Cloud Service Provider: Most Crucial Factors That Help You Select The Right CSP

Cloud technology has emerged as the cornerstone for digital transformation. It helped companies enable agility, spur innovation, and optimize costs. Today, most companies are adopting cloud services to strengthen their business model and repair damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic. The global pandemic dented formats and SOPs and fundamentally transformed business operations. Given the significance, it's crucial to pick a service provider that best aligns with your company's unique characteristics and objectives. Here is a handy guide that will walk you through the process of selecting the right cloud service provider.

Who is the provider?

When choosing a cloud service provider, you’ll want to make sure that they have a good reputation in the industry. To know their standing, it's advisable to refer to reliable ranking indexes and company review sites. Its official webpage and social media accounts will also help you evaluate its goodwill. Next, make sure that the provider values privacy and has strong security policies. This is especially important if you plan to store sensitive data on their servers. Some providers offer free security audits during signup, or at any time thereafter, to give you a better understanding of their security framework (this will help protect you against potential cyberattacks). These audits may involve penetration testing or even third-party auditing services which vets applications before deployment into production environments.

Where are the data centers located?

The location of your cloud service provider is important because it will dictate how fast data can be transferred between the two. The closer you are to those centers, faster the data can be processed and delivered. This is especially true for larger businesses that are constantly pushing more and more information into their systems from all over the world. As such, choosing a provider based on its proximity to your customers will help ensure that you have access to high-speed bandwidth whenever needed.

While this may seem like an obvious choice for many companies, other factors should also be considered before making the decision.

These factors include checking the location of the company. While some countries, like Canada, have strict data privacy laws, others don't. Before placing your bids, check country-specific data protection legislation and ensure the provider is adhering to them. It's crucial to evaluate all the aspects of the ‘law of the land,’ as they will decide how the stored data will be managed. Understand how long classified information will be protected and how it will be used. Ensure the provider collects and processes confidential data, like employee performance reviews or sales activities (involving customers' credit card numbers), lawfully and maintains integrity and ethics.

What kind of cloud setup is best for you?

In some cases, a private cloud is the best option for you. It can be used to store your data and run applications on an isolated network while still allowing access via the internet.

A public cloud is more like renting space from someone else's hardware. It gives you access to their hardware, software, and network traffic so that you don't have to worry about security or performance issues with your equipment.

What kind of support will be available?

When choosing a cloud provider, you should be sure they offer support in your language. If it's not readily available and you can't get help from them, then you will have to look at other options.

If your organization has multiple locations or subsidiaries across the globe, then check if their service is compatible with those geographies. It's also good to know the size of their clientele base. If the pool of clients is broad and deep, then individual attention may be hard to deliver. So, choose wisely.

What about hybrid clouds?

Hybrid clouds are a combination of multiple environments (your on-prem infra, private cloud, or another public cloud) that can be used to create a single infrastructure. In some cases, this may be a wise choice.

From a security perspective, the public cloud offers next-gen gen technologies at scale; the private cloud offers greater control on your own servers and hybrid clouds offer the best of the two worlds.

Conclusion

Knowing the factors for choosing a cloud provider is a crucial skill. It helps make an informed choice, identify company needs, and formulate a budget for your cloud migration strategy. 

While deciding on the service provider, it's important to seek answers to — why do I need this, will it meet my business needs, how secure is it, what is the pricing structure, and what customer support they offer? The quest will help you understand your requirements and their offerings better. If you want to know more about what these providers offer and how to make an informed decision, contact us today! Our experts are just a mail away. info@qentelli.com