[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-site-config":3,"$fiLU4ZmD8i_hPqE-C6TNCpa4JP7v00OqKaGyewT1SR2Q":6,"mdc--hpmfld-key":87},{"gaMeasurementId":4,"bookingUrl":5},"G-7BYTDCVDDR","https:\u002F\u002Ftidycal.com\u002Fcmdcntr\u002F30-minute-meeting",{"post":7,"related":54},{"id":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"description":11,"summary":12,"content":13,"coverImageUrl":12,"coverImageAlt":12,"tags":14,"targetKeywords":20,"faq":21,"howTo":12,"demo":12,"featured":22,"tool":12,"status":23,"reviewNote":12,"metaTitle":24,"metaDescription":25,"canonicalUrl":26,"sourceTicketId":12,"agentGenerated":27,"publishedAt":28,"publishedBy":12,"createdAt":29,"updatedAt":28,"authorId":30,"clusterId":31,"ctaId":32,"author":33,"cluster":43,"cta":47,"tools":53},"56859dc5-edd2-4bc8-8057-88ac90687556","sitecore-managed-cloud","Sitecore Managed Cloud: What It Is and When It Is the Right Call","Sitecore Managed Cloud takes the infrastructure off your plate and leaves the application firmly on it. The responsibility split is the whole decision.",null,"Sitecore Managed Cloud gets bought for a reasonable reason and then disappoints for a predictable one. The reasonable reason is that running Sitecore Experience Platform infrastructure well is genuinely hard, and handing it to the people who wrote the software is a sensible instinct. The predictable disappointment is discovering, usually during the first serious incident, exactly how much is still yours.\n\nThe responsibility split is the entire decision. Everything else is detail.\n\n## What is Sitecore Managed Cloud?\n\nSitecore Managed Cloud is Sitecore's managed hosting service, running your Sitecore Experience Platform environments on Microsoft Azure infrastructure that Sitecore provisions, monitors, patches, and supports. You continue to own the application: your custom code, your content model, your integrations, your deployments, and your front end.\n\nSitecore has offered it in more than one tier over the years, broadly a standard tier on Azure platform services and a premium tier with containerized deployment and more architectural flexibility. Tier names and exact inclusions change, so confirm against your specific contract rather than against anything written on the internet, this article included.\n\n## Who owns what?\n\nThis is the table to take into the procurement conversation.\n\n| Layer | Sitecore Managed Cloud | You (or your partner) |\n|---|---|---|\n| Azure subscription and infrastructure | Owned and operated | |\n| Sitecore platform installation and patching | Owned | |\n| Infrastructure monitoring and platform uptime | Owned | |\n| Backup and disaster recovery infrastructure | Owned | |\n| Environment scaling | Owned, within contracted limits | Requesting and justifying changes |\n| Custom code and modules | | Owned |\n| Content model and templates | | Owned |\n| Deployments and release pipeline | | Owned |\n| Integrations to other systems | | Owned |\n| Application performance | | Owned |\n| Front end, if headless | | Owned |\n| Application-level incidents | | Owned |\n\nRead the right-hand column. That is where nearly all your production incidents will originate, and it is the same column that vendor support does not cover either. Managed Cloud removes the infrastructure operations burden, which is real and worth money. It does not give you somebody who fixes your code at two in the morning.\n\nThe gap organizations fall into is assuming that \"Sitecore hosts it and Sitecore supports it\" adds up to \"Sitecore handles it.\" It does not, and the discovery moment is always an incident. If you buy Managed Cloud, you still need application-side support, either in-house or from a partner. Budget both or you have bought half a solution. We covered how to buy the other half in [Sitecore support: what good looks like](\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-support-what-to-buy).\n\n## How does it compare to the alternatives?\n\nFour realistic options for hosting a Sitecore XP estate.\n\n**Self-managed Azure.** You run Sitecore on your own Azure subscription. Maximum control and usually the lowest infrastructure cost, at the price of needing genuine Sitecore infrastructure competence in-house. Sitecore XP is not a simple application to size and operate: multiple server roles, a search provider, a database tier, and a set of interdependencies that punish guesswork. Viable when you have that skill. Expensive when you think you do and do not.\n\n**Sitecore Managed Cloud.** Sitecore runs the infrastructure on Azure. You give up some architectural flexibility and pay a premium over raw infrastructure cost, and you stop needing in-house Sitecore infrastructure expertise. The clearest fit for organizations whose engineering strength is in applications rather than in platform operations.\n\n**Partner-managed hosting.** An implementation partner runs the infrastructure, often on their own Azure tenancy or yours. The advantage over Managed Cloud is that one party owns both infrastructure and application, which removes the finger-pointing problem entirely. The disadvantage is concentration: you now depend heavily on one supplier, and exit is harder. Worth it when the partner is good and the relationship is durable.\n\n**On-premises.** Still real, particularly where data residency or security policy requires it. Rare for new builds, common in regulated and public-sector estates, and not going away as fast as vendors suggest.\n\nThere is no universally right answer. There is a right answer for your team, and it depends more on what your organization is good at than on what the platform prefers.\n\n## When is Managed Cloud the right call?