How Can Small Businesses Better Manage the Cloud?

Cloud is the great equalizer for small businesses. While larger budgets allow enterprises to purchase more on-premises hardware and spend on skilled staff, cloud solutions provide a way for small and midsize businesses to access enterprise-level resources and computing power on demand.

According to a recent survey, 78 percent of small businesses now use public clouds, and 73 percent of these businesses leverage third-party expertise to help develop and manage cloud strategies.

It’s familiar ground for SMBs: While cloud technology makes it possible to compete at a global scale, it can also create operational complexity, in turn lowering visibility. Over time, this can negatively impact an organization’s return on its cloud investment.

Inscape by CDW is a powerful cloud platform that can help small businesses maximize cloud investments and save valuable time. Here’s how.

RELATED: Get the most out of your cloud management with Inscape.

How Can New Cloud Management Software Help SMBs?

Inscape is a cloud and technology management platform that can help companies simplify cloud deployments, improve security, heighten visibility, reduce operating costs and maximize ROI.

If that sounds like a lot, it is. And it’s why so many SMBs struggle with technology management. All of the components listed above are part of day-to-day operations for small and midsize businesses. Given budget, time and talent limitations, however, small businesses are often forced to pick and choose their IT priorities, leaving some tasks unfinished and some resources unused.

With Inscape, businesses get the benefit of an experienced industry partner that knows how to maximize technology investment while minimizing complexity.

Three Ways Inscape Helps Small Businesses Better Manage Cloud

Inscape can help SMBs maximize ROI with cloud, anomaly and Microsoft 365 management services.

• Cloud management. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all public clouds. The rise of multi and hybrid cloud models has made it possible for SMBs to create cloud environments that contain all of what they need — and none of what they don’t. More clouds, however, require more management. With Inscape, companies gain visibility into cloud usage and costs across their entire environment. They can also set up automatic alerts that notify IT staff if certain thresholds are exceeded.
   
• Anomaly management. Multiple clouds connected across multiple applications naturally create anomalies. Some of these are more or less benign; users might experience slight delays in cross-cloud services, or data may be occasionally duplicated. Other anomalies, meanwhile, may create chain reactions that can lead to unexpected downtime. With Inscape, small businesses get real-time anomaly detection powered by machine learning to help address issues before they cause operational problems.
   
• Microsoft 365 management. While Microsoft 365 does have its own administrative portal, Inscape pulls together 365 data in a user-friendly way. Teams can easily see what apps users are using and how many meetings they have scheduled, making it easier to track productivity and performance over time. Note that Inscape isn’t a static service; support for new Software as a Service applications is regularly added. For example, both Okta and Adobe apps are on track for Inscape inclusion.

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