You’re the One for Me: How to Choose the Best Cloud Service Provider

Cloud infrastructure has brought about a new level of collaboration, pushing the boundaries of what can we achieve and how we can achieve. It is indeed the answer to most challenges faced today by businesses. And it is not yet done.

Cloud platforms and what they offer keep expanding and diversifying, presenting options to further our goals. And what’s more, the number of cloud service providers increases rapidly.

So how do you choose the perfect fit that is aligned with your business goals and needs? Here are five common questions you should be asking yourself to choose the right cloud solution.

1. Will the cloud service provider’s solutions solve my business challenges?

Million dollar question. The very first part of the research you must do is to find whether the offerings from the cloud service provider match your business needs. 

Multiple providers offer solutions for multiple challenges. While Dropbox gives you a solution to store and share files, Google and Microsoft go a step beyond by providing tools to collaborate with, not to mention mail solutions.

So ask yourself. What am i trying to solve here? Which challenges need to be addressed? Find the answers and then match them against the service providers’ offerings.

Whichever provider’s solutions most match your challenges, that’s the one you should shortlist.

2. How authentic and trustworthy is the service provider?

The best label that proves the authenticity of a service provider is the certifications they possess. Security is simply one of the biggest aspects of a service provider that you cannot ignore. 

Certifications like ISO27001 validate the security measures in place. Certifications and standards ensure regular audits and technology updates that ensure that your data remains safe.
We discussed at length about data security and why you can’t take half-measures at that in one of our earlier blogs. Feel free to read through it just to freshen up your knowledge of it.

3. What security features does the service provider offer?

Once again, good question. To ensure that your data is safe, your service provider must have security protocols on software, hardware, and process levels. We are talking about high-end encryption here that refuses to let even the most intelligent hacker decrypt it. We are also talking about the security in the physical data centers like biometric scanning. 

Google, although new to the cloud party, provides something most of its peers don’t – at rest encryption. This means your data is encrypted not just in transit but the minute it is created. It also has a very special security guard that patrols one of its data centers.

Why don’t you read this blog of ours and learn more about him as well as how Google protects your data?

4. What price do I have to pay for my service?

Tread carefully here. You don’t want to end up with a bunch of services you don’t need and then pay through your nose for them.

Always go for a pay-as-you-go plan. Just pick and choose the services you need and pay for them. The good news? Most good cloud service providers offer that. Even better news? Almost all of them provide the option of building on these choices for a minimal fee.

Google Cloud Platform offers very flexible and affordable plans according to your business needs. 

5. How good are their customer support services?

After sales is a headache, especially for the customer. You mustn’t find yourself at loose ends and with nowhere to go once you migrate to the cloud. You will have questions and you will need help. That’s where customer support makes a difference.

24 x 7 x 365 customer support is what is required to avoid downtime. After all, time is money. It is and always has been. So do some market research and find out the ones that stand out for their excellent customer service. 

Resolution time and experience are the basic ones you should be checking out first. Other than that, the support ecosystem must cover all platforms like online and physical. You must be able to reach and sort things through call, chat, mail and any other platform that exists.

The answer to these five questions will set you on the right path to narrowing down your list of possible cloud partners. Although if you ask us, we will always say, “Go for Google.” Econz Cloud has been supporting clients of diverse sectors on their cloud transformation journey through Google Workspace and Google Cloud Platform.
Need help? Just get in touch with us.