Buying cloud computing services is not as easy as buying nuts and bolts for your computer. Before committing to cloud computing services provider, you have first of all to consider these practical guidelines and questions.
1. Have you prepared your applications?
Top consideration is figuring out whether an application needs modifications or a complete re-architecting for use in the cloud. Disregarding this issue might even defeat the purpose of using a cloud service. In the cloud, you have this infinite amount of compute and storage, but your application, designed to run inside fixed-size computing environment, couldn’t take advantage of it.
2. Where is your data?
A cloud provider isn’t going to share nitty-gritty network details — nor should you need to delve into the cloud at such a granular level; but you need to understand where your data resides in the cloud from a logical perspective. Your cloud provider will allow you to designate geographically where your data resides.
3. How is data being protected?
Working with a cloud provider allowing geographic designations also can help assuage concerns over security. Cloud must provide privacy, regulatory types of requirements and security which can determine what is goes out of the cloud. Security requirements mean encrypting data while in transit and at rest, using security protocols.
4. What’s the expectation from its customer support?
Support might be:
- in the form of pre-packaged application suites,
- offering a CRM application suite,
- help migrating the company’s platform from a hosted environment to a cloud service,
- launch an application that quickly went viral and became a case study for cloud scalability.
- show real-time performance monitoring and performance statistics and deliver trended reporting, and
- provide about troubleshooting processes.
5. What about exit strategy?
Equally important is what will you do in case you would need to move the data and applications of your company to another provider? Cloud decision-makers must consider application portability, too.
Take these considerations seriously when you buy cloud computing services.
