Key Assessment Norms to Choose the Right Managed Cloud Storage Provider

Could computing has been around for quite some time and has gained extensive acceptance across multiple verticals of industry Cloud based services have become inseparable parts of enterprise IT infrastructure. . One of the most striking reasons for proliferation of cloud services is availability of bespoke cloud solutions as per needs of an organization.

There is a plethora of cloud storage service providers ranging from startups to well-established IT giants. The multiplicity of cloud solutions is not only the most vital aspect of these services but it has also significantly added to perplexity of choosing the most appropriate service or a right storage service provider that can effectively cater to the organizational needs.

In the light of this, it is important to consider four important attributes of choosing the right cloud storage service provider before taking a final call.

Considering different parameters of data storage

Whenever we need to find a right service provider, we need to thoroughly analyze the types of data that needs to be processed or stored by the service provider. Types of data cloud characteristics can only be determined by assessing the needs of data storage such as straightforward data storage, storage of mission critical data, sensitive data storage, or data that needs to be accessed round the clock.

Evaluation of enterprise data under the heading mentioned above is a vital exercise in the initial stages of analyzing business needs in terms of data storage solutions. The result of such an analysis will help identify specific characteristics cloud storage solutions in addition to reliability and cost considerations.

To make it simpler, let us consider the case of non-sensitive data. Such data can be stored without hassles by using a shared arrangement of cloud storage that can also offer economy of a multi-tenant environment. In case of a sensitive data, one should consider elevated security of private cloud services that can offer greater security as well as privacy.

Assessing the level of data security

Usually, every storage requirement is backed by the need to keep it secure as far as its integrity and safety is concerned. Cloud storage providers include a large assortment of security features such as encryption, redundancy and security of data center facilities, provision of multiple data storage locations and so forth.

One also needs to assess overall reputation of vendor in handling different types of data such as a stationary data, data in motion, or temporary data, while designing appropriate cloud storage facilities. There could be many more aspects to be considered as per the level of security of the data that needs to be stored.

One of these parameters is the experience of cloud storage service provider related with specific types of industries. For example if you are operating in healthcare sector, then a Managed Service Provider that has a proven track record providing cloud storage services to healthcare industry should be your ideal choice.

You should also consider regulations that require data to be stored in specific location in terms of the rules of jurisdiction. Location for the physical storage of data can be influenced by the law of the land such as Data Protection Act and the same needs to be followed.

Significance of Service Level Agreements

It is important to confirm that your data storage requirements are properly covered in Service Level Agreements. You can ensure this by critically examining the SLAs to make sure that your service provider has capability of delivering each and every basic requirement of storage.

Organizations need to devote more time to customize SLAs in accordance their needs. An SLA provides a perfect opportunity to make sure that your organization gets exactly what is required from the Managed Service Provider as far as the performance and stability of cloud storage services is concerned. This can be done by employing experts to tailor the SLA to suit diverse needs of enterprises.

MSPs make large number of promises in terms of uptime and so forth. It is strongly suggested that one should dig deeper to understand technical aspects of such promises. It is a better idea to incorporate these parameters in Service Level Agreements.

Incessant network uptime is the most important criteria for assured availability of cloud based services. SLA based uptime guarantees uninterrupted business continuity even during periods of high traffic.

In addition to uptime, you should also assess bandwidth provisioning, availability of high performance load balancing, and routing. These parameters must be able to support organizational requirements. While accessing various parameters of Managed Service Providers, one should not only consider current needs but future needs of expansion as well.

Flexible and scalable resources

Cloud services are primarily accessed due to their remarkable ability to instantly scale up or scale down according to demand fluctuations. This functionality is available via a single click of the mouse and is driving number of organizations to adopt cloud services as part of their IT infrastructure.

In addition to on demand scalability, cloud service providers should be able to accommodate changing needs of customers with ease. The level of flexibility is one of the most vital parameters of any cloud service provider. It also allows ease of migration from one vendor to another without any hassles.

Interesting Topics to Read :