gain illegitimate access to a business’s IT estate. With managed hosting, companies don’t have to worry about missing out on updates or keeping track of individual application versions because MSPs will guarantee robust patch management.
10. 24/7 Monitoring
It’s impossible to accurately assess the health, performance, and security of servers without strong monitoring capabilities. Businesses can evaluate server usage and response times in self-hosted environments and manually address performance issues. Managed hosting takes a more proactive approach by continuously monitoring and optimizing an organization’s servers.
11. Cost benefits
Is managed hosting worth the cost? At first glance, managed hosting solutions may appear to be a more expensive option than self-hosting. However, businesses should carefully consider the long-term cost-benefits of managed hosting. While subscription models result in more frequent expenditures, the resulting uptime, efficiency, and security can help increase profit margins.
12. Reliability
Service-level agreements (SLAs) categorically list all the services and functions an MSP will provide, which means businesses will have complete clarity on what responsibilities are theirs and what aren’t. Knowing that their MSP will reliably offer pre-established services, enterprises can focus on other key areas of business and operations without worry.
13. Increased employee morale
The well-being and morale of teams and personnel are critical to a thriving IT ecosystem. According to Gartner, less than half of surveyed employees believe that their companies acknowledge their personal value. Managed hosting solutions can take over grueling hosting challenges, thereby enhancing in-house IT teams' job satisfaction and productivity.
Conclusion
The right managed hosting solution can help businesses completely remodel their IT ecosystem and boost operational efficiency with enhanced speed, security, and support. The key benefits of switching to managed hosting include uptime, data security, compliance, scalability, customization, cost savings, and reliability.
Some may ask, “Can small businesses benefit from managed hosting?” Managed hosting advantages can help any type of business across industries. The key is to know what those managed hosting advantages are and what to look for in an MSP. If businesses choose the right MSP and unlock the benefits above, they can expect a lucrative next chapter.