\n\nFour situations where it is clearly correct.\n\n**You have no Sitecore infrastructure expertise and do not want to build it.** This is the main case and it is a good one. Sitecore infrastructure knowledge is scarce, expensive, and needed intermittently. Renting it is rational.\n\n**Your Sitecore version and architecture are standard.** Managed Cloud is most efficient on a conventional deployment. The further you deviate, the more friction you meet, because every deviation needs to fit inside what the service supports.\n\n**Compliance wants a named accountable party for infrastructure.** In regulated environments, being able to point at a vendor contract for infrastructure controls has organizational value that is separate from the technical merits.\n\n**Your team's time is better spent on the application.** If your engineers are strongest at content modeling, integrations, and front end, having them size Azure app service plans is a poor allocation.\n\n## When is it not?\n\n**When you need unusual architecture.** Non-standard topologies, specific network arrangements, or infrastructure-level customization run into service boundaries. The premium tier has more room here, but \"more room\" is not \"any shape.\"\n\n**When you already have strong Azure operations.** If your organization runs Azure well at scale and has the appetite to learn Sitecore's requirements, self-managed is usually cheaper and more flexible. Sitecore's needs are demanding but they are documented, and a strong platform team can meet them.\n\n**When you are moving to XM Cloud soon.** If a re-platform is genuinely funded and scheduled, migrating hosting first may be effort spent on infrastructure you are about to retire. Weigh it against how long the current estate really has, and be honest, because \"we are moving next year\" has been true for three consecutive years at more organizations than anyone wants to admit.\n\n**When cost is the driving constraint and you have the skills.** Managed Cloud carries a premium over raw infrastructure. That premium buys expertise. If you already have the expertise, you are paying for something you own.\n\n## What Managed Cloud does not solve\n\nThree things worth being explicit about, because each has surprised a client of ours.\n\n**Application performance.** If your site is slow because of an unindexed query, an uncached rendering, or a chatty integration, moving to managed infrastructure does not fix it. It may mask it for a while behind more capacity, which is worse, because now it is expensive and still broken.\n\n**Deployment quality.** Managed Cloud does not build your pipeline. Bad deployment practice remains bad, and a fragile release process is a fragile release process regardless of whose data center it runs in.\n\n**Technical debt.** A ten-year-old implementation with an unowned content model has the same problems on managed infrastructure. Hosting is not a remediation strategy. That distinction is worth holding firmly, because \"we are moving to Managed Cloud\" is sometimes offered internally as an answer to problems it does not touch.\n\n## Managed Cloud and XM Cloud are not the same thing\n\nWorth stating plainly, because the names invite the confusion and we have watched it happen in a procurement meeting.\n\n**Sitecore Managed Cloud** is managed hosting for Sitecore Experience Platform. It is your XP, run by Sitecore.\n\n**Sitecore XM Cloud** is a different product: a software-as-a-service, headless-first content management system in the composable stack. There is no infrastructure for you to host, because hosting is not a concept you are exposed to.\n\nIf you are on XP and want the infrastructure burden gone, that is Managed Cloud. If you want off XP entirely, that is XM Cloud and it is a re-platform, not a hosting change. We laid out that fork in [Sitecore upgrade services](\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-upgrade-services), and what the composable stack brings with it in [Sitecore DXP: what composable changed](\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-dxp-composable-explained).\n\n## What to check in the Managed Cloud contract\n\nSix items. Each one has been the subject of an unhappy conversation on a project we inherited.\n\n**How many environments are included, and can you add one?** Production, plus some number of non-production. Teams that need an extra integration or user-acceptance environment mid-project find out then whether that is a phone call or a contract amendment.\n\n**What are the scaling limits, and who authorises a change?** Understand both the ceiling and the process. A scaling request that needs a ticket and a business-day turnaround is a different operational posture than one you control, and it matters most during exactly the traffic event you bought headroom for.\n\n**What are the backup and recovery objectives, as numbers?** Recovery point objective and recovery time objective, written down. \"Backups are taken regularly\" is not an answer you can give an auditor.\n\n**Where does the support boundary sit, in writing?** You want the line between infrastructure and application stated explicitly, because that line is where every contested incident will be argued.\n\n**What access do you and your partner get?** Deployment access, log access, database access, and monitoring visibility. Restricted log access in particular makes application debugging materially harder, and it is easier to negotiate before signing than during an outage.\n\n**What are the exit terms?** How you get your data and your environments out, and in what format. Rarely asked, occasionally very expensive.