Cloud computing has fundamentally changed how businesses operate by allowing remote services to compute resources delivered over a network. Organizations around the world are beginning to adopt this technology as it presents greater flexibility and reduced costs.
While companies still operate their own computing resources, they often do so at great costs and increased security risks. Rackspace recently did a survey of those companies that implemented cloud technology and found the following:
- 19 percent reported 25 to 50 percent in savings related to IT
- 54 percent reported that cloud services helped accelerate IT projects
- 56 percent reported increased profits after implementation
- 49 percent reported growth in their businesses
With results such as the above, it makes sense to look more into cloud computing. Before getting started, here are five questions to ask a potential provider first.
1. Is cloud computing right for my company?
There are instances where cloud computing services may not be appropriate for your business. For example, there are plenty of small businesses which wouldn’t stand to benefit much from such services. However, larger organizations can benefit in terms of reduced costs, improved uptime and better IT management.
2. How will my company be billed?
The beauty of cloud computing is that you only pay for what you use. Your provider should be able to tell you all available payment options in detail with the option to scale accordingly. Knowing this ahead of time will help determine if such services will help to reduce your overall operating costs.
3. Which accreditations does the provider hold?
Your cloud computing provider should hold accreditations to verify that they are able to maintain their cloud infrastructure. A simple background check will ensure that you are dealing with a reputable company and not a third party subcontractor.
4. What equipment is used?
You wouldn’t trust your sensitive information to just anyone. Quality is absolutely important when it comes to cloud technology and there are plenty of manufacturers that provide high performance equipment. Anything less will result in a lower level of cloud computing service.
5. What is the overall quality of communication systems?
Reliable networks should be guaranteed by your provider with limited downtime. The quality of the network will also determine overall performance as any lag could result in lost revenue. Ideally, these services should be connected to multiple communication providers to protect against potential failