Factors to Help You Choose the Right Cloud Computing Service Provider

Picking a cloud storage solution that fits your company’s demands will significantly affect your operations. Of course, most people don’t have time to look into hundreds of different cloud storage services to find the one that best fits their needs while also staying within their budget. But what are the most important things to think about when choosing a cloud service for your company?

Define “Cloud Computing.”

Instead of physically storing and processing data on a user’s local machine, Cloud Computing Service Providers make this possible through the use of software that can be accessed over a network. It’s a handy tool for archiving data and files, making copies, retrieving them, and sharing them with others. More and more of your information is being stored and utilized to tailor your experience when it is sent from your computer and mobile device to the cloud.

THE RIGHT TIME TO CHOOSE A CLOUD PROVIDER

First, you must determine your exact business requirements before choosing a reliable provider. This may seem like stating the obvious, but if you take the time to outline your exact needs and baseline expectations before evaluating potential providers, you can evaluate each option in relation to the same criteria. This is the quickest approach for reducing a long list into a manageable one. If you know exactly what you need in terms of technical, service, security, data governance, and service management, you can more effectively question you’re shortlist of possible service providers.

It’s also important to remember that the setups required, the labor required, and the assistance available from your cloud service provider will all be different depending on the environments you choose and the services supplied by your cloud service provider.

Therefore, when you’ve determined which workloads are prime candidates for migration to the cloud, but while you’re still analyzing and preparing them for the move, is when you should select your providers.

What factors should one emphasize while deciding on a cloud service?

Your business will have its own specific needs and criteria for choosing a cloud service provider. But regardless of the type of service being evaluated, there are a few consistent criteria to keep in mind.

In order to assist you to compare vendors and make a decision that will provide your business the value and benefits you anticipate from the cloud, we have broken these down into 8 distinct categories.

1. Safety

All sectors of the economy have benefited greatly from the cloud’s accessibility. That it simplifies data storage and retrieval for enterprises is one of its many strengths. However, this facilitates data theft by hackers. IT experts are becoming increasingly concerned about cloud security as the number of businesses using public cloud services rises. A hack that causes downtime might instantly shut down your entire organization, therefore security is crucial. Take Azure Cloud computing Services as an example: they employ a safe network architecture that separates and segments their network into distinct logical zones. Therefore, even if one of their servers is under assault, your data will remain secure. It is critical for businesses to have a cloud security policy that lays out the steps to take while managing cloud resources in order to reduce the risks associated with not doing so. This policy needs to be revisited on a regular basis and revised as the company’s requirements evolve if it is to continue serving its intended purpose.

2. Price

Prices in the cloud vary from provider to provider but often follow a tiered structure. It Includes: 

• As-you-go Amazon Web Services (AWS): No large upfront costs, just pay for what you need. Although helpful at first, the costs of doing so can quickly build up once you start expanding.
• Secured: Prepayment is required, either annually or for a flat rate determined by projected usage. In particular, this is the way to go for individuals in charge of more substantial businesses who have little time to waste getting things up and running.
• Discounts: As your business expands, you should look at bulk pricing options. If you can predict how much you will need over the course of several years, you can buy in bulk and save money.

Other cloud computing service providers may utilize different billing models in certain circumstances.

• The Google Cloud Platform (GCP) charges on a per-second basis. Unlike Amazon Web Services’ reserved instances, Google’s pricing approach for its computing services is just as flexible and transparent.
• Azure is Microsoft’s cloud service, and it charges its clients hourly, by the gigabyte, or by the million or so times a software is run. They also, like Amazon Web Services (AWS), let you book instances in advance.

3. Scalability

Finally, think about how simple it is to scale up as your business expands. Problems can arise if switching vendors is necessary because your first choice has to scale limitations. Time can be saved by ensuring you are not exceeding their usage cap.

It might be challenging to find the ideal cloud computing service provider, as you’ll want to find one that has all the capabilities you require without breaking the bank. You may take your company to new heights by working together to establish a mutually beneficial supply of resources.

4. Manageability

Ensure that your chosen cloud solution is intuitive for your staff members. You wouldn’t utilize it to set up something only to realize your staff doesn’t know how it functions. It’s as bad as any downtime could be.

5. Architecture

Think about the long-term effects of your decision to move your workflows to the cloud and how the cloud provider’s infrastructure will interact with them. Since Azure offers customer licenses for a wide range of Microsoft products, it may be a good choice for those who have already made a sizable investment in Microsoft. If your company uses Amazon and Google more than any other vendors, they may be the strongest candidates for integration and consolidation.

6. Technical Support

Even if you have an in-house IT team that can handle everything, they will still need to communicate with the cloud service you decide to use. Top-notch technical assistance is essential for helping customers with any issues they may have. User education can also include instruction in the use of specific new technology. If you want to successfully implement cloud technology, you’ll need assistance with the initial setup.

7. Service level agreement 

Essentially, a service level agreement (SLA) is a legally binding contract between a company and its client that specifies the minimum acceptable level of service the client can expect from the company. A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contract between two parties used in service-oriented architectures (SOA). Be sure to examine the nitty-gritty of each SLA to determine if there is anything that could disrupt regular business.

8. Locating Data Storage

Data storage in the cloud has become an absolute necessity in the modern era. The data is kept in a physical location even if it is saved digitally. When choosing a cloud service, it’s important to ask about the physical location of their data centers. You should know that the cloud service’s ability to restrict access to, and management of, your data may be impacted by the laws of other nations. For an instance, despite being one of the top cloud service providers, Alibaba is only used within China and has very little traction elsewhere. This isn’t due to a lackluster product or service, but rather concerns about China’s legal mechanisms for coercing the disclosure of proprietary information. There is also the possibility that the data center could be damaged by natural catastrophes like tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes. The assurance that your data will be safe and preserved in the event of an emergency is an important consideration when choosing a cloud provider.

Conclusion

When evaluating potential service providers, it’s important to take into account both hard (such as certifications and standards) and soft (such as client feedback in the form of case studies and testimonials) considerations.

You can save yourself a lot of trouble in the long run if you think ahead and take precautions to avoid being locked in. Spend some time getting the service level agreements (SLAs) and the terms of the contract right, as these are the primary means by which you may be sure the services will be provided as promised.