It has become common for businesses to externalize IT systems. Solo professionals and established firms rely on cloud service providers for various computing needs. Since the evolving cloud market is quite large, making sure you pick the right service provider is critical to follow the path of success. On the one hand, there are market giants offering cloud servers. On the other hand, you can find small niche players offering scalable cloud solutions.
The question is: How will you pick a cloud hosting service provider?
Making a random choice may only fulfill some short-term goals. However, if you look at the transition to the cloud from a long-term perspective, you must follow a well-defined process to select a cloud hosting service provider that can meet your unique needs.
Here, we have distilled some of the critical factors you can assess the reliability and capability of a cloud solution provider.
1. Organisational Health and Processes
The overall track record of stability and operational success over the long term determines the service quality of a cloud solution provider. It would be best if you considered the following pointers to get an idea of the firm’s health:
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Risk management policies
Your cloud hosting provider should have well-defined policies to manage business-related risk. In case of involving third-party service providers for IT support, the company should have a stringent vendor assessment process.
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Brand reputation
It means checking the presence of a cloud service provider in the market and its clientele. You can learn more about this aspect by reading reviews from clients or asking for recommendations from peers in your industry.
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Technical know-how
The service provider you hire should understand your needs and expectations to customize the hosting solutions offered. This understanding comes after having significant experience in delivering cloud services.
2. Technical Capabilities
Your cloud hosting provider should have the expertise in deployment, maintenance, and upgrade of the required cloud infrastructure.
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Ease of Software Migration
Once you have decided to host your business applications on the cloud, the service provider you hire should have mechanisms to support the migration process. This is extremely important if you are new to working in a cloud-hosted environment.
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Hosting Plan Change Management
Cloud hosting allows you to switch between different hosting plans based on your business needs. This way, you will only pay for what you use during a specific period. However, depending on the business type, which can be seasonal, you might need to switch between plans more than once a year. Hence, there should be a defined process for the change in the hosting plan whenever required.
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Scalability Support
Even if you do not have plans to upgrade or downgrade your cloud hosting plan, you must ensure the cloud service provider offers scalability benefits. It has advantages that you may like to explore later.
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3. Administration
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Resource Monitoring
Ideally, it is expected that a cloud service provider has adequate control over the cloud resources to track and manage the services offered to different clients. This will also help you in understanding how you and your team utilize the benefits of the cloud.
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Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Having SLAs backing the cloud services help in ensuring that the providers are accountable for the promised service. Any issues with the service quality can then be raised as per the terms defined in the SLA.
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Billing and Accounting
This aspect of cloud services should be automated and transparent to keep track of the resources in use and the related cost. This will also help you avoid unexpected bills.
To learn more about our best-in-class cloud hosting services, get in touch with us at 1-855-583-7486.
