How to Select a Cloud Provider?

Once you have decided to move to the cloud environment, the first step you must do to select a cloud provider. There are plenty of them in the market but not all will suit your requirements.
 
Discuss your business objectives with the service providers, make sure they understand what you require and can converse in the same tone in terms of your objectives. You must listen to what they plan, promise to do. Up-time, speed, support are common goals every provider talks about. Try to understand what they say how unique they are and why you must use them.  How you will benefit from their services.
 
Where are the data centers located? How secure will your data be? It should be somewhere close to where your audiences are. You need providers that are available at multiple locations and can deliver your services without issues like network availability, latency, up-time cropping up.
 
The providers must follow the security architecture laid out by the Cloud Security Alliance(CSA) and British Standards Institution(BSI) and receive certification. View their track record about issues that occurred previously and how it was handled.

When assessing cloud hosting providers, check their security, data-handling and privacy policy. You do not want your client information to be splashed all over and misused. What protect measures do they offer? How do they ensure confidentiality of information is retained? What backup plans they have for your data? How quickly can they recover the data if it is lost?

Another important point is the exit planning. You must not get into a lock-in situation. Negotiate about the consequences, penalties, if you want to exit midway.
 
Cost is important. Compare costs but remember quality comes at a price. You cannot get anything free or cheap. If quality is retained, you can recover your investments better so, never let cost be a deciding factor when choosing a cloud service provider.

Was this answer helpful? 5 4