In recent years, there has been an explosion in Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and the cloud computing sector is now one of the fastest-growing of the entire computer and IT industry.
As more and more companies take the plunge and choose to migrate their digital services to CSPs, cloud computing provision is forecast to show a 19% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the next few years generating around $1,251.09 billion by 2028.
The importance of research
For most companies, moving to the cloud is a no-brainer in terms of the time, resources and money savings that can be gained. However, if you’ve decided it’s time to embrace change and move your IT to the cloud, you need to take the time to research the market and find a provider that suits your firm and its particular requirements.
Evaluating and assessing CSPs
Unfortunately, there is currently no established framework for evaluating CSPs and no two companies are the same. Just as with all other areas of life and business, what works for one firm might not be ideal for another, so you need to think carefully about whether a CSP meets your precise needs. Also, you will likely find huge diversity in terms of the pricing, professionalism, support and packages offered by companies, so you’ll need to assess the importance of each when it comes to your firm and which CSP you choose.
You should also consider your current IT operations and which platforms you might already have integrated into your firm. For example, if you already use Google Workspace or your team has Google Cloud certification qualifications, it would be logical to partner with a firm that uses Google Cloud services.
Basic questions to ask a CSP
Compiling a list of fundamental requirements is a great place to start when choosing a CSP and will help you stay focused on your aims so you can quickly whittle down your options. Below is a list of questions you could ask a prospective CSP. Note, the importance of each point will vary depending on your particular priorities.
- What additional services does the CSP provide – for example, can they run a particular SaaS business suite you want to use?
- What security measures does the CSP employ to protect data?
- How often does the firm take backups of data and how quickly can they be reinstalled in the event of a failure?
- Where does the CSP store data and, crucially, where are backups stored? You should look for a firm that has at least one backup data center and stores backups separately.
- If a service outage occurs how quickly can the CSP resume operations on average?
- How flexible is the CSP in terms of changing your package requirements?
- Does the CSP provide a management console so you can manage your services independently of a help desk?
- Will the prospective CSP provide references from previous or existing clients? This is crucially important – you should be very wary of any company that is hesitant or unwilling to show you client testimonials
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