What makes a hosting company the best?
A lot can go into providing hosting, especially niche hosting like FileMaker or Claris. Special monitoring tools and experience in the platform are needed to understand the finer nuances of how it should or shouldn’t perform.
Different types of hosting
Let’s talk about the differences in Managed and Unmanaged Hosting and who’s responsible for what.
Managed Hosting is a type of hosting service where a hosting provider or CSP handles the setup, administration, management, and support of a Cloud Instance. Management services vary from provider to provider but typically include OS updates and patching, 24/7/365 support, network infrastructure and hardware management, basic security measures, monitoring, and remediation for the server.
Unmanaged Hosting is a do-it-yourself experience. You get a server with the OS of your choice, and the provider is responsible for operating the equipment and maintaining the physical environment in which the servers are kept. You are responsible for administering the server remotely, and that includes responsibility of software upgrades, patching, security, and monitoring.
Which is Ottomatic Cloud Hosting considered
Ottomatic is a Managed Cloud Service Provider for FileMaker and Claris, as well as Infrastructure as a Service. We’ve chosen to offer managed services to keep a high level of excellence in our Cloud Hosting Environment. We patch our systems weekly, manage backups, monitor 15,000 data points every 30 seconds, and offer you our many years of experience to maintain and support your environment.
Here are some other benefits of Managed Hosting:
Reduced Risk
In today’s digital enterprise, reducing risk is not just the job of one department. In many ways, it’s the responsibility of everyone in the organization, from the employee choosing not to open a suspicious email, to the accountant ensuring financial information is shared securely.
The thing is, people aren’t always perfect, and effectively reducing exposure to online risks is not an easy task. It takes a high level of oversight and constant maintenance on the back end to ensure:
- the OS is updated, and security patches are completed,
- cybersecurity threats are being identified and remediated
- good traffic is able to flow in while suspicious traffic is stopped at the gate.
Outsourcing this part of the job to a managed Cloud Service Provider is a great way to ensure it gets done correctly and consistently.
Keep Up with the Speed of Business
Business growth isn’t always linear. Sometimes scale happens rapidly, or can even come in waves with seasonal changes and market shifts.
Managed Cloud Service Providers work with you to adjust your cloud resources as needed to ensure your IT scales with your business. More importantly, as long as you maintain good communication with your Cloud Service Provider team, they can help you create a technology roadmap to support upcoming growth and product launches.
Stay Up to Date with Technology
Moore’s Law means that tech is getting better, faster, and more compact at an exponential rate. Not all companies will keep up with these changes, which means many will miss out on the efficiency and customer service benefits of emerging tech like IoT and machine learning / AI.
Working with a good managed hosting provider means you get access to the latest technology, without having to invest a lot of capital in it. And as advancements happen, your company will benefit from them, while your competitors struggle to catch up.
Stay Compliant
Companies that manage sensitive or highly regulated data, such as information covered by HIPAA or PCI regulations, have a slew of compliance requirements they have to meet on an ongoing basis — requirements that take time and attention to fulfill. Your managed Cloud Service Provider will take care of these tasks for you, freeing up time and headspace for you to focus on other things.
Hidden Costs of Unmanaged Hosting
At first glance, you might think, “I can get unmanaged hosting for just a few dollars a month. How can you say managed is a better deal?”
It’s important to look below the surface to account for the hidden costs of unmanaged hosting, including:
Patching and Updates
Who is handling the patching and updates? Account for the time it will take them to stay on top of that responsibility, as well as server reboot time. Keep in mind that 5,000 to 6,000 new vulnerabilities surface each year, or an average of 15 per day. And patching doesn’t just involve clicking a button — your team will have to test and verify each patch to ensure the patch is good and that it has been applied to all of the company’s systems without breaking any functionality.
Productivity
Beyond the time spent patching or responding to downtime and other types of support, it’s important to account for how those tasks will affect your team’s productivity levels. Every time one of your team members gets interrupted, it can take around 23 minutes for them to refocus on their prior task.
Downtime
Using managed hosting significantly reduces the chance you’ll experience server or application downtime.
Management
In unmanaged hosting, you are ultimately responsible for all aspects of the server. This can be daunting, especially if you don’t have a background in IT or a solid understanding of networking and OS environments.
Conclusion
In the end, with a managed Cloud Service Provider like Ottomatic, you have peace of mind that lets you focus on what you do best – running your business!
Please contact us for more information about our services.