Our Award-Winning Infrastructure Roots Support Everything We Do

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Our Award-Winning Infrastructure Roots Support Everything We Do

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, containers, serverless architecture — all are exciting, sexy technologies with the potential to fundamentally change how companies do business.

Yet all those technologies are only as good as the infrastructure that supports it.

That’s why we’re honored to be named — for the second year in a row — one of the “Coolest Cloud Computing Vendors of 2019” by CRN in the infrastructure category.

Infrastructure may not sound exciting, but it’s the foundation for all the benefits organizations seek when moving to the cloud: more efficient processes, enhanced customer experiences, lower costs — ie, a more robust bottom line.

CRN placed us in lofty company: AWS, Microsoft and Google also made the list. But make no mistake, we’re not competitors with the hyperscale giants. We’re partners, offering integrated, professional and managed services and support for all the major public cloud providers, plus our own OpenStack cloud.

For two decades, companies have sought out Rackspace for our infrastructure expertise and our ability to operate like no one else. Today however, we’re seeing smart companies seeking an application-first approach, with infrastructure decisions based on application modernization, rather than the other way around.

We’ve responded to this shift by doubling down on our application services portfolio, expanding our offerings and through key acquisitions like TriCore Solutions for enterprise resource planning and RelationEdge for customer relationship management expertise while continuing to excel in operating and managing customers’ infrastructure.

Our breadth of expertise, along with our broad technology services portfolio, means we are able to meet customers wherever they are on their cloud journey. We take a “Process First. Technology Second” approach, sitting down with customers to really understand where they are today, where they’d like to go and what obstacles are in their way — not just within their IT, but for the company overall. We help companies understand how modern IT can play a critical role in business success. 

[Read more: “Process First. Technology Second”: Partner with Rackspace for Application Modernization]

Only then do we figure out the best technologies to get companies where they want to go. And because we partner with all the major public cloud providers, plus offer our own public and private clouds, and managed hosting and colocation services, we can craft exactly the right IT ecosystem for an organization’s unique needs — no jamming square pegs into round holes because we only sell round holes.

We’ve also come to understand that professional services are essential to our approach. We don’t just create a plan, then leave you to execute. Our technical specialists have experience and certifications across all the major public and private cloud platforms, as well as in colocation, key enterprise applications and databases, service integration and multi-cloud security. And we’re here for your long-term success: we help navigate, operate and continually optimize your environment to accelerate the value of the cloud  — because the honest truth is, “digital transformation” isn’t a one-time project, but an ongoing process.

[Read more: How (the Right Kind of) Professional Services Can Boost Your Business]

Now, for customers that do just want a road map, we’re happy to help. Others are looking for a partner for the entire journey, from assessment to operations; we do that too. What we don’t do is force bundles of services onto customers. We’ve heard our customers loud and clear: they want to consume IT as a service, on demand, paying for what they need, when they need it — with the flexibility to drop and add new services as those needs change.

That’s why we introduced Service Blocks late last year. Each block represents a set of capabilities. Some service blocks cover broad needs such as those for reliability engineering, operational support or comprehensive assessment of a company’s IT resources and needs. Others address more-specific needs: say, for cost governance, serverless computing or adoption of Kubernetes and other container technologies.

[Read more: How to Get the IT Services You Need (Without Paying for the Ones You Don’t]

Rackspace does a lot of things, and we do them well. Why? Because we listen. Over the past twenty years, we’ve listened to our customers, and evolved our services and capabilities to meet their needs. What hasn’t changed is our commitment to making sure each and every one of our customers have, from the first sales call through the entire lifecycle, a Fanatical Experience.

From apps to data to security to infrastructure, Rackspace accelerates the value of cloud.