5 Questions to Ask Your Cloud Provider

Increasingly, professionals are turning to cloud-hosted applications and infrastructure to run critical parts of their businesses. Regardless of the size of the firm, it is critical that professionals do their homework when selecting a cloud hosting provider to ensure that the vendor can address their firm’s key operational and technical priorities. To maximize the benefits of the cloud and get the most value from this investment, professionals must find the right trusted partner with a proven track record of successfully delivering and supporting cloud-enabled services to businesses in the same industry and of similar size.

To help jump-start your search, here are five questions to ask prospective cloud hosting providers when considering moving to the cloud:

1. What is the ROI and the Monthly Fee? Does it Cover Equipment/Software?
Expense is probably the element most CEOs or managers consider first when it comes to investing in business technology, as budgets are often tight. Cloud-based service tends to be less expensive than in-house software. Companies that opt for cloud-hosted software and technology often find that their annual software expenditures decrease.

With cloud-enabled solutions, you don’t buy everything up front but instead pay a fixed monthly sum for the software and hardware. But, it is important to fully understand the monthly cost and what is delivered. Is it an all-in-one package that includes everything from disaster recovery to employee onboarding? Or, are there additional fees?

2. What Security Protections Does Your Cloud Provider Have in Place?
Security is becoming a greater concern for all businesses. Small and medium-sized businesses are tantalizing targets for cyber criminals. However, cloud technology can be more secure than traditional IT systems, with multiple layers of cyber security built in. Encryption, firewalls, multi layer access controls and backups are used to keep client data and applications safe.

However, many executives don’t look at the fine print when evaluating cloud security. Remember, your hosting provider’s “cloud,” which is holding your data and running your business  applications, is not situated peacefully in the sky. Rather, it is a cluster of blinking servers located in some nondescript data center. It is important to understand the type of data center that is supporting your cloud and its level of reliability and security.  Similar to how the size of an automobile engine determines a car’s performance, top-tier data centers directly affect the availability and performance of the hosting provider’s cloud.

The key question to ask your cloud provider is: what is the tier level of their data centers? Ideally your provider will have Tier 3 or Tier 4 protection, the same used by large banks and corporations. This will determine availability and reliablity of the cloud provider’s services and is a good indicator of the service level reliability.

3. How Scalable is the Technology?
Understanding the capability of cloud providers to scale to meet your technical requirements for growth is important.

Scalability refers to how well a technology product or other item can adapt to changes within a business. If your business grows, for example, the technology should be able to handle the larger load or be implemented across multiple locations. The ability to scale backward is equally important, however, as keeping the additional hardware, application licenses or accessories typically ends up keeping your costs higher than necessary.  

4. What Customer Services and  Support are Offered?
The transition to the cloud can be a big change for businesses. Your ideal cloud provider will work with you to get everything up and running so you can pick up with your favorite software exactly where you left off. It is also a good sign if they have trained support staff available 24/7 to ensure your access to data anytime, anywhere and on any device.

5. Does my Cloud Provider Have Experience in This Space?
Similar to an all-you-can-eat buffet, there are many technology hosting providers who claim to host a laundry list of web applications from their cloud. Be mindful that hosting virtualized software, like QuickBooks Desktop, and integrating it into your business while also ensuring it runs for your employees and clients, is not a trivial task. Make sure you choose a provider you can trust.

Rachel Krug is director of product marketing at Right Networks in Hudson, a provider of cloud-based accounting and business software. For more information, visit rightnetworks.com.