In the first part of our series, I explored how cloud environments have become more complex than most managed services models were designed to handle. Even the most capable teams can find themselves in a perpetual cycle of firefighting, unexpected costs, and missed opportunities.
Many leaders ask then ask themselves a version of the same question: Can managed services help? And if so, in what way?
Unfortunately, the answer for most organizations is: Not in the way you probably think.
Traditional Managed Services FOR Modern Cloud Needs: THE DISCONNECT
Traditional managed services were built for predictable environments: data centers with long lead times, stable configurations, and well-defined change windows. But managed services for cloud must be fundamentally different because cloud isn’t stable, it doesn’t wait, and it rarely stays the same for long. Here’s where the real disconnect happens:
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Fixed Scope vs. Dynamic Cloud
Traditional engagements define scope:
“We’ll manage X, Y, and Z. We’ll resolve tickets within a 48 hour service level agreement and send you a summary report each week. Should A, B, or C break, that is out of our scope, whether or not the environment we manage is impacted.”
But cloud doesn’t respect scope boundaries. New services are released weekly. Usage patterns shift daily. Dependencies evolve constantly. A fixed scope engagement quickly becomes outdated, incomplete, and a blocker, not an enabler.
It’s like trying to manage a Formula 1 car with a pickup truck service manual.
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Why Ticket-Based Cloud Support Misses Business Outcomes
Ticket-based cloud support misses business outcomes because it is an impersonal approach that solves a point problem at best, or becomes a black hole at worst. It is transactional rather than transformational. As tickets get closed, underlying problems lie in wait, sure to create new tickets just around the corner. Modern cloud demands a proactive, strategic approach to issue resolution. Most managed services measure success by:
- Tickets closed.
- Alerts acknowledged.
- SLAs met.
These are activity metrics. They say nothing about cloud spend efficiency, deployment velocity, security posture, or business value delivered.
Your organization doesn’t need tickets closed. It needs faster innovation, lower cost, better security, and measurable outcomes.
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Reactive SLAs vs. Proactive Cloud Operations
Traditional SLAs fixate on response times and resolution windows. But the real goal is impact avoidance; stopping incidents before they affect users or budgets.
When success is defined by reaction rather than prevention, it’s no surprise that teams continue to chase alerts instead of driving improvements.
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legacy management services: Siloed Expertise in a Converged World
Most legacy management services still treat cloud operations, cost optimization, security, and compliance as separate silos. But the cloud doesn’t compartmentalize challenges that way.
A security decision affects cost. A cost decision affects performance. An operational decision affects risk.
Solving one in isolation leaves gaps everywhere else.
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Outsourcing Cloud Work without Transforming the Operating Model
Too often, traditional services do work for you, but they don’t transform how you work.
That means:
- Recurring toil stays recurring.
- Insights are transactional, not strategic.
- Organizational capabilities don’t grow.
If the work keeps coming back month after month, the root problem hasn’t been addressed, only delayed.
MEASURING MANAGED SERVICES MODEL SUCCESS: WHAT IS THE RIGHT PATH FORWARD?
If traditional services aren’t the answer, what is?
Organizations that are succeeding are moving toward adaptive cloud operations, a model where:
✔ Success is defined in terms of outcomes, not outputs
✔ Automation and intelligence reduce manual firefighting
✔ Teams spend less time reacting and more time innovating
✔ Operations evolve as fast as workloads do
✔ Cost, security, and performance are managed holistically
You must evolve how work is done, rather than just outource the work.
STEP 1: Start With a Clear Picture of Your Cloud Health
Before you can evolve, you need to understand where you truly are.
Are you:
- overprovisioned and overspending?
- exposed to security or compliance gaps?
- lacking visibility into resource usage?
- weighed down by reactive processes?
These are the kinds of insights that traditional managed services rarely uncover but that are foundational to an adaptive approach.
STEP 2: Understand Your Cloud Operations Reality
Before replacing a managed services provider, you need clarity on what’s actually holding your cloud operations back. Your environment is constantly changing, so regular validation is needed to maintain visibility into costs and operational risk.
Do you have:
- the right tooling that allows your team to focus on building and innovation?
- the right governance and policies to match your environment’s growth?
- cloud working optimally to support business outcomes?
- visibility into costs and security risks?
These answers and more are revealed in a Presidio Cloud Health Check.
START THE JOURNEY TO AN ADAPTIVE CLOUD MANAGED SERVICES MODEL WITH A PRESIDIO CLOUD HEALTH CHECK
Clearly, the traditional managed services models that are commonplace today were designed for a different era. The era of static environments, in which change was slow and success could be measured by tickets closed is over. Modern cloud demands something more adaptive: managed services models that anticipate change, prevent disruption, and align directly to business outcomes. If your organization is still relying on fixed-scope, reactive cloud support, the first step isn’t switching providers – it’s understanding where your cloud operations are actually falling short.
Presidio’s Cloud Health Check provides a clear, objective view into cost, governance, security, and operational maturity, helping you identify where adaptive cloud operations can deliver immediate impact. Start with clarity, then move forward with confidence.
Schedule your Presidio Cloud Health Check.
