The New Face of MCS: Transforming from Portal to Platform

Jun 26, 2023

In today's dynamic world of cloud services, it's common for terminology to evolve and morph as technologies grow and change. One such term that has transformed over time in our organization is 'MyCloudSpace' (MCS). Initially coined as a reference to our primary tool used to manage, monitor and deliver our cloud‐based services., MCS has, over time, grown to signify much more.

MCS, the management portal, started life as a billing engine that rapidly evolved into an efficient way to manage many of the infrastructure elements on our service platform. Internally, ‘MCS’ was always the management tool, and not the platform.

However, following the acquisition of vBridge by Softsource in 2021, the term MCS took on new meaning and is now used across Softsource vBridge to refer to our entire hosting platform. While this evolution marks a significant milestone in our company's growth, it also creates some confusion, particularly for those accustomed to the original meaning of MCS.

The purpose of this blog post is to recap on the concept ‘MCS’ for our customers and employees alike and suggest that if there is any confusion to split the concept of MCS into two parts:

  • MCS Portal for the customer management portal.
  • MCS Platform for the entire hosting service.

What is the MCS Portal and Its Features?

This is our fully featured cloud management platform that enables simple transparent ongoing management of all facets of our platform, from pricing solutions to deployment and management right throughout the lifecycle. MCS is a true “self‐service” portal, that reflects what we have come to expect from public cloud offerings but are very seldom offered. It accessible from any web browser and is our primary tool used to manage, monitor, and deliver our cloud‐based services.

Some of its features include:

  • Intuitive, Responsive Interface: Designed with user-friendliness in mind, it eliminates the steep learning curve associated with most cloud platforms, making cloud management easier and more efficient.
  • Robust Security: With annual external audits and adherence to ISO 27001 Information Security Management System (ISMS), we provide a secure environment for your cloud operations, mitigating potential cybersecurity risks.
  • Comprehensive cloud service management. Our portal easily allows you to scale your resources as needed, ensuring you pay only for what you use, thereby enhancing cost-effectiveness and operational efficiency.
  • Seamless Office 365 Backup and Restore: Our easy-to-use backup and restore features for Office 365 ensures your data is always secure and recoverable, reducing potential downtime in case of data loss.
  • Comprehensive API (Application Programming Interface) Suite: Our API functions allow for smooth integration with your existing operations, saving you time and effort by enabling a single management view for all your cloud activities.
  • Real-time Visibility and Control: With our MCS Portal, you gain immediate insight into the health and costs of your platform, empowering you to make timely and informed decisions about your cloud operations.

In essence, the MCS Portal is designed to offer you an easy, secure, and efficient cloud management experience. By making cloud management a breeze, we aim to help you focus on what you do best – running your business.

What is the MCS Platform and Its Features?

This is our delivery platform, which is managed by the MCS Portal. It includes:

  • Hosting Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). By providing virtualized computing resources, we free you from the burdens of maintaining your own servers, storage, and networking.
  • Fully Manged On-premises Infrastructure. Our dedicated management of your on-site resources gives you peace of mind and consistency, regardless of whether your workloads are on-premises or in our datacentres.
  • Secure Online Backup. (BaaS (Backup as a Service)). Our seamless backup service safeguards your critical data and applications, protecting your business continuity without the hassle of handling it yourself.
  • Secure Backup for Microsoft 365. We offer enhanced backup services beyond Microsoft's default provision, minimizing the risk of data loss and enhancing the security of your business operations.
  • GPU as a Service. Our scalable GPU resources empower you to handle demanding tasks such as machine learning and AI workloads without having to invest in expensive, specialized hardware.
  • Enterprise NAS (Network Attached Storage). By eliminating the need for dedicated file servers, we help streamline your IT infrastructure and reduce associated costs.
  • S3 compatible Object Storage. We enable you to securely store and retrieve vast amounts of data from anywhere, anytime, enhancing your business agility and flexibility.
  • Server Recovery Tests. Our provision for server recovery testing ensures that you're prepared for emergencies and understand the recovery process, enhancing your resilience against potential disruptions.
  • 24 x 7 service desk. With round-the-clock support from real people based in NZ, we ensure you have assistance whenever you need it, leading to minimized downtime and improved operational efficiency.

By choosing the MCS Platform, you're not just choosing a suite of cloud services; you're opting for peace of mind, flexibility, and a commitment to excellence in cloud management.

Looking Ahead

We're constantly striving to enhance MCS – both the portal and the platform – by investing in innovative technologies that increase flexibility, boost performance, and add valuable features. Our recent addition of a new developer to our MCS Portal team is a testament to our commitment to pushing boundaries and improving your experience.

In line with our commitment to being a customer-focused company, we are eager to continue shaping our services based on your needs and feedback. If there's a feature, you'd like to see added to MCS, or if you have any suggestions on how we can improve, we'd love to hear from you. Your input is integral to our continued growth and evolution, helping us refine MCS into an even better tool that adds value to your business operations.

In this ever-changing cloud landscape, MCS is not just evolving with the times – Softsource vBridge aims to be 100-year company, a pioneer, forging ahead to create a platform that truly simplifies and enhances the cloud management experience. We're excited to journey into this future together, making your success our success. Thank you for being an integral part of our MCS story.

Peter Brook

Peter is our vBridge Operations and Information Security Manager. He has over 20 years experience in many NZ organisations including PGG Wrightson, CDHB, Lyttelton Port Company and Spark Digital.