Using managed services can reduce risk and lets IT teams focus on adding value

SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Companies in Singapore expect to use an average of four to five cloud service providers by 2018, up from around three currently, according to new research released today by Rackspace^® (NYSE:RAX), the #1 managed cloud company. This growth will escalate the challenges of cloud management.
 
The research, which was carried out by IDG Connect, based on a survey of 250 IT professionals from Hong Kong, Singapore and India, found that businesses in Singapore are enthusiastic about multiple cloud platforms. Respondents cited risk reduction, support for hybrid cloud environments and value for money as important benefits of using multiple cloud services. They also highlighted their top cloud challenges: managing users across multiple platforms and the monitoring and management of complex workloads.
 
“It is clear that there are considerable business benefits associated with using multiple clouds and yet managing multiple service providers and complex workloads is a challenge for many companies. The vast majority of IT teams in the organizations we surveyed already spend up to 60 percent of their time on cloud-related activities,” said Bob Johnson, principal analyst at IDG Connect.
 
“We found that the deployment of a cloud management service can hugely lower the costs and management overhead associated with the use of multiple cloud providers. It can also free up IT resources and allow IT teams to concentrate on strategic projects, systems optimization and innovations that improve the customer experience and cost-efficiency.”
 
The Singaporean IT professionals said they would benefit most from automated processes for the ongoing maintenance of their multiple cloud platforms and from consistent visibility into their infrastructure and applications. A managed cloud service that provided this could help them reduce complexity and therefore save time and lower costs.
 
In a managed cloud service, an expert provider such as Rackspace takes over the management of a company’s underlying cloud services. It looks after the customer’s computing, storage, networks and operating systems, as well as the complex tools and application stacks that run on top of that infrastructure.
 
“As companies in Singapore add new cloud services, the complexities associated with managing their IT infrastructure rises exponentially. With Rackspace as your managed cloud partner, you get the value of all of our expertise across different platforms and tools and the exceptional customer service we call Fanatical Support® so you can more easily tap into the power of cloud computing,” said Adam McCarthy, senior director and general manager, Asia at Rackspace.
 
The Rackspace pioneering approach to customer service, Fanatical Support, offers a high level of service, transparent service-based pricing and 24x7 monitoring and response. It is relied on by more than 300,000 customers around the world.
 
To view the full report, Business Benefits of Consolidating Cloud Service Management, visit http://www.idgconnect.com/view_abstract/34401/business-benefits-consolidating-cloud-service-management?source=connect
 
About the Survey
 
The data points referenced above come from “Business Benefits of Consolidating Cloud Service Management”. The study was commissioned by Rackspace, produced by research firm IDG Connect and conducted as an online survey in November 2015 using a sample of approximately 250 IT professionals. Respondents were based out of Hong Kong, India and Singapore; worked at companies of various sizes, industries and sectors; and held diverse IT Roles within their company.
 
About Rackspace
 
Rackspace (NYSE:RAX), the #1 managed cloud company, helps businesses tap the power of cloud computing without the challenge and expense of managing complex IT infrastructure and application platforms on their own. Rackspace engineers deliver specialized expertise on top of leading technologies developed by AWS, Microsoft, OpenStack®, VMware and others, through a results-obsessed service known as Fanatical Support®. The company has more than 300,000 customers worldwide, including two-thirds of the FORTUNE 100. Rackspace was named a leader in the 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Enabled Managed Hosting, and has been honored as one of Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For in six of the past eight years. Learn more at www.rackspace.com.
 
About IDG Connect
 
IDG Connect is the demand generation division of International Data Group (IDG), one of the world’s largest technology media companies. Established in 2006, it utilises access to 44 million business decision makers’ details to unite technology marketers with relevant targets from any country in the world. Committed to engaging a disparate global IT audience with truly localised messaging, IDG Connect also publishes market specific thought leadership papers on behalf of its clients, and produces research for B2B marketers worldwide.
 
Forward Looking Statement
 
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of Rackspace Hosting could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any statements about Rackspace survey results that may suggest trends for the industry; any statements relating to expected or predicted behaviors of consumers and the impact of cloud computing; any statements of expectation or belief directly relating to Rackspace business derived from the survey results; any statements of expectation or belief regarding future events, and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.
 
Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include a substantial margin of error in the survey results, inconsistencies in respondent’s understanding and Rackspace’s analysis of survey questions and results, the possibility that expected benefits from any shift in consumer behavior may not materialize as expected; the achievement of expected operational results from any shift in consumer behavior; changes in the economy, technological and competitive factors, regulatory factors and other risks that are described in Rackspace Hosting’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, filed with the SEC on November 9, 2015. Except as required by law, Rackspace Hosting assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.
 
Contacts
Rackspace
Janet Yu
Telephone: +852 3750 6609
Email: janet.yu@rackspace.com
or
IDG Connect
Bob Johnson
Bob_Johnson@idgconnect.com
 
Source: IDG Connect
 
View this news release online at:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160224005069/en
 
--BERNAMA