If you’re in the process of migrating to the cloud, you’re well on your way to enjoying more flexibility, increased collaboration with your employees and customers, and much more as your business becomes more productive than ever before.
Once you’ve decided to adopt
cloud technology, there’s one challenge that you must deal with: choosing the
right cloud service provider for your IT needs. There are numerous cloud
service providers out there, and they all claim to provide the best services.
So, you need to keep these five factors in mind to ensure you choose the best
provider.
1- Costs
You should evaluate the pricing plans of several cloud service providers before you purchase a plan those best suits your budget and business needs. You should not just choose a provider on the basis of cheapest rates. You want to work with a provider that offers flexible pricing and allows you to scale up or down as your IT needs change.
2- Reliability
You need to work with a reliable cloud service provider that can manage the entire hosting environment, especially when your business handles massive traffic in uptime. You want a service provider who can consistently handle massive bandwidth and data exchange. Here is a quick detail about how to know if a cloud service is reliable.
Moreover, you should spend some time in reading customer reviews on third party platforms, like TechRepublic forums, Google reviews etc., and you will have a quick idea of how well a particular service provider goes with their claims.
3- Support
Support is another critical
factor to consider when shopping for the right cloud service provider. You want
to ensure that whenever you need help, you can get it quickly and conveniently.
Some service providers offer support only through a call center or chat
service.
You may or may not find this kind
of support adequate for your business. Other providers may give you access to a
dedicated support service, which may also have its advantages and
disadvantages. This means that you have to research the kind of support your
potential service provider offers before you enter into any deal.
4- Location of Service Provider
Location is another critical
factor to consider when choosing a cloud service provider. You should not
select service in a particular country merely because they offer more
competitive rates. You should realize that security requirements and
regulations are significantly different between locations.
One country may be committed to ensuring data security and would invest heavily in systems geared to curb security threats. On the other hand, another company may not care so much about security and would only focus on getting as much money as possible from you in exchange for poor services that expose your valuable business information to threats.
You should take the time to research the country in which your potential cloud service provider is located, and evaluate their security regulations and requirements. Consider engaging a professional technical consultant – Computers in the City, to help you find a good cloud service provider.
Related Reading:
Cloud Security Tips for Startups & Small Businesses
Conclusion
Choosing the right cloud service
provider for your business can seem challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. By
considering these five factors, you’ll be well on your way to finding the right
service provider without having to overpay or putting your business at risk of
a security breach.
