More and more organizations are moving to the cloud, but for some moving data isn’t an option. With a remote managed software and services (RMSS) solution deployment, however, it’s still possible to experience the benefits of cloud, without the data or solution ever leaving your premises or existing cloud provider.
As organizations move to cloud and software as a service, they are becoming less willing and interested in having their own internal experts manage every single piece of software that they use. They’ve become accustomed to the cloud vendor taking care of things for them. But what if your organization requires you to use that software on data that can’t leave your premises for regulatory or privacy reasons, or even due to the sheer volume of data? Or you already have your solution on another cloud provider? Does that mean that you need to retain or hire and train experts to manage that software?
The answer is no. SAS can provide experts to remotely manage your software, with services from routine maintenance all the way to rapid incident response based on automated alerting.
When the data can’t leave the premises
Due to shifting compliance and financial standards, a large Canadian trust company needed to establish control and transparency. The company needed analytical modeling in order to identify, report, and resolve issues quickly.
These changing requirements meant the company had to expand their SAS environment; however, the organization lacked the in-house IT skills to manage the environment effectively, and ensuring it was managed properly was key to achieving their goals.
Instead of hiring additional headcount to get the relevant expertise, the organization opted for an RMSS solution. By relying on SAS’ own experts to manage its analytics platform, the company was able to take advantage of its existing analytical talents, with additional assurance that the platform will perform as promised.
It was a win-win that produced immediate value: The organization didn’t need to add additional headcount, and could focus on high-value analytics instead of using company resources to manage the SAS environment.
When you’re already tied to another cloud provider
Another situation in which you may not be able to move your data is when it already sits with a third-party cloud provider. But you can still benefit from an RMSS solution. This was the case for a farming insurance organization in New Zealand. The company had previously used SAS for enterprise reporting as well as a range of analytical discovery work.
The organization had been supporting and maintaining its SAS environment via its internal IT division and contracted third parties. Over time, this approach had become a challenge to maintain, and it was difficult to keep the SAS environment running effectively. The company also wanted to explore modernization options for their SAS functionality and find a way to best use their newly established data warehouse that was stored in a third-party cloud provider.
This is where an RMSS approach was beneficial. The solution gives the company access to extensive SAS administration expertise to actively monitor and support the environment. From a modernization perspective, the organization will also now have a newly upgraded SAS® Viya® environment on its third-party cloud platform. The RMSS option also allows the company to retain all their existing analytical and reporting IP that had been developed over the years.
By opting for an RMSS solution, the organization continued to benefit from its relationship with SAS. By allowing SAS to manage the environment, the company received quality and expert service, while still using its existing third-party investment. Through RMSS, SAS is providing a fully modern solution that meets the organization’s budget and support needs.
The bottom line
One of the main benefits of SAS® Cloud instead of running your SAS solution on other cloud providers is that SAS takes care of the environment for you. We apply our expertise and economies of scale to achieve a level of reliability that organizations could not achieve on their own. But, when data cannot be moved, either from the customer site or from another cloud platform, organizations can still realize some of these same benefits by adopting a remote managed services approach. Learn more about SAS Cloud and SAS remote managed software and services.
