Tips for Selecting the Right Cloud Services for Your Business

There are significant risks in migrating to the cloud. Think about it: you're leaning on someone else's computers, software programs, and network. Your success ultimately hinges on their data center infrastructure. The level of uptime, performance, and security you receive is all in their hands. Choose right, and you could see your productivity and revenue soar through the roof. However, choose wrong, and you could increase your exposure to downtime, security breaches, and reputational infamy. Cloud adoption is a decision that could potentially impact your organization for many years to come. Getting it right is crucial. So, in this post we've included some helpful information to help you find the right cloud services for your business.

Understand Cloud Services

Cloud services come in three different flavors:Software-as-a-(Service SaaS) provides a flexible alternative to the traditional software delivery model. Instead of purchasing a full license, you essentially lease the software on a pay-per-usage or subscription basis. SaaS covers a broad field of genres as application categories range from accounting and email marketing to human resources and project management.Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provides on-demand access to operating systems, web servers, databases and other platforms that run atop the hardware. Many service providers offer the ability to scale processing capacity based on activity, which in turn, makes application management both straightforward and cost-effective. As a result, PaaS has become incredibly popular among developers who want to focus on creation while leaving the intricacies of maintenance to a service provider.Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is the base layer of cloud computing — the foundation if you will. Instead of purchasing server hardware, storage devices, and firewall appliances outright, it gives you the alternative to lease those resources on a consumption-based model similar to your utility bill. IaaS makes it possible to deploy, monitor, and manage an entire data center infrastructure all from a remote location.

Answer These Questions

What do you need?

Cloud computing is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The right cloud service varies from one application to the next. This is the very reason organizations are increasingly adopting a multi-cloud approach by mixing and matching different services to accommodate different needs. Before deciding on any cloud service, we strongly recommend outlining essential requirements such as on-demand scalability, advanced security, and disaster recovery planning. This criterion is essential to identifying the required cloud services as well as the vendors best suited to provide them.

What's going in?

The data you plan to store will ultimately determine the best cloud service for your needs. If you're working around sensitive information with compliance implications, then some form of private implementation should be considered mandatory. On the other hand, if you merely want unfettered access to documents, videos, and other necessary files, a public cloud may be the perfect solution.

How will you use it?

The more people and furniture you cram into a house, the more crowded and congested it becomes inside. You can apply the same principle to cloud computing. Whether you go public, private, or hybrid, it's imperative to choose a cloud solution that supports your current needs, but can also scale as you accumulate more devices, customers, and data.

What's your budget?

Since you're not buying the hardware or software, you could shift investment strategy from a capital expense to an operating expense. While this shift lowers upfront costs, it also increases the importance of budgeting on the operational side. Pricing models, potential business growth, and capacity planning should all be considered when allocating a budget for the cloud.

Conclusion

Migrating to the cloud can produce fabulous results for organizations of all shapes and sizes. There will be challenges, but if you give the vetting process the attention it deserves, your chances of making the right decision are incredibly high. No matter how and where your business generates data, it always stays safe and available in our disaster recovery cloud. Contact us today to learn more about our online data recovery solutions and the products we offer.