Six Questions to Ask Prospective Cloud Providers
Searching for a cloud computing solution? The reality is that accomplishing this may be a little trickier then you suspect. As the cloud storage revolution has exploded, a myriad of cloud computing providers have sprung into being, each offering services that vary greatly
Finding the cloud solution to match YOUR needs
What you need is a solution to match your unique needs. So as you shop for the right cloud computing provider, use the following checklist as a guide:
1. What types of software, hardware and facilities are used?
Don’t just accept the information offered in the Service Level Agreement (SLA). Most cloud solution providers are not likely to realign their SLAs to cover the business loss in case of outage. For this reason, it’s important to ensure that the environment is built properly using enterprise grade platforms.
2. Can my physical and virtual environments be intermixed?
All your platforms may not be ready for the cloud or virtualization. Because of this, make sure that your cloud provider offers physical colocation in combination with their cloud services. If your platforms in the cloud need to speak to applications on other platforms outside the cloud, it’s important to have this flexibility of physical colocation interoperation.
3. How do you measure performance in the cloud?
To safeguard against poor performance, make sure the provider offers a monitoring solution that includes a detailed overview for Network Capacity (Mbps), Memory Capacity (GB), Disk Capacity (GB), Disk IO (IOPS), and Compute (Varies).
4. How is support handled? What is your staff’s level of technical competence?
Even if support is always available and always accessible, it is important that the support staff can offer the skills, knowledge and expertise that match your specific platforms and applications.
5. How much visibility will auditors have? What compliance will the cloud support?
New regulations and standards are being created as information technology environments continue to contain more personal, private and sensitive data. This means your computing environment and infrastructure will need to comply with stricter and more open auditing regulations.
6. Should I take a tour?
Always visit the data center your information will be stored. This lets you personally view their operations, inspect their environment, and further explore their security controls.
Of course, at Expedient we are always ready to answer any of your questions. Learn more about one of our strategically located data centers. Or contact us directly for more information or to schedule a tour.
