Cosentry Extends Managed Cloud Services to Azure

Midwest data center and IT solutions provider Cosentry has extended its managed cloud services to Microsoft Azure. The new service provides expertise in connecting to Azure with a focus on using it for SQL Server testing and development, SQL Server backup, and SQL Server disaster recovery.

Cosentry has been supporting SQL Server database environments for more than a decade and now will lend its expertise and management to public cloud. As more customers seek to leverage hybrid cloud, managed service providers will have to extend their services to outside of their data center’s walls and provide managed cloud services.

“Cosentry’s managed services and in-depth SQL Server skills make it an ideal fit for supporting hybrid cloud environments using Azure,” said Aziz Benmalek, vice president of Microsoft’s Hosting Service Provider business. “These combined services will further enhance mission-critical SQL Server environments.”

Cosentry offers a managed services portfolio across cloud, operating systems, database, security and network services. It recently extended its managed security services offerings.

“We are focused on offering our customers more choices of industry leading solutions to solve their IT challenges,” said Brad Hokamp, CEO of Cosentry, in a press release. “Our expanded offering underscores this philosophy by offering hybrid cloud support of Azure, with a focus on providing more cost-effective options for database environments, fully managed by Cosentry.”

In the quest for hybrid, help is needed from initial migration, to security and compliance, to ongoing operations. Managed service providers are increasingly extending their portfolio to address cloud management needs. Companies include: Datapipe, which began with services around AWS and extended to Azure this year; and Rackspace, which recently began offering managed private VMware vCloud.

Cosentry has expanded both its services and footprint in the last few years, making acquisitions like Red Anvil in Milwaukee and managed services provider XIOLINK in St. Louis.