\n\n## How to decide\n\nThree questions, in order.\n\n**Do we have Sitecore infrastructure expertise, honestly?** Not Azure expertise. Sitecore-on-Azure expertise, which is narrower. If no, Managed Cloud or partner hosting.\n\n**Is our architecture standard?** If yes, Managed Cloud fits comfortably. If no, check the specific deviations against the service boundaries before signing, not after.\n\n**Who covers the application layer?** Whatever you decide on infrastructure, this question still needs an answer, and it is the one most often left open. Managed Cloud does not answer it.\n\nGet those three right and the hosting decision is close to mechanical. The failure mode is answering only the first one and assuming the third came free with it.\n\nIf you are choosing a hosting model, sitting on Managed Cloud and finding that application incidents have no owner, or trying to work out whether hosting is even your real problem, that is our work. We cover the application layer that hosting contracts leave open, and our support hours never expire, so cover through a quiet quarter is not money forfeited. [Book a call](https:\u002F\u002Ftidycal.com\u002Fcmdcntr\u002F30-minute-meeting), or read about our [Sitecore development and support](\u002Fservices\u002Fsitecore) practice.\n\n## Read next\n\n- [Sitecore Support: What Good Looks Like and How to Buy It](\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-support-what-to-buy): covering the application layer Managed Cloud leaves to you.\n- [Sitecore Upgrade Services: What You Are Actually Buying](\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-upgrade-services): the upgrade-or-re-platform fork behind most hosting decisions.\n- [Sitecore DXP: What Composable Changed](\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-dxp-composable-explained): what XM Cloud brings with it, if you go that way instead.\n- [Enterprise CMS in 2026: How to Choose the Platform and the Partner](\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fenterprise-cms-2026-platform-and-partner): the cluster pillar.\n- Work with us: [Sitecore development and support](\u002Fservices\u002Fsitecore), or our [headless CMS agency](\u002Fservices\u002Fheadless-cms) practice.",[15,16,17,18,19],"sitecore","managed cloud","sitecore hosting","azure","enterprise cms",[],[],false,"published","Sitecore Managed Cloud: What It Is, When to Use It","Sitecore-run hosting on Azure. Who owns what, how it compares to self-managed Azure and partner hosting, and the gap teams discover after signing.","https:\u002F\u002Fcmdcntr.io\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-managed-cloud",true,"2026-08-18T11:16:57.775Z","2026-08-18T04:05:17.196Z","ed80da88-f3d1-4aa9-9373-18c39fecb740","23d49753-baf2-4629-b6fc-df27c558f48d","c0fcf6a1-58d2-4262-8996-3ad29d58eea5",{"slug":34,"name":35,"avatarUrl":36,"role":37,"bio":38,"isPublic":27,"expertiseSummary":39,"linkedin":40,"github":41,"twitter":12,"website":42},"michael-graham","Michael Graham","\u002Fapi\u002Fpublic\u002Favatar\u002F7452d3cc-b0aa-46e4-96e6-da9c0225c471","Founder & Software Engineer","Obsessed with building top-tier web software and crafting unique, polished user experiences.","From frontend design to a fully deployed application, I can build the entire pipeline.","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.linkedin.com\u002Fin\u002Fmikemartire\u002F","https:\u002F\u002Fgithub.com\u002Fmichaelchristophergraham","https:\u002F\u002Fcmdcntr.io",{"slug":44,"name":45,"color":46},"enterprise-cms","Enterprise CMS Delivery","#0EA5E9",{"id":32,"name":48,"ctaType":49,"heading":50,"description":51,"buttonText":52,"url":5,"leadMagnetUrl":12},"Book a Call (blog)","book_call","Shipping AI-generated code that keeps breaking?","Book a free 30-minute call with a senior engineer. We diagnose what is going wrong and give you a concrete fix plan, no obligation.","Book a free call",[],[55,66,76],{"id":56,"slug":57,"title":58,"description":59,"coverImageUrl":12,"coverImageAlt":12,"tags":60,"featured":22,"tool":12,"publishedAt":28,"author":64,"cluster":65},"560d1ca1-ccb4-4e65-9690-3b39e448e5a9","sitecore-dxp-composable-explained","Sitecore DXP: What Composable Actually Changed, and What It Costs","Sitecore's move from one monolithic DXP to a composable product suite changed what you buy, what you integrate, and who owns the seams. Here is the honest accounting.",[15,61,62,63,19],"sitecore dxp","composable dxp","xm cloud",{"slug":34,"name":35,"avatarUrl":36,"role":37,"bio":38,"isPublic":27},{"slug":44,"name":45,"color":46},{"id":67,"slug":68,"title":69,"description":70,"coverImageUrl":12,"coverImageAlt":12,"tags":71,"featured":22,"tool":12,"publishedAt":28,"author":74,"cluster":75},"d31e5a8a-2739-4f2e-89fc-295bc0a53628","is-sitecore-a-headless-cms","Is Sitecore a Headless CMS? XM Cloud, XP, and What Actually Goes Headless","Sitecore can run headless, but XM Cloud and XP get there by different routes with different costs. Here is what headless actually means inside Sitecore, and where teams get hurt.",[15,72,63,73,19],"headless cms","experience edge",{"slug":34,"name":35,"avatarUrl":36,"role":37,"bio":38,"isPublic":27},{"slug":44,"name":45,"color":46},{"id":77,"slug":78,"title":79,"description":80,"coverImageUrl":12,"coverImageAlt":12,"tags":81,"featured":22,"tool":12,"publishedAt":28,"author":85,"cluster":86},"b32ba2ef-3e87-4300-a42e-a8c6787ef9ed","sitecore-digital-asset-management","Sitecore Digital Asset Management: Media Library, Content Hub, or Third Party?","The Sitecore media library is asset storage, not asset management. Knowing which one you need is a governance question, not a feature comparison.",[15,82,83,84,19],"digital asset