By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Start Your Business Magazine
  • Store
    Merchandise
    Subscribe
  • Features

    Grow, expand and leverage your business..

    Grow your start up business with our experts and industry insiders…

    Get Started

    Quick Links

    • Agenda
    • Business Books
    • Marketing
    • Technology
    • Wellbeing
    • Finance
    Reading: Moving to the cloud 

    Our Newsletters

    Our website stores cookies on your computer. They allow us to remember you and help personalise your experience with our site..

    Read our privacy policy for more information.
  • Book
  • Trending
    Uncategorized

    Promotional Products That Boost Visibility and Loyalty

    In a world filled with digital noise, tangible, branded merchandise stands out…

    blog

    Scam Report: The Latest Trends in SMS Cyber Attacks

    Brands Most Frequently Imitated  by Scammers Many SMS scams impersonate businesses to…

    agenda

    Social Domestic Pleasure or Commuting?

    DRIVING TO A WORK MEETING OR A COMPANY AWAY DAY? YOU MIGHT…

  • Topics

    Topics

    • Agenda
    • Blogs
    • Book Review
    • Business Advice
    • eCommerce
    • SME Update
    Reading: Moving to the cloud 
    • Events
    • Business Experts
    • Featured
    • Franchise
    • Growing Business
    • Health
    Reading: Moving to the cloud 
    • Finance
    • Franchise Experts
    • How To
    • Interviews
    • Just for fun
    Reading: Moving to the cloud 
    • Lifestyle
    • Making money
    • Manufacturing
    • Marketing
    • Money
    • Property
    Reading: Moving to the cloud 
    • Starting Up
    • Taxation
    • Technology
    • Wellbeing
    • Women in Business
    Reading: Moving to the cloud 
Reading: Moving to the cloud 
Connect
Start Your Business MagazineStart Your Business Magazine
Aa
  • Magazine
  • SEO – Backlinks
  • Book: Start Your Business
Search
  • Agenda
  • Book Review
  • Blogs
  • Finance
  • Growing Business
  • How To
  • Interviews
  • Marketing
  • SME Update
  • Starting Up
  • Technology
  • Wellness
  • Contact
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • RSS
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Licensing
  • SEO
Copyright © 2014-2023 Ruby Theme Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Moving to the cloud 

Start Your Business
Technology
Share
9 Min Read

10 Aspects to Consider…

Why one IaaS provider is not the same as another 

Contents
10 Aspects to Consider…1. Global access and availability: laws, latency and location 2. Cloud management:  3. Application performance: 4. Security and compliance:  5. Data Back-up and Disaster Recovery: 6. Connectivity and networking: 7. Strategy and planning:  8. Onboarding and deployment 9. Support:  10. Pricing/Billing 

Written by Justin Augat, Vice President Product Marketing, iland 

Saying “yes” to a cloud strategy is the easy part. Eliminating on-premise infrastructure and management overheads in favour of greater agility, efficiency, security, connectivity, cost-savings and more makes a great business case. However, once the strategy is signed off, the hard work begins: how to choose a cloud provider to deliver IaaS that is “just right” for your business? That’s when the huge array of different providers and options can start to obscure your vision and make supplier due diligence a problem.  

Comparing quotes and services from competing providers without a strong understanding of your business objectives and success parameters can quickly result in decision paralysis or, if you rush the process, the risk that you may end up overpaying for unused resources or compromising on performance as a result of budget constraints. And that is the opposite of what the cloud should be about. Your “just right” cloud provider should deliver a service that fits your objectives like a glove and offers the right level of performance at the right level of investment.  Below are ten key aspects to consider when conducting due diligence and selecting the provider that’s right for your business. 

1. Global access and availability: laws, latency and location 

When your data leaves your on-premise data centre, there are likely to be limitations on where it can go. If your data needs to be physically held by law in a specific geography, you need to confirm with providers that they can accommodate this. And, once you know where the data is, you need to verify that this location won’t create latency or bandwidth issues that will negatively affect performance. Finally, check that the data centre location provides adequate distance between primary data and backup data in case you need to activate disaster recovery. 

2. Cloud management:  

Once you have your cloud you need to manage it, but how straightforward will this be? You’ll want to know how easy the management interface is to use. If it is API/CLI-driven, do you need to allocate internal resources to manage it? Will training be required and will the provider deliver this? What level of control and visibility is possible from the management interface into billing, performance and security?  

3. Application performance: 

Analyse your applications and determine where the balance between performance and budget lies for each. Mission-critical apps that need high performance and zero latency require more resources and therefore expenditure, whereas a lower priority app used less frequently does not need the same level of guaranteed availability. This analysis is critical to hitting the custom-fit “just right” sweet spot and avoiding costly over-provisioning or performance-destroying under-resourcing. Think about how your business might scale in future rather than about your requirements just now. Ask the provider how they’ll help you find the balance between performance and cost. If you have applications licensed on the basis of core CPU count, can the provider offer server blades with fewer CPU cores to match the license core count, to avoid paying for redundant resources? 

4. Security and compliance: 

Cloud today is generally accepted as offering robust security and compliance, but as the environment matures and regulations intensify, customer requirements become more nuanced, meaning the standard security provision may not be sufficient. You want a provider that is as expert – if not more so – on the regulations and restrictions that your business must comply with as you are. Data sovereignty, industry-specific regulations and general data protection issues are complex and you should be seeking a provider that can offer a consultative service so you can evolve together to ensure long-term security and compliance. 

 5. Data Back-up and Disaster Recovery: 

Not all cloud providers include data backup in their basic cloud service, instead bolting it on for an extra cost. That can come as an unwelcome surprise when you think you’re getting the whole package. Make sure you understand what backup capabilities the provider offers – both full and incremental – and whether they are safely located. The same goes for disaster recovery and this is a key part of supplier due diligence. Do they have a second data centre for disaster recovery and is it far enough away from the primary site to be unaffected by a physical interruption there. 

6. Connectivity and networking: 

When assessing connectivity and networking impacts, it’s important to understand what skills you have in-house and whether there are any deficits that will cause your team difficulties. You also need to understand business requirements and what the cloud service provider’s capabilities are. For example, many organizations have advanced network topologies that require the usage of specific carriers, virtual or physical equipment, co-location and software defined network options.  

7. Strategy and planning:  

Central to meeting your business objectives is the question of whether your applications are suited to the cloud IaaS you are planning to adopt. This comes with a raft of sub-questions, such as what CPU, memory, storage, bandwidth will they need, and can they be suitably backed up to achieve the required RPO/RTO objectives? It can be useful to seek providers’ support to cover all these angles for all your applications and develop a strategy, otherwise you will need to allocate internal resource or a third party consultant to get all this information and interpret it into a migration strategy. 

8. Onboarding and deployment 

When it comes to pushing the button on your cloud deployment, will you be doing it yourself, or being supported by your provider? Different providers offer varying levels of support, from DIY to a full concierge onboarding and migration service, at different prices.  It’s vital you know where you are on that scale and how much or little in-house resource will be needed. Your choice might depend on how much appetite there is for the inherent risks of migration, such as application downtime. If appetite is low, you’re going to want a provider who can guarantee that data is moved on time, with minimal risk.  

9. Support:  

Think about the level of support you need. How much internal resource do you have, and how much might you need to draw on your provider? Again, all providers are not the same. Most offer a basic support package, but anything beyond that comes at an extra cost. As the world moves to increasingly diverse working hours due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, 24/7 support is going to become more critical and you want to have visibility into that before you make the leap. 

10. Pricing/Billing 

Cost visibility is one of the oft-touted benefits of the cloud, so it’s frustrating that pricing and billing can often be so obscure and variable. During the due diligence process ask to see a sample billing statement broken down by line item. Make sure you delve into the pricing variables in the service, whether it is all-inclusive or what extra charges you might incur.     

Ultimately, moving to the cloud is all about removing the overhead and limitations of on-premise infrastructure.  All the factors discussed above might seem like a huge amount to consider but, when you look at the strategic benefits and value that a cloud strategy will deliver to the business, spending time to get your cloud “just right” is well worthwhile. It soon becomes clear that all IaaS providers are not the same. Taking time now to conduct robust due diligence of providers and drill into exactly what they can offer reduces the chance that the business will make a decision that causes problems in the long term.   

TAGGED: header

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Be keep up! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Start Your Business May 12, 2020
Share this Article
Twitter LinkedIn Reddit Email Copy Link
  • RSS
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Licensing
  • SEO

Get the latest from us delivered straight to your inbox

Start Your Business Magazine: The Ultimate Business Start Up Guide provides information advice and guidance for entrepreneurs and new business start ups. Get the latest from us delivered directly to your inbox.

Our website stores cookies on your computer. They allow us to remember you and help personalize your experience with our site..

Read our privacy policy for more information.

Copyright 2023 Gambit Interactive Media Limited – All Rights Reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
We use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Cookies are used for ads personalisation We do this to improve browsing experience as well as show personalized ads. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?