Demand for cloud services continues to grow. Driven by organizations in pursuit of digital transformation and their need for flexible, scalable IT infrastructure, the global cloud computing market was valued at more than $600 billion in 2023, and is expected to grow at an annual rate of more than 20% until 2030. For managed service providers (MSPs) that deliver cloud infrastructure services—Azure platform as a service (PaaS), for example—there’s no shortage of available revenue generating activities and opportunities to show value to clients.
What is Azure PaaS?
Platform as a service is a cloud service model that gives users a secure environment to develop and deploy various applications. It is similar to infrastructure as a service (IaaS), but offers additional features such as middleware, developer tools and business intelligence capabilities that make PaaS more flexible and configurable for users.
Azure PaaS runs on the Microsoft Azure platform and benefits from its security, availability and scalability. The possibilities of what users can develop and deploy using Azure PaaS are virtually endless. Furthermore, because it’s offered as a service with its supporting infrastructure managed by a cloud provider, it allows businesses to take advantage of its development functionality with considerably less coding required, and without having to manage servers, software licenses or maintenance tasks.
Advantages of Azure PaaS for MSP clients
Obviously, being able to create custom applications that support business needs ranging from database management to data analysis to identity directories can greatly enhance an organization’s IT operations. But that isn’t the end of the list of advantages that Azure PaaS can have for MSP clients.
Affordability
Setting up and maintaining cloud infrastructure can be complex and pricey. Azure PaaS gives MSP clients access to the development environment they’re looking for, without the added burden of license management, updating or backup. Like other Microsoft Azure solutions, Azure PaaS also utilizes a pay-as-you-go subscription model, so businesses only have to budget for the compute resources they need at a given time.
Scalability
As previously mentioned, the growth of cloud computing is driven in part by a need for scalable infrastructure. This goes hand in hand with affordability, as many businesses don’t want to end up paying for resources they aren’t using. Allowing for multiple configurations according to an organization’s unique needs, Azure PaaS resources can be scaled up or down with ease.
Accessibility
A major perk of cloud-based solutions is that they can be accessed from anywhere, and infrastructure services are no different. For distributed, hybrid or remote teams, this carries a lot of weight. Developers can access the business’s development environment from wherever they’re based (as long as they have an internet connection, of course), without having to worry about version control or security concerns.
Why MSPs should offer Azure PaaS
Occupying a significant portion of the overall global cloud computing market, the PaaS market is currently estimated to be worth more than $170 billion, and its demand is largely dictated by the same factors. However, due to the fact that many businesses lack the financial and human resources to satisfy all their cloud infrastructure needs internally, MSPs have a role to play in offering the services granted by PaaS.
There are many reasons why MSPs should consider offering Azure PaaS to their clients, including but not limited to diversifying your service offering, increasing customer stickiness and the potential for additional consulting services.
Business diversification
The more cloud services your MSP can effectively offer, the more clients you can attract. You’ll also open doors to add services for clients you already work with. Ultimately, you’re creating new pathways for your MSP to deliver value to a wider pool of businesses who stand to benefit from the power of cloud.
Customer stickiness
Infrastructure management is critical component of any modern business and isn’t easy to shuffle from one provider to another. By asserting yourself as your clients’ primary infrastructure provider through Azure PaaS and other cloud services, you can build a relationship that delivers value for both your MSP and your customer for years to come.
Consulting
While your MSP clients might have a need for custom-build cloud applications, they might not enough developers or IT staff internally to oversee the development and deployment of those applications effectively. In addition to supplying the licenses for Azure PaaS, your MSP could also offer relevant expertise and insight on various projects that clients want to execute.
Need help building your Azure PaaS practice? Work with an experienced partner
While cloud infrastructure and PaaS certainly fall on the more complex side of the managed services spectrum, plenty of resources exist to help MSPs build and deliver a profitable Azure PaaS offering. Sherweb’s cloud architects have years of experience helping MSP partners scope projects, manage resources and support clients. Reach out to us to start a conversation about how we can assist with your Azure journey, or check out our partner guide for more information about how we can help your MSP business grow.
