How to Choose a Cloud Service Provider
In today’s modern world, “switching over to the cloud” is a hot topic of conversation.
But what does this really mean? What is cloud service? How do you choose the right cloud service provider if you decide to go this route?
Though the subject can seem complicated and confusing, it doesn’t have to be.
In this post, we’ll reveal how to choose a reputable cloud service provider to meet your business needs.
What Is Cloud Service?
First things first: What is cloud service, exactly?
It’s a service that’s made available to users on demand. It’s delivered through the internet from a cloud service provider’s servers rather than the organization’s servers (which usually exist on the same premises).
What’s being delivered? Usually, it includes storage, computer power, IT resources, and applications.
Pricing is often on a pay-as-you-go model, so you only pay for what you need as you need it. The main point is to provide simple access to resources in a way that’s easy to scale.
Plus, these resources (and all the grunt-work of managing servers) are handled by the cloud service provider rather than the company itself.
Another word for cloud service is cloud computing. This means storing what you’d normally store on hardware in the metaphorical cloud.
After deciding that you want to make the switch, choosing a cloud service provider is the natural next step.
Choosing the Right Cloud Service Provider
There are a few things you should ask when choosing a cloud service provider.
Things like a good track record and storage options should be taken into consideration as you decide.
Choosing the right service provider is essential because having to switch away from it would be a hassle. Try to choose the right provider the first time to save yourself unnecessary problems.
Reputation and Reliability
Clearly, you’ll want the reputation of the cloud service provider to be squeaky clean and impressive. Someone like Yorkshire Cloud is a good example to weigh against and base your decision.
Before signing a contract, you must first assess how reliable and capable the service provider seems to be.
You will be trusting this organization with your company’s applications, data, and more. You should make sure you feel good about doing so.
Longevity is another important factor in this realm. Since cloud computing is a relatively new technology, it’s impossible for a service provider to have been providing great service for decades.
Instead, look for whatever time and experience you can find. The longer a company has been around and the more they’ve done as they’ve expanded, the better.
Storage
Cloud storage is a very important factor to consider when choosing a cloud service provider. You should know how much storage is provided and what to do if you run out of room or require more storage space.
When you use up all the storage you have, there are only a few options. You can either pay for more storage, or you can figure out a way to manage your cloud storage better.
Many people switch to the cloud because of storage and safety concerns. Instead of storing important files and valuable documents on their hard drive (which is bound to crash at some point), they move their storage over to the cloud.
In some cases, businesses are trusting the cloud with the only copies of documents that are vital to their existence. This is a major burden and responsibility for the service provider to be able to deliver in a trustworthy way.
Storing in the cloud can be an ideal business solution. You’ll just want to make sure you have enough room for your needs and know your options if and when you need extra space.
Expertise
Choose a service provider for your cloud computing needs that knows what they’re doing. They should be able to provide insight and be willing to educate you on their services.
In a way, the cloud service will be an extension of your organization’s existing IT department. They should fully understand your business and be able to make recommendations based on that.
Moreover, you must make sure that you would trust this service provider in the aftermath of a disaster. Of course, this is just in case you encounter one during your time with the provider.
They must be able to handle a worst-case scenario while doing everything in their power to prevent one from happening.
Offering
As you would expect, there are many different types of services offered in the cloud computing world.
From Storage as a Service (STaas) to Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaas), you should take some time to educate yourself on the different types of offerings. That way, you can decide what’s the best fit for your business and needs.
Backup as a Service (Baas) and Replication as a Service (Raas) are also popular offerings. Usually, no one service provider offers all of these things. You should still try to find out if management and monitoring are part of the package they’re putting together for you.
Another big difference in cloud service providers is whether the provider manages backup and recovery needs. In some cases, it’s set up to be self-managed by you or your company.
Downtime
An important thing to ask before hiring a service provider is how high of a tolerance they have for downtime.
If their services go down, what does the fallout look like? How long are they willing to tolerate an unexpected bout of downtime? Will you receive anything as a way to make up for the breach of service?
These kinds of things are bound to happen, but you’ll still want to make sure that you’re covered if and when they do.
Did you enjoy this article? Browse the Computers & Internet section of our blog to learn more about this realm.