management","content hub","dam",{"slug":34,"name":35,"avatarUrl":36,"role":37,"bio":38,"isPublic":27},{"slug":44,"name":45,"color":46},{"data":88,"body":89},{},{"type":90,"children":91},"root",[92,100,105,112,117,122,128,133,351,356,370,376,381,392,402,412,422,427,433,438,448,458,468,478,484,494,504,514,524,530,535,545,555,565,571,576,585,595,615,621,626,636,646,656,666,676,686,692,697,707,717,727,732,754,760],{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":95,"children":96},"element","p",{},[97],{"type":98,"value":99},"text","Sitecore Managed Cloud gets bought for a reasonable reason and then disappoints for a predictable one. The reasonable reason is that running Sitecore Experience Platform infrastructure well is genuinely hard, and handing it to the people who wrote the software is a sensible instinct. The predictable disappointment is discovering, usually during the first serious incident, exactly how much is still yours.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":101,"children":102},{},[103],{"type":98,"value":104},"The responsibility split is the entire decision. Everything else is detail.",{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":107,"children":109},"h2",{"id":108},"what-is-sitecore-managed-cloud",[110],{"type":98,"value":111},"What is Sitecore Managed Cloud?",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":113,"children":114},{},[115],{"type":98,"value":116},"Sitecore Managed Cloud is Sitecore's managed hosting service, running your Sitecore Experience Platform environments on Microsoft Azure infrastructure that Sitecore provisions, monitors, patches, and supports. You continue to own the application: your custom code, your content model, your integrations, your deployments, and your front end.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":118,"children":119},{},[120],{"type":98,"value":121},"Sitecore has offered it in more than one tier over the years, broadly a standard tier on Azure platform services and a premium tier with containerized deployment and more architectural flexibility. Tier names and exact inclusions change, so confirm against your specific contract rather than against anything written on the internet, this article included.",{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":123,"children":125},{"id":124},"who-owns-what",[126],{"type":98,"value":127},"Who owns what?",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":129,"children":130},{},[131],{"type":98,"value":132},"This is the table to take into the procurement conversation.",{"type":93,"tag":134,"props":135,"children":136},"table",{},[137,161],{"type":93,"tag":138,"props":139,"children":140},"thead",{},[141],{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":143,"children":144},"tr",{},[145,151,156],{"type":93,"tag":146,"props":147,"children":148},"th",{},[149],{"type":98,"value":150},"Layer",{"type":93,"tag":146,"props":152,"children":153},{},[154],{"type":98,"value":155},"Sitecore Managed Cloud",{"type":93,"tag":146,"props":157,"children":158},{},[159],{"type":98,"value":160},"You (or your partner)",{"type":93,"tag":162,"props":163,"children":164},"tbody",{},[165,182,198,213,228,246,261,276,291,306,321,336],{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":166,"children":167},{},[168,174,179],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":170,"children":171},"td",{},[172],{"type":98,"value":173},"Azure subscription and infrastructure",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":175,"children":176},{},[177],{"type":98,"value":178},"Owned and operated",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":180,"children":181},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":183,"children":184},{},[185,190,195],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":186,"children":187},{},[188],{"type":98,"value":189},"Sitecore platform installation and patching",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":191,"children":192},{},[193],{"type":98,"value":194},"Owned",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":196,"children":197},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":199,"children":200},{},[201,206,210],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":202,"children":203},{},[204],{"type":98,"value":205},"Infrastructure monitoring and platform uptime",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":207,"children":208},{},[209],{"type":98,"value":194},{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":211,"children":212},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":214,"children":215},{},[216,221,225],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":217,"children":218},{},[219],{"type":98,"value":220},"Backup and disaster recovery infrastructure",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":222,"children":223},{},[224],{"type":98,"value":194},{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":226,"children":227},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":229,"children":230},{},[231,236,241],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":232,"children":233},{},[234],{"type":98,"value":235},"Environment scaling",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":237,"children":238},{},[239],{"type":98,"value":240},"Owned, within contracted limits",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":242,"children":243},{},[244],{"type":98,"value":245},"Requesting and justifying changes",{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":247,"children":248},{},[249,254,257],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":250,"children":251},{},[252],{"type":98,"value":253},"Custom code and