Is an AWS Consultant Really the Best Option for Your Cloud Support?

Regular visitors to our blog will know that we’ve discussed the importance of cloud support in great detail recently.

To briefly recap, a cloud-based IT infrastructure is

 highly complex, with many moving parts, and the environment will always be changing based on your usage and various other factors. This requires constant, ongoing monitoring and support, to keep things running smoothly and keep costs under control.

When the AWS cloud is supporting your critical business processes and systems, you can’t afford any down-time or poor performance. AWS support helps you maintain business continuity and minimise the related risks.

But many organisations find a drastic skills gaps with the cloud, compared to supporting a traditional IT system. That’s why it’s so common to turn to AWS consultants for cloud support.

Working with AWS Consultants

Using an AWS consultant is one of the most popular ways for businesses to put cloud support in place. You may even have a partner in place doing this for you already.

With a consultant, you generally hire an expert temporarily to use their specialist skills to get a specific job done. This is a proven way of working with a trusted service provider to achieve a specific outcome.

Traditionally, your consultant will only be available to do individual projects and one-off pieces of work, or they could work with you on a retainer for more long-term needs like support.

The Cloud Requires Continual Support

Unfortunately, the usual arrangement of a consultancy project is rarely sufficient for the requirements of successful cloud support.

The nature of the cloud is ever-changing, so an external AWS consultant will be unable to provide the level of cloud management and support you deserve.

A cloud-based IT infrastructure must have:

• Constant real-time monitoring and analysis
• Proactive cost management
• Continual optimisation
• Ongoing support and maintenance.

With so much on the line, it’s vital to have full confidence that your critical IT systems are being looked after at all times. To make that happen, you need more than just a consultant.

Final Thought

While working with an AWS consultant for cloud may seem like a good idea on paper, you’ll inevitably run into challenges and limitations if you take this approach.

Thankfully, there are more reliable solutions available that can give you all the expertise of a consultant while also providing the required 24-7 management and support.

To learn more about the pitfalls and limitations of working with AWS consultants for your cloud projects, check out our latest article here where we explore this topic further and provide guidance for overcoming your top challenges.