The Components of Managed IT Services (Facts & Insights)

What Are The Separate Components Of Managed IT Services?

In the area of Managed IT Services, there are three primary components that require some form of mandatory and ongoing monitoring and management. These three elements are your Infrastructure, your Platform, and your Software. Regardless of your industry, these basic building blocks are what form your IT system foundation and the starting point which falls under Managed IT Services.

Are There Additional Managed IT Services Components?

Yes, there are. As we continue, we branch out to observe the other subsets that seamlessly work hand-in-hand with your main components. These additional Managed IT Service components are equally important.

Note: All parts and elements require policies, processes, and procedures. Once instituted, mandatory and continuous enforcement, reporting and updating are used to monitor, detect, quarantine, and manage your entire network.

As you review the list of additional units below, you may not be aware of or know about their existence. These are the unseen elements behind the scenes which give you, your staff, or your clients a tremendous uninterrupted experience when using your devices or web browsers.

Bear in mind that each item listed can and will affect your system positively or negatively. The thing to always remember is that continuous monitoring and management is the critical differentiator, and what keeps your system healthy.

• APIs
• Applications
• Business Processes
• Communication
• Content
• Data Analysis
• Data Processing
• Data Storage
• Data Virtualization
• End-user Devices
• Information Security
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Knowledge Management
• Media
• Systems

Also, be aware that technology is always evolving with sweeping advances. What was new, eventually becomes commonplace. What was commonplace, becomes outdated; what became outdated, could not transition. So, what was obsolete saw a new transition.

For example, Infrastructure, Platform, and Software are also witnessing the transformation within themselves. From horizontal deployment to vertical, (i.e., from infrastructure on a physical device to infrastructure in the Cloud. Or software across a physical platform to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

On the list above, we could also add Infrastructure, but it would then be known as Infrastructure-As-A-Service (IaaS). The same “As-A-Service” would also apply to Platform (PaaS), and Software (SaaS).

The Three Primary Physical Components Defined

Infrastructure – In the fields of IT service management and IT management, each industry relies heavily on the IT infrastructure. The way an IT infrastructure (ITI) is defined comes down to the computer, network hardware, and facilities–all physical elements forming the ITI. This is a stripped-down and basic description of an IT infrastructure.

Platform – A computing platform is an environment on which computer programs run, and a piece of software gets carried out. The platform might be an operating system or hardware. Computing platforms have different abstraction levels with varying amounts of detail including runtime libraries, an operating system (OS), or computer architecture.

Software – Computer software is, at its basic level, instructions that tell the computer how to work or a collection of data. This is opposite to physical hardware from which the system performed the work and got built. Computer software includes computer programs, libraries and related non-executable data such as online documentation or digital media.

The Evolution Of Each Component To The Cloud

Now let’s look at how our three components have evolved and transitioned to the Cloud. As a reference point, IaaS, PaaS and SaaS have become the three main categories of cloud computing services that are also a component of Managed IT Services.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) – a form of cloud computing. IaaS provides virtualized computing resources over the Internet. IaaS is a Virtual Machine (VM) that doesn’t need to access a network infrastructure on a physical computing device. Within the cloud operating system, there’s room and support for large numbers of VMs. This allows for adding or discontinuing services at any time.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) – a category of cloud computing services. PaaS provides a platform allowing users to develop, run, and manage applications. It eliminates the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure for the applications. PaaS gets delivered in three ways: 1) public cloud service 2) private service behind a firewall 3) software installed on public infrastructure as a service.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) – a software licensing and delivery model. This is where the software is centrally hosted, licensed, and offered as a subscription monthly or annual basis. SaaS is the standard delivery model for most applications. The strategy of nearly all leading enterprise software companies was to incorporate SaaS. Primarily, it’s business applications that use this model.

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