Microsoft has more than 75 different Azure-related training programs. Alternative Cloud tends to focus on the core cloud technologies that meet the needs of all but the most extreme use cases. This results in simpler user interfaces, shorter deployment times and expedited troubleshooting. At C3, we further differentiate ourselves from Big Cloud by offering self-managed, co-managed and fully managed cloud service options. It’s ironic that cloud’s original promise of simplicity has been obscured by the complexity of Big Cloud’s platforms. Regardless of which approach fits your organization, a reputable Alternative Cloud provider should support you through every step of your cloud journey: from concept to design, all the way through operations and support. Service and Support When it comes to service and support, Alternative Cloud providers have major advantages over Big Cloud. Consider that AWS has more than one million active customers — that makes it awfully hard to stand out in their support queue. In fact, to become a top 10 AWS customer, you would need to spend about $7 million per month just on cloud services. Thankfully, you have other options. Many Alternative Cloud providers have built their businesses around a personalized service model that Big Cloud can’t replicate. As a C3 customer, for instance, you have access to a 24/7, U.S.-based support team that actually knows you and your organization. Beginning with your onboarding, our engineers work with you to determine how your business actually operates: What are your business objectives? What are your true cloud services requirements? This hightouch approach helps us provision each customer appropriately for their unique resource needs. When we meet new customers, we often discover that they are struggling with two notorious Big Cloud problems: over-provisioning and “cloud sprawl.” Over-provisioning occurs when Big Cloud providers allocate – and charge for – far more resources than the customer needs (e.g. a 128GB environment, when your application only needs 32GB). Meanwhile, cloud sprawl refers to the gradual accumulation of duplicative cloud instances that a customer no longer needs but continues to pay for. Only an attentive cloud partner that knows your business can catch and eliminate these redundancies. While Big Cloud may be able to offer personal service to clients spending $1 million per month, they simply can’t extend that service level at scale to smaller organizations. That’s where Alternative Cloud comes in. Unparalleled Flexibility Cloud computing was originally hailed as a flexible alternative to building and managing your own infrastructure. Sadly, as the coud services market has matured, customers often find Big Cloud to be far more rigid than they imagined. From the start, Big Cloud tends to shoehorn new customers into whichever pre-packaged instance type provides the closest fit. At best, this can result in an over-provisioned cloud environment and unexpected cost overruns. At worst, your systems architect may be forced to make compromises leading to unacceptable performance and unanticipated organizational impacts. Meanwhi le, reputable Alternative Cloud providers give cl ients discrete control over each resource type — RAM, CPU, GPU, disk, network — which guarantees a perfect fit every time. It’s the difference between an off-the-rack suit and a tai lored tuxedo, without the added expense. One of our clients, an automotive group, faced another kind of cloud flexibility challenge on its digital transformation journey. Although the company wanted to adopt a modern, cloud-based environment with fully virtualized desktops, it was mandated by its manufacturing partners to keep certain legacy systems on-site. To meet this challenge, C3 placed the legacy systems within the same data center as our cloud platform, employing a hybrid solution (cloud and co-location). If this automotive group had been a Big Cloud customer, it would have been forced to acquire its own costly co-location space, interconnect the legacy systems with those hosted in the cloud and absorb the continued cost of managing this subpar solution. In other cases, cloud customers require data locality for regulatory or operational purposes. In these instances, an alternate provider such as C3 can deliver cloud ser- vices via a secure edge data center near you. One of our clients, an Ohio-based medical service provider, needed its data to be stored locally within the state. We were able to operationalize a Cleveland data center to meet its needs within three months. Meanwhile, Big Cloud corrals customers into huge regional data centers. Is Amazon willing to create a new AWS center that’s optimized for your small business? Of course not. Flexible delivery is the essence of Alternative Cloud. Instead of making your systems and applications fit the Big Cloud model, reputable Alternative Cloud providers mold their environment to fit your needs. For a growing number of organizations, Big Cloud has turned out to be far from the panacea it was marketed to be. As we enter a new era of Alternative cloud, your customers have the opportunity to avoid Big Cloud’s compromises, and finally enjoy the potential of Cloud computing as it best fits their organization. And far from being “Cloud California,” you really can check out any time you like. o Rick Mancinelli is CEO of C3 Complete VIRTUAL REALITIES 24 CHANNELV ISION | MARCH - APRIL 2023
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