modules",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":255,"children":256},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":258,"children":259},{},[260],{"type":98,"value":194},{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":262,"children":263},{},[264,269,272],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":265,"children":266},{},[267],{"type":98,"value":268},"Content model and templates",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":270,"children":271},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":273,"children":274},{},[275],{"type":98,"value":194},{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":277,"children":278},{},[279,284,287],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":280,"children":281},{},[282],{"type":98,"value":283},"Deployments and release pipeline",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":285,"children":286},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":288,"children":289},{},[290],{"type":98,"value":194},{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":292,"children":293},{},[294,299,302],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":295,"children":296},{},[297],{"type":98,"value":298},"Integrations to other systems",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":300,"children":301},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":303,"children":304},{},[305],{"type":98,"value":194},{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":307,"children":308},{},[309,314,317],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":310,"children":311},{},[312],{"type":98,"value":313},"Application performance",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":315,"children":316},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":318,"children":319},{},[320],{"type":98,"value":194},{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":322,"children":323},{},[324,329,332],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":325,"children":326},{},[327],{"type":98,"value":328},"Front end, if headless",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":330,"children":331},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":333,"children":334},{},[335],{"type":98,"value":194},{"type":93,"tag":142,"props":337,"children":338},{},[339,344,347],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":340,"children":341},{},[342],{"type":98,"value":343},"Application-level incidents",{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":345,"children":346},{},[],{"type":93,"tag":169,"props":348,"children":349},{},[350],{"type":98,"value":194},{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":352,"children":353},{},[354],{"type":98,"value":355},"Read the right-hand column. That is where nearly all your production incidents will originate, and it is the same column that vendor support does not cover either. Managed Cloud removes the infrastructure operations burden, which is real and worth money. It does not give you somebody who fixes your code at two in the morning.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":357,"children":358},{},[359,361,368],{"type":98,"value":360},"The gap organizations fall into is assuming that \"Sitecore hosts it and Sitecore supports it\" adds up to \"Sitecore handles it.\" It does not, and the discovery moment is always an incident. If you buy Managed Cloud, you still need application-side support, either in-house or from a partner. Budget both or you have bought half a solution. We covered how to buy the other half in ",{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":363,"children":365},"a",{"href":364},"\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-support-what-to-buy",[366],{"type":98,"value":367},"Sitecore support: what good looks like",{"type":98,"value":369},".",{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":371,"children":373},{"id":372},"how-does-it-compare-to-the-alternatives",[374],{"type":98,"value":375},"How does it compare to the alternatives?",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":377,"children":378},{},[379],{"type":98,"value":380},"Four realistic options for hosting a Sitecore XP estate.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":382,"children":383},{},[384,390],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":386,"children":387},"strong",{},[388],{"type":98,"value":389},"Self-managed Azure.",{"type":98,"value":391}," You run Sitecore on your own Azure subscription. Maximum control and usually the lowest infrastructure cost, at the price of needing genuine Sitecore infrastructure competence in-house. Sitecore XP is not a simple application to size and operate: multiple server roles, a search provider, a database tier, and a set of interdependencies that punish guesswork. Viable when you have that skill. Expensive when you think you do and do not.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":393,"children":394},{},[395,400],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":396,"children":397},{},[398],{"type":98,"value":399},"Sitecore Managed Cloud.",{"type":98,"value":401}," Sitecore runs the infrastructure on Azure. You give up some architectural flexibility and pay a premium over raw infrastructure cost, and you stop needing in-house Sitecore infrastructure expertise. The clearest fit for organizations whose engineering strength is in applications rather than in platform operations.