We look at what you are running, who has access to it, what you are paying and how it is configured, then set out plainly what is working and what is not.
Cloud Services and Management
Cloud that supports flexibility, security and growth
Most businesses are already in the cloud before anyone planned to be, because it is so accessible now. Microsoft 365 arrives because the business needs email that is quick to set up and resilient, and files move to SharePoint because somebody needed to share them without buying a NAS or a server. Legacy servers move to a datacentre because nobody wants to look after hardware any more, or because the application running on one still has no cloud version whatever the vendor keeps promising, so a fully cloud-based estate is not an option.
Cloud problems that build up unnoticed
Cloud stops being simple at about the point it starts being important. Licences get bought and never reviewed, permissions get granted and never removed, and the monthly bill goes up by an amount nobody can quite account for.
Hosted servers raise a different set of questions with the same answer, which is that nobody is sure. Who patches the virtual machine now that it is not in the building. Whether it is backed up, or whether the platform’s own resilience was assumed to cover that.
Which country the data actually sits in, and whether anyone checked before it moved there. Whether the server is sized for what it actually does, or for what somebody estimated on the day it moved.
The awkward ones are the servers that exist because something has to run somewhere. A line of business application with no cloud version still needs an operating system underneath it, patched and protected, for as long as the vendor takes to deliver what it has been promising.
Why growing businesses move their cloud to EPX IT
The pattern is almost always the same. Cloud was adopted quickly because it solved an immediate problem, and it was never revisited once it became the thing the business runs on.
EPX IT has supported UK businesses for over 20 years and currently manages 2,500 computers for 38 fully managed partners across Staffordshire and the West Midlands. Every partner works with a named Partner Consultant who owns the commercial side of the relationship, cost, licensing and what needs deciding, backed by a service team that knows how the environment is actually built.
What cloud management covers
- Servers and workloads hosted in the cloud, on Azure, AWS, OVH or a UK datacentre, patched and looked after the way an on-premise server would be
- Cloud and Microsoft 365 migration, planned and staged so the business keeps working through it
- Ongoing management of your cloud environment, including licences, permissions and configuration as the business changes
- Security and access control, so the right people reach the right systems from wherever they work
- Cost visibility and control, from right-sizing over-specified servers to shutting down what does not need to run overnight
- Plain English reporting on what is in use, what is not, and what is worth changing
Choosing between Azure, AWS and OVH
Not every business belongs on the same platform:
- Azure tends to fit where the rest of the estate is already Microsoft
- AWS where the applications were built for it
- OVH or a UK provider where cost, or keeping data in a particular jurisdiction, matters more than either
EPX IT works across all of them, so the recommendation comes from your workload, your budget and your obligations.
Data location gets asked about more than it used to. If a client contract, an insurer or your own governance requires data to stay in the UK, that has to be a deliberate choice made at the point of migration, because it is considerably harder to unpick afterwards.
Keeping Microsoft 365 under control
Microsoft 365 is where most of the drift happens, because it is the part of the estate everyone touches. Licences get bought for a new starter and stay on the bill after they leave, and permissions get widened so somebody can finish a job on a Friday and never get narrowed again.
Nobody is at fault and nothing has broken, which is why it goes unnoticed for years.
EPX IT reviews licences and access on a cycle rather than at renewal, so what people can reach matches what their role needs, and what you are paying for matches who is actually here.
That groundwork is also what makes Microsoft Copilot safe to switch on, since Copilot can reach whatever your people can reach. If you are weighing it up, Microsoft Copilot for business and AI strategy and implementation are separate EPX IT services, covering the rollout itself and the wider question of how far to take AI, including an AI specialist who advises on governing it.
How EPX IT manages your cloud, step by step
1. Cloud review.
2. Planning and presenting.
You get a prioritised plan, whether that is a migration, a clean-up of what already exists, or preparing for Copilot, with costs and sequence before anything changes.
3. Ongoing management and review.
Our service team looks after the environment day to day, and your named Partner Consultant tracks cost and risk on your behalf, reporting on what has changed and what needs a decision.
Is this right for your business?
Cloud management from EPX IT is a good fit if:
- Cloud services are in use across the business without clear visibility for leadership
- Cloud costs arrive every month but nobody can explain them, and nobody has checked whether the servers are the right size
- Servers have moved to a cloud platform and it is no longer clear who patches, monitors or backs them up
- A key application has no cloud version, so a server has to exist somewhere and somebody has to look after it
- Teams depend on cloud systems and problems are hard to diagnose when they happen
- Licences and permissions have never been reviewed, so nobody is sure who can reach what
What unmanaged cloud costs you
Unmanaged cloud drifts, and nothing announces it. Licences get paid for people who left, permissions widen every time somebody needs access in a hurry, servers keep running through every night nobody needed them, and the bill grows a little each quarter without anyone deciding it should. It stays invisible right up until an audit, a leaver, or a Copilot rollout makes it visible all at once.
Managed properly that stops, because someone owns the environment, the spend is explained rather than estimated, and leadership can answer questions about access and cost with the current position rather than last year’s assumption.
Frequently asked questions
Do you manage cloud migrations?
Can EPX IT host and manage our servers in the cloud?
We have an application that cannot move to the cloud. Can you still help?
Where will our data be stored, and does it have to stay in the UK?
Why is my cloud bill higher than expected?
What is the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office 365?
Is my business ready for Microsoft Copilot?
Talk to EPX IT
If you want cloud to be something the business runs on with confidence, a conversation with our team is the next step.
Still weighing up the model itself? Our guide to cloud migration versus on-premise walks through where each one fits.
