When used in a corporate environment, cloud computing services can significantly reduce operational expenses, while also contributing to a more streamlined workflow, allowing large, medium-sized and small enterprises to benefit from outsourcing their needs for hardware, software, applications and storage capacity. However, the service provider chosen must meet a number of requirements, so, in what follows we will present a few aspects to consider when selecting your supplier.
Competence and Reliability
When looking for the right cloud computing service provider, you must make sure the supplier will be able to deliver on all the promises made. You need a provider which is in possession of the right technology and is able to provide the best performance, continuous availability and 24/7 technical support. The supplier must be able to demonstrate all these features before you sign up to any service.
Security
Another feature that makes cloud services attractive is the enhanced security of your contents. Your supplier must provide several different levels of security such as identity management, access control and authorization.
Cost Tracking
One of the major benefits of cloud services is that the consumers can use exactly the amount of resources they need, and they will be billed only for the resources consumed. You must choose service providers that offer a monitoring system of your consumption so that you can have accurate information of the related costs at all times.
Customization
The cloud computing solution you choose must cater to your exact needs. In other words, you must avoid providers that offer one-size-fits-all type of services and, most importantly, you need the terms you negotiate with the supplier to be included into the Service Level Agreement. The agreement must contain the detailed list of the services you sign up to, the metrics used to evaluate the performance of the service provider, the obligations of both the customer and the service supplier, as well as the measures to be taken in case any of the parties fails to fulfill these obligations, and reference to future changes in the contents of the Service Level Agreement.
Choosing the right cloud service provider must be a complex decision making process that involves not only the management, but also the experts working in the IT department. If you are able to define your exact needs and you negotiate your terms with a reputable cloud computing service provider, the results will surely be beneficial for both parties of the agreement, making your operation much smoother and more cost-efficient.