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":403,"children":404},{},[405,410],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":406,"children":407},{},[408],{"type":98,"value":409},"Partner-managed hosting.",{"type":98,"value":411}," An implementation partner runs the infrastructure, often on their own Azure tenancy or yours. The advantage over Managed Cloud is that one party owns both infrastructure and application, which removes the finger-pointing problem entirely. The disadvantage is concentration: you now depend heavily on one supplier, and exit is harder. Worth it when the partner is good and the relationship is durable.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":413,"children":414},{},[415,420],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":416,"children":417},{},[418],{"type":98,"value":419},"On-premises.",{"type":98,"value":421}," Still real, particularly where data residency or security policy requires it. Rare for new builds, common in regulated and public-sector estates, and not going away as fast as vendors suggest.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":423,"children":424},{},[425],{"type":98,"value":426},"There is no universally right answer. There is a right answer for your team, and it depends more on what your organization is good at than on what the platform prefers.",{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":428,"children":430},{"id":429},"when-is-managed-cloud-the-right-call",[431],{"type":98,"value":432},"When is Managed Cloud the right call?",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":434,"children":435},{},[436],{"type":98,"value":437},"Four situations where it is clearly correct.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":439,"children":440},{},[441,446],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":442,"children":443},{},[444],{"type":98,"value":445},"You have no Sitecore infrastructure expertise and do not want to build it.",{"type":98,"value":447}," This is the main case and it is a good one. Sitecore infrastructure knowledge is scarce, expensive, and needed intermittently. Renting it is rational.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":449,"children":450},{},[451,456],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":452,"children":453},{},[454],{"type":98,"value":455},"Your Sitecore version and architecture are standard.",{"type":98,"value":457}," Managed Cloud is most efficient on a conventional deployment. The further you deviate, the more friction you meet, because every deviation needs to fit inside what the service supports.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":459,"children":460},{},[461,466],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":462,"children":463},{},[464],{"type":98,"value":465},"Compliance wants a named accountable party for infrastructure.",{"type":98,"value":467}," In regulated environments, being able to point at a vendor contract for infrastructure controls has organizational value that is separate from the technical merits.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":469,"children":470},{},[471,476],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":472,"children":473},{},[474],{"type":98,"value":475},"Your team's time is better spent on the application.",{"type":98,"value":477}," If your engineers are strongest at content modeling, integrations, and front end, having them size Azure app service plans is a poor allocation.",{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":479,"children":481},{"id":480},"when-is-it-not",[482],{"type":98,"value":483},"When is it not?",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":485,"children":486},{},[487,492],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":488,"children":489},{},[490],{"type":98,"value":491},"When you need unusual architecture.",{"type":98,"value":493}," Non-standard topologies, specific network arrangements, or infrastructure-level customization run into service boundaries. The premium tier has more room here, but \"more room\" is not \"any shape.\"",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":495,"children":496},{},[497,502],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":498,"children":499},{},[500],{"type":98,"value":501},"When you already have strong Azure operations.",{"type":98,"value":503}," If your organization runs Azure well at scale and has the appetite to learn Sitecore's requirements, self-managed is usually cheaper and more flexible. Sitecore's needs are demanding but they are documented, and a strong platform team can meet them.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":505,"children":506},{},[507,512],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":508,"children":509},{},[510],{"type":98,"value":511},"When you are moving to XM Cloud soon.",{"type":98,"value":513}," If a re-platform is genuinely funded and scheduled, migrating hosting first may be effort spent on infrastructure you are about to retire. Weigh it against how long the current estate really has, and be honest, because \"we are moving next year\" has been true for three consecutive years at more organizations than anyone wants to admit.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":515,"children":516},{},[517,522],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":518,"children":519},{},[520],{"type":98,"value":521},"When cost is the driving constraint and you have the skills.",{"type":98,"value":523}," Managed Cloud carries a premium over raw infrastructure. That premium buys expertise. If you already have the expertise, you are paying for something you own.",{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":525,"children":527},{"id":526},"what-managed-cloud-does-not-solve",[528],{"type":98,"value":529},"What Managed Cloud does not solve",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":531,"children":532},{},[533],{"type":98,"value":534},"Three things worth being explicit about, because each has surprised a client of ours.