There's no doubt this question yields myriad of responses. Your input, thoughts, and perspectives are much appreciated. And here are few of my own recommended reads regarding the topic:

• If you have not already read Xander Uyleman's blog on"Finding the Perfect Cloud Service Provider", I highly recommend you take a few minutes to read it.
• Overcoming business risks in the cloud is a major concern for many. Read Robert Dimicco's blog for steps on how to best approach and defeat these challenges.
• The latest special edition ofUnleashing IT, published in partnership with Intel?, focuses on customers who have put their trust inCisco Poweredpartners to deliver an ECPC to support their business-and it seems to be working well for them.

One of the most promising ways to approach IT concerns is to see how others are addressing them. To that end, I hope you'll take a moment tosubscribe to Unleashing ITso you can stay informed of how other companies and organizations much like your own are strategizing to stay ahead of their competition.

I've personally had several interesting conversations with customers around data center strategies.

On one occasion, it was very clear that the customer was not interested the business of "babysitting" hardware. I can relate; the laptop I am using to write this blog can be as demanding as a newborn at times-not fun when you are trying to work productively. Bottom line: the customer was looking for a service provider to meet all their demanding IT needs, including security and compliance, so they could focus on aspects other than IT management. I'm convinced their needs have been met-perhaps even exceeded-by a Cisco-certified service provider.

On the flip side, I've heard an argument from a start-up company that because they had access to schematic diagrams of the hardware they needed to support their business, they could simply build their own white box using over-the-counter components.

I have access to schematic diagrams (and kits) so I can build my own aircraft. Sounds great-in theory. Realistically, though, it doesn't mean that I would actually do it. Especially if I have access to a fleet of rentals that I can book and fly anytime, then leave in someone else's expert care after completing my journey. I think you get my point-and so did they. My unsolicited advice: consider an ECPC.

Lastly, I've of course had the "I can't afford it" conversation. This one took more time, a few lattes, and discussions around the source of the budgets (CapEx versus OpEx). By the end of our conversation, the customer agreed that if an ECPC that met their IT requirements could be funded using OpEx, it might very well be a good fit.

But I digress. To hone in on the actual question at hand, here's my opinion: Absolutely. ECPCsdoexist, and can be beneficial to your business, provided you make informed decisions and ask the right questions of your service provider. If you find the right fit, outsourcing will allow you to effectively move workloads to an ECPC with confidence. And if, after all of that, you are still not sure, consider kicking the tires with a DRaaS solution for some of those workloads and scale that environment once you have gained more confidence in your provider.

When your business is on the line, there's more to it than just deciding to have a third party manage your IT assets. You need to select a service provider you can rely on and confide in to guarantee your business is in good hands. Cisco Powered? Cloud and Managed Services brings together everything you may need, and Cisco Powered partners are trusted experts who can help you realize the benefits of an ECPC.

Learn more here.