For the first time, Rackspace will provide professional services to any business, regardless of which cloud platform it chooses or whether it is an existing Rackspace customer. Rackspace has earned the highest level of partner certification from Amazon Web Services® and Microsoft® Azure,® and recently announced a strategic relationship with Google Cloud to become its first managed services support partner for Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Rackspace also offers specialised expertise and support for dedicated servers and for the three major private clouds, powered by VMware®, Microsoft and OpenStack®.
Today, more than 70 percent of organisations with 10,000 or more employees are undertaking an IT transformation initiative, according to "Voice of the Enterprise: Cloud Transformation – Vendor Evaluations," a study published in January 2017 by 451 Research. In addition, 70 percent of organisations are also using multi-cloud environments. Many of these businesses lack the in-house resources and skills required to complete this type of transformation, from the upfront planning and execution to the ongoing management of their new cloud solutions.
“As more businesses look to move IT operations out of the data centre, they recognise that they need help transitioning to multi-cloud models,” said Rachel Cassidy, vice president of Global Solutions and Services at Rackspace, who wrote an in-depth blog post about the new offering. “In response to customer demand, we’re expanding our managed cloud portfolio to offer professional services not only to the SMB and mid-market customers we have served for nearly two decades, but also to our fast-growing stable of enterprise customers.”
Cassidy continued: “Rackspace operates one of the largest VMware footprints in the world, and we employ thousands of specialised cloud experts across multiple platforms. With this breadth and depth of expertise, we are uniquely suited to help guide our customers through every phase of their cloud journey. We provide everything from front-end assessments and guidance to full migration services and ongoing operational support, depending on the customer's needs. Our goal is to relieve customers of the complexity of moving to multiple clouds, allowing them to focus on their core business.”
Rackspace GSS will place an added focus on enterprise and mid-market businesses, and will help support their evolving business needs by providing specialised expertise and professional services in several key areas, including:
· Portfolio Solution Architects will serve as customers' trusted advisors, helping them run each of their workloads where they will run best. Through Rackspace specialised expertise on all of the leading public and private clouds, as well as dedicated servers, architects can offer both a seasoned point of view and unbiased guidance on which solutions will serve customers’ unique needs.
· Specialist Solution Architects with deep expertise and experience on specific cloud technologies will work directly with customers on each cloud platform that they choose.
· Professional Services/Partner Services delivered through cloud architects, consultants and engineers that will help customers with planning, assessment, design, architecture, migration and optimisation across the selected cloud solutions. Rackspace leverages strategic partners as needed to complement the company’s expertise and capacity, providing customers with complete, end-to-end solutions.
Rackspace enhanced professional services will include expertise and support not only for multi-cloud infrastructure, but also for security, compliance and governance, as well as for datastores and other applications. Rackspace services include load testing, DevOps project support and maintenance, security testing and project management as a service.
“This seems to be a timely offering in keeping with market trends we’re seeing,” said Melanie Posey, research vice president, cloud transformation, at 451 Research. “The drivers behind many organisations’ IT transformation efforts – whether toward all-in public cloud or hybrid – are beginning to change. While overall cost savings remain important, other factors such as improved time to market and business agility are equally compelling drivers toward a different type of IT infrastructure environment. As the trend continues, organisations will increasingly seek out external assistance to guide them through the transformation.”