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":536,"children":537},{},[538,543],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":539,"children":540},{},[541],{"type":98,"value":542},"Application performance.",{"type":98,"value":544}," If your site is slow because of an unindexed query, an uncached rendering, or a chatty integration, moving to managed infrastructure does not fix it. It may mask it for a while behind more capacity, which is worse, because now it is expensive and still broken.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":546,"children":547},{},[548,553],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":549,"children":550},{},[551],{"type":98,"value":552},"Deployment quality.",{"type":98,"value":554}," Managed Cloud does not build your pipeline. Bad deployment practice remains bad, and a fragile release process is a fragile release process regardless of whose data center it runs in.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":556,"children":557},{},[558,563],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":559,"children":560},{},[561],{"type":98,"value":562},"Technical debt.",{"type":98,"value":564}," A ten-year-old implementation with an unowned content model has the same problems on managed infrastructure. Hosting is not a remediation strategy. That distinction is worth holding firmly, because \"we are moving to Managed Cloud\" is sometimes offered internally as an answer to problems it does not touch.",{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":566,"children":568},{"id":567},"managed-cloud-and-xm-cloud-are-not-the-same-thing",[569],{"type":98,"value":570},"Managed Cloud and XM Cloud are not the same thing",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":572,"children":573},{},[574],{"type":98,"value":575},"Worth stating plainly, because the names invite the confusion and we have watched it happen in a procurement meeting.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":577,"children":578},{},[579,583],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":580,"children":581},{},[582],{"type":98,"value":155},{"type":98,"value":584}," is managed hosting for Sitecore Experience Platform. It is your XP, run by Sitecore.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":586,"children":587},{},[588,593],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":589,"children":590},{},[591],{"type":98,"value":592},"Sitecore XM Cloud",{"type":98,"value":594}," is a different product: a software-as-a-service, headless-first content management system in the composable stack. There is no infrastructure for you to host, because hosting is not a concept you are exposed to.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":596,"children":597},{},[598,600,606,608,614],{"type":98,"value":599},"If you are on XP and want the infrastructure burden gone, that is Managed Cloud. If you want off XP entirely, that is XM Cloud and it is a re-platform, not a hosting change. We laid out that fork in ",{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":601,"children":603},{"href":602},"\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-upgrade-services",[604],{"type":98,"value":605},"Sitecore upgrade services",{"type":98,"value":607},", and what the composable stack brings with it in ",{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":609,"children":611},{"href":610},"\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fsitecore-dxp-composable-explained",[612],{"type":98,"value":613},"Sitecore DXP: what composable changed",{"type":98,"value":369},{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":616,"children":618},{"id":617},"what-to-check-in-the-managed-cloud-contract",[619],{"type":98,"value":620},"What to check in the Managed Cloud contract",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":622,"children":623},{},[624],{"type":98,"value":625},"Six items. Each one has been the subject of an unhappy conversation on a project we inherited.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":627,"children":628},{},[629,634],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":630,"children":631},{},[632],{"type":98,"value":633},"How many environments are included, and can you add one?",{"type":98,"value":635}," Production, plus some number of non-production. Teams that need an extra integration or user-acceptance environment mid-project find out then whether that is a phone call or a contract amendment.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":637,"children":638},{},[639,644],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":640,"children":641},{},[642],{"type":98,"value":643},"What are the scaling limits, and who authorises a change?",{"type":98,"value":645}," Understand both the ceiling and the process. A scaling request that needs a ticket and a business-day turnaround is a different operational posture than one you control, and it matters most during exactly the traffic event you bought headroom for.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":647,"children":648},{},[649,654],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":650,"children":651},{},[652],{"type":98,"value":653},"What are the backup and recovery objectives, as numbers?",{"type":98,"value":655}," Recovery point objective and recovery time objective, written down. \"Backups are taken regularly\" is not an answer you can give an auditor.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":657,"children":658},{},[659,664],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":660,"children":661},{},[662],{"type":98,"value":663},"Where does the support boundary sit, in writing?",{"type":98,"value":665}," You want the line between infrastructure and application stated explicitly, because that line is where every contested incident will be argued.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":667,"children":668},{},[669,674],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":670,"children":671},{},[672],{"type":98,"value":673},"What access do you and your partner get?",{"type":98,"value":675}," Deployment access, log access, database access, and monitoring visibility. Restricted log access in particular makes application debugging materially harder, and it is easier to negotiate before signing than during an outage.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":677,"children":678},{},[679,684],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":680,"children":681},{},[682],{"type":98,"value":683},"What are the exit terms?",{"type":98,"value":685}," How you get your data and your environments out, and in what format. Rarely asked, occasionally very expensive.",{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":687,"children":689},{"id":688},"how-to-decide",[690],{"type":98,"value":691},"How to decide",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":693,"children":694},{},[695],{"type":98,"value":696},"Three questions, in order.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":698,"children":699},{},[700,705],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":701,"children":702},{},[703],{"type":98,"value":704},"Do we have Sitecore infrastructure expertise, honestly?",{"type":98,"value":706}," Not Azure expertise. Sitecore-on-Azure expertise, which is narrower. If no, Managed Cloud or partner hosting.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":708,"children":709},{},[710,715],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":711,"children":712},{},[713],{"type":98,"value":714},"Is our architecture standard?",{"type":98,"value":716}," If yes, Managed Cloud fits comfortably. If no, check the specific deviations against the service boundaries before signing, not after.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":718,"children":719},{},[720,725],{"type":93,"tag":385,"props":721,"children":722},{},[723],{"type":98,"value":724},"Who covers the application layer?",{"type":98,"value":726}," Whatever you decide on infrastructure, this question still needs an answer, and it is the one most often left open. Managed Cloud does not answer it.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":728,"children":729},{},[730],{"type":98,"value":731},"Get those three right and the hosting decision is close to mechanical. The failure mode is answering only the first one and assuming the third came free with it.",{"type":93,"tag":94,"props":733,"children":734},{},[735,737,744,746,752],{"type":98,"value":736},"If you are choosing a hosting model, sitting on Managed Cloud and finding that application incidents have no owner, or trying to work out whether hosting is even your real problem, that is our work. We cover the application layer that hosting contracts leave open, and our support hours never expire, so cover through a quiet quarter is not money forfeited. ",{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":738,"children":741},{"href":5,"rel":739},[740],"nofollow",[742],{"type":98,"value":743},"Book a call",{"type":98,"value":745},", or read about our ",{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":747,"children":749},{"href":748},"\u002Fservices\u002Fsitecore",[750],{"type":98,"value":751},"Sitecore development and support",{"type":98,"value":753}," practice.",{"type":93,"tag":106,"props":755,"children":757},{"id":756},"read-next",[758],{"type":98,"value":759},"Read next",{"type":93,"tag":761,"props":762,"children":763},"ul",{},[764,775,785,795,806],{"type":93,"tag":765,"props":766,"children":767},"li",{},[768,773],{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":769,"children":770},{"href":364},[771],{"type":98,"value":772},"Sitecore Support: What Good Looks Like and How to Buy It",{"type":98,"value":774},": covering the application layer Managed Cloud leaves to you.",{"type":93,"tag":765,"props":776,"children":777},{},[778,783],{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":779,"children":780},{"href":602},[781],{"type":98,"value":782},"Sitecore Upgrade Services: What You Are Actually Buying",{"type":98,"value":784},": the upgrade-or-re-platform fork behind most hosting decisions.",{"type":93,"tag":765,"props":786,"children":787},{},[788,793],{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":789,"children":790},{"href":610},[791],{"type":98,"value":792},"Sitecore DXP: What Composable Changed",{"type":98,"value":794},": what XM Cloud brings with it, if you go that way instead.",{"type":93,"tag":765,"props":796,"children":797},{},[798,804],{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":799,"children":801},{"href":800},"\u002Fblog\u002Fenterprise-cms\u002Fenterprise-cms-2026-platform-and-partner",[802],{"type":98,"value":803},"Enterprise CMS in 2026: How to Choose the Platform and the Partner",{"type":98,"value":805},": the cluster pillar.",{"type":93,"tag":765,"props":807,"children":808},{},[809,811,815,817,823],{"type":98,"value":810},"Work with us: ",{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":812,"children":813},{"href":748},[814],{"type":98,"value":751},{"type":98,"value":816},", or our ",{"type":93,"tag":362,"props":818,"children":820},{"href":819},"\u002Fservices\u002Fheadless-cms",[821],{"type":98,"value":822},"headless CMS agency",{"type":98,"value":753}]