5 Ways MSPs Can Prepare for AI Deployment

The race to optimize data for monetization has begun with the increase in AI adoption. The launch of ChatGPT marked a new era of digital transformation, awakening the world to a whole new set of possibilities. As organizations begin to understand the capabilities of AI-powered insights of their own data sets, Managed Service Providers can be strategic advisors and lead best practices for their clients. 

Cloud migration paved the path for data monetization by revolutionizing how data is stored and accessed. Shifting workloads and large sets of data freed infrastructure capacity, allowing technology to be a strategic player in business initiatives instead of just maintaining day-to-day operations. Data capacity of any amount could be scaled on-demand, leaving room for big data analytics to make more insightful business decisions.  

Data consumption is projected to reach 122 ZB by 2025. As data consumption grows, public cloud adoption and workloads will only increase. Unfortunately, 80% of data is unstructured, and 90% never gets analyzed or used.  

That’s where AI comes in. Organizations that can effectively adopt and leverage AI technologies in this data-driven frontier will be the ones to come out on top.  

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are only as good as the data fed into it. The more data consumed, the more tailored and precise the results are. A law firm might struggle with pulling specific court case information relevant to their legal workload through ChatGPT, but if they implemented AI capabilities into their own stored data, they would get better results.  

The question becomes, do organizations build their own AI engine, or do they integrate a solution into their existing environments? Building an AI engine takes petabytes of data, large amounts of computing power, and a flexible digital infrastructure that supports end-to-end network connectivity. Microsoft invested over $10 billion in OpenAI and continues to invest billions into its AI-powered tool. 

Not every business has the funds or capacity to invest in AI. Many are already overspending on their cloud budgets before the fiscal year finishes. However, organizations that leverage managed services as part of their IT strategy receive up to 20% cost savings. 

Object storage is foundational for AI to run smoothly and effectively. MSPs can help their clients with the decision of what AI strategy is best for them by taking on the burden of managing complex infrastructures built for a data-driven world. Wasabi’s hot cloud storage positions MSPs to maximize the actual value of the data they manage and set them up for success in AI implementation. 

Cost optimization 

The biggest bottleneck to storing large amounts of data in the cloud is the associated storage fees. Whether you’re storing, accessing, or querying data, the cloud storage hyperscalers will put a price tag on it. With about half of organizations spending more on cloud budgets than expected, Managed Service Providers can create immediate cost-saving relief with Wasabi hot cloud storage. Wasabi’s hot cloud storage has no initial investment cost, paying only for the data you store. There are no API or egress fees, cutting costs to roughly 80% and making their client’s storage costs predictable month-to-month.  

Scale capacity on-demand 

AI algorithms often require vast amounts of data for training and continuous improvement. MSPs can leverage Wasabi to set a predictable cloud budget for their clients, giving them the power to forecast their storage costs and scale capacity as needed. Wasabi Account Control Manager automates and simplifies the entire object storage footprint, making it easy for MSPs to scale within existing and new accounts under an easy-to-use portal. It automates and simplifies account creation, administration, and billing giving the ability to accelerate deployment or increase storage capacity as needed.   

Integrate into any environment 

Collaboration and integration are key for AI to learn and grow. Integration with other services like databases, analytics, and machine learning can streamline the development and use of AI solutions. Wasabi’s cloud solutions are built with MSPs in mind. Wasabi can integrate with hundreds of applications to support data management, backup and recovery, archive, surveillance, and future AI initiatives. MSPs can easily integrate Wasabi to build an end-to-end platform or service for their customers.   

Resilient and secure backup 

As AI pulls data to use, it can create more exposure and security risks. AI models often need to be reproduced to validate results and test for consistent performance. Immutability ensures that once data is stored, it remains unchanged. Data integrity and consistency are crucial for AI applications where accuracy is fundamental for machine learning to produce reliable and trusted results. Wasabi’s immutable object block storage follows top compliance standards like FERPA, HIPAA, and CJIS, keeping data safe and secure. 

Business continuity and disaster recovery 

Automating help desk and support centers might be one of the first projects MSPs can create for their clients. These kinds of services require 24/7 support and uptime, meaning data needs to be accessed at any time, anywhere, with no downtime. Wasabi’s cost-effective and secure storage can protect organizations from ransomware or user error. Without the charge of egress fees, MSPs can quickly retrieve backed-up data keeping AI applications running and performing. Multi-user authentication also gives MSPs the ability to assign up to three approval contacts before authorizing account deletion, so if there are bad actors trying to hijack or delete data, the requests are denied. 

ChatGPT showed that the dawn of AI is on the rise and the potential the technology has to monetize and enhance large amounts of data sets that previously just stayed in storage. MSPs have the chance to lead the pack in this moment of digital disruption by securing a strong storage solution that’s simple, predictable, and built to scale. As organizations increasingly recognize the value AI has for unstructured data, Managed Service Providers will become strategic advisors, guiding clients to revenue-driving outcomes. AI adoption and data monetization have made cold data hot, and Wasabi’s hot cloud storage is built to support this ever-evolving digital transformation journey.