Managed Service Provider

• For many companies, the growing demands on in-house IT infrastructure

represent a major challenge.
• One approach to tackle this is the purchase of managed services.
• A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is a company that provides a range of IT
services and manages them for their clients.
• By default, the provision and maintenance of the services usually happens
remotely, which is why MSPs rarely visit a client’s office.
• Managed service providers tend to offer different types of billing models: a
monthly fee to install and maintain the respective MSP services is just as
common as time-based billing.
• Cost structures based on the number of users or devices are also widely in
use.
• Managed services are particularly appealing to small and medium-sized
companies because the outsourcing of specific IT needs allows them to
forego in-house IT support and save costs
Typical managed services include
• Hosting
• Network and other technical infrastructure
• Cloud services
• Backup services
• Security structures (Managed Security Services)
• Disaster recovery
• Managed server applications
• Remote monitoring
• Update and patch management
• Helpdesk services
How do Managed Service Providers Work?
• Using a managed service provider does not mean an enterprise gives up all
control and responsibility for IT operations.
• Using a managed service provider is a strategic method for enterprises to
keep some operations in-house while outsourcing others.
• Together, the company and the managed service provider determine the
best course.
• Initially, the managed service provider reviews an enterprise’s processes to
find ways to improve efficiency, lower risk and reduce costs.
• Typically, the managed service provider handles the most time-consuming,
complex ad repetitive work. They also provide on-going maintenance and
support.
The Evolution of Managed Service Providers
(MSPs)
• From the earliest days of commercial computing, businesses have faced a
recurring set of challenges.
• Computing technologies are expensive to acquire and maintain.
• They also require expertise that is scarce, difficult, and expensive to find,
recruit, hire, and retain.
• Since time-sharing of mainframe computing resources was invented in the
1960s, companies have sought and found ways to make computing
accessible and affordable to businesses unable to justify owning their own
computers.
• The Computation Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(M.I.T.) demonstrated the Compatible Time-Sharing System in 1961. And
the Multics operating system, a predecessor of Unix, was modeled after
utility services such as electricity and telephony.
• Today, managed service providers (MSP) deliver a broad range of
computing services to businesses of all types and sizes.
• Some estimate that 90 percent of Fortune 1000 companies use MSPs
to provide at least part of their IT infrastructures or services.
• Estimates curated at Statisia .com place the 2018 MSP market at
more than $189 billion, and project growth to more than $229 billion
by 2020.
Today, MSPs offer a wide range of IT solutions and services, including but
not limited to those listed here.

• Anti-virus/anti-spam/anti-phishing/anti-malware services
• Data backup services
• IT estate/network monitoring services
• New software configuration and provisioning services
• New hardware configuration and implementation services
• Network infrastructure configuration, implementation, and enhancement
services
• Cloud computing services (applications, services, resources, management)
• Patch/repair/update management services
• On-demand augmentation of incumbent staff/expertise
Reasons to consider a Managed Service
Provider
• Optimize Your Costs
• Focus On Your Core Business
• Scale Your Infrastructure
• Address Security & Compliance
• Match the Right Environment for Each Workload
The Cloud Data Center,
• A data center is a physical location that stores computing machines
and their related hardware equipment.
• It contains the computing infrastructure that IT systems require, such
as servers, data storage drives, and network equipment.
• It is the physical facility that stores any company’s digital data.
Data centers bring several benefits

• Backup power supplies to manage power outages

• Data replication across several machines for disaster recovery
• Temperature-controlled facilities to extend the life of the equipment
• Easier implementation of security measures for compliance with data
laws
What is inside a data center?

Most enterprise data center infrastructure falls into three broad

categories:
• Compute
• Storage
• Network
Also, data center equipment includes support infrastructure like power
systems, which help the main equipment function effectively.
Computing infrastructure
• Computing resources include several types of servers with varying internal
memory, processing power, and other specifications.
Rack servers
• Rack servers have a flat, rectangular design, and you can stack them in
racks or shelves in a server cabinet. The cabinet has special features like
mesh doors, sliding shelves, and space for other data center resources like
cables and fans.
Blade servers
• A blade server is a modular device and you can stack multiple servers in a
smaller area. The server itself is physically thin and typically only has
memory, CPUs, integrated network controllers, and some built-in storage
drives.
Storage infrastructure
The following are two types of data center storage systems.
Block storage devices
• Block storage devices like hard drives and solid-state drives store data in blocks and provide many terabytes
of data capacity. Storage area networks (SANs) are storage units that contain several internal drives and act
as large block storage systems.
File storage devices
• File storage devices, like network-attached storage (NAS), can store a large volume of files. You can use them
to create image and video archives.
Network infrastructure
• A large number of networking devices, such as cables, switches, routers, and firewalls connect other data
center components to each other and to end-user locations. They provide flawless data movement and
connectivity across the system.
Support infrastructure
• Power subsystems
• Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)
• Backup generators
• Ventilation and cooling equipment
• Fire suppression systems
• Building security systems
How do data centers operate?
• Data centers contain physical or virtual servers that are connected
internally and externally through networking and communication
equipment to store, transfer and access digital information.
• Each server has a processor, storage space and memory, similar to a
personal computer but with more power.
• Data centers use software to cluster the servers and distribute the
workload among them.
Data center operations in cloud computing
• Cloud computing can streamline data center operations and make
computing more efficient and cost-effective.
• Companies use cloud computing so that they spend less on physical
resources and infrastructure, offer more remote flexibility and obtain
greater redundancy.
Types of Data Center
Enterprise data centers: They are facilities that are built and operated
by enterprises to support their data processing and storage needs.
Managed services data centers:Managed services data centers are data
center models that are deployed, managed and monitored by a third-
party data center service provider.
Co-location data centers: co-location data centers provide co-location
infrastructure: buildings, cooling, bandwidth, security, and more.
Cloud data centers: Cloud data center is a new type of data center
that is fully virtualized based on cloud computing architecture, e.g.,
companies can host both data and applications to cloud service
providers.