Choosing a Cloud Service Provider

Cloud Service Provider

Cloud Service Provider

It’s official – the cloud is the future of business. The reasons as to why are many, but the most significant benefit of using the cloud is that it reduces the cost of operation and maximises profit. However, even since the technology was launched, the market has been inundated with providers claiming to offer the best cloud service.

But, how do you know who to trust? Well, you simply refer to the checklist below.

Security

Security is the first consideration to be made. According to some recent studies, the average data breach can set back a company by 3.6 million dollars. That kind of money isn’t something to be taken lightly. So, it’s extremely important that your cloud service provider offers top-notch security solutions.

Your cloud service must boast the best security setup possible because you’re going to be storing several gigabytes of data on it, some of which probably belongs to clients and customers. So, you could be putting them at risk as well.

The bottom line – don’t compromise on security.

So, don’t hesitate to ask all the questions you need to about security procedures and regulatory requirements. Hypothesize specific use case scenarios and test the service provider’s knowledge. Are they able to give you an answer or solution?

Compliance

Robust security features are one thing, but cloud service providers also need to ensure that their services are compliant with the laws of the state. As we stated earlier, customers’ identities are at risk. Plus, there is also the risk of your own business being in violation of the law for failing to use a compliant service.

With GDPR at play currently, it is of the utmost importance that organisations comply with the latest security and privacy regulations. Failure to do so will result in more than just financial losses. You could be looking at the possibility of your organization being asked to shut down permanently.

So, make sure you talk to the service provider about compliance.

File versioning

Collaboration and real-time syncing are some of the basic features offered by cloud technology. But, as surprising as it may sound, many cloud service providers actually fail to provide these functions as part of the service.

File versioning is one such feature to look out for. What file versioning does is that it allows you to track the changes you make to your files on the cloud. For instance, let’s say you have a file on the cloud and one of your team members decides to update it, it would be useful to know what existed before the changes were made, as a reference. In other words, you need multiple versions of the same file corresponding to each update.

Make sure your cloud provider offers file versioning. Though some may offer this, they’ll still have a time limit on how long they store each revision. So, make sure you discuss that as well.

Continued support

Finally, find out if your cloud service provider is willing to provide continued support. Support must be available to you round the clock. More importantly, it should be easy to access and mandatorily involve human expertise and assistance.

If your provider chooses to go the phone-menu/automated-voice way, it’s better to avoid them and find someone else. In cases of emergency, time is of the essence and sadly, AI-based customer support systems aren’t evolved enough to provide rapid response.

Also, make sure you’re aware of the terms and conditions surrounding customer support. Some providers have a time-limit. Make sure there are no such limitations.