Migrating critical systems and data to the cloud offers immense strategic value, from reduced costs to greater agility and innovation. But realizing these benefits requires partnering with the right provider. When evaluating candidates, keep these essential criteria in mind.
The Breadth Of Services & Expertise
Look for a provider offering a full spectrum of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. This ensures they can deliver customized configurations matching your unique needs.
Seek out proven expertise in your particular industry with specific tools and solutions relevant to your use cases. For example, a finance firm would prioritize core banking capabilities. Avoid providers taking a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach.
Security & Compliance Track Record
When entrusting a third party with your data and systems, vet their security architecture rigorously. Review their access controls, encryption standards, vulnerability assessments, and compliance with relevant regulations like HIPAA or PCI DSS.
Ask detailed questions about their incident response plan, data breach protocols, and disaster recovery capabilities. Favor providers who exceed baseline requirements and treat security as a top priority.
Reliability & Performance
Evaluate historical uptime and performance benchmarks over the past year. Aim for at least 99.9% uptime along with robust monitoring and alerting. Inquire about any past outages, along with root causes and corrective actions taken.
Also examine the geographic diversity of their data centers and networks. Multi-region redundancy provides better protection against localized outages. Consider touring candidate facilities for added insight.
Scalability & Flexibility
Prioritize providers enabling dynamic scaling of cloud resources up or down as needs fluctuate. They should offer self-service tools to easily manage cloud servers, storage, and other components.
Auto-scaling based on demand is also ideal.
Prefer month-to-month contracts and pay-as-you-go pricing to avoid overpaying for unused capacity. Seek visibility into current utilization and costs to right-size cloud investments.
Customer Support & SLAs
Don’t underestimate the value of responsive, high-caliber customer support. Vet service channels like phone, ticketing, chat, and self-help resources. Are representatives helpful and informed? How long does it take to connect and resolve issues?
Study service level agreements (SLAs) governing uptime, performance, incident response times, and remedies for any failures. Are service credits provided if SLAs aren’t met? How easy is exit if you’re dissatisfied?
Pricing & Ongoing Value
Compare pricing models to find the best overall value, incorporating implementation, migration, training, and support costs. Balance upfront affordability with long-term ROI. What resources are offered to help optimize spending and maximize utilization?
Work with providers invested in your enduring success versus simply delivering the cheapest solution. Their partnership will pay dividends as your needs evolve.
Choosing the right technology partner lays the foundation for capitalizing on the cloud’s immense potential. Take a discerning approach when evaluating providers across these criteria, and you’ll find solutions tailored to your current and future business vision.
Conclusion
An ideal cloud services provider offers a comprehensive range of solutions and expertise to meet your needs, along with top-notch security and compliance. They must also be reliable, scalable, and flexible in order to deliver sustained value over time. Above all, they should prioritize customer success with attentive support and transparent agreements. When you take the time to carefully research candidates against these criteria, you’ll be equipped to make an informed choice. By making the right decision now, your organization can reap the benefits of cloud computing for many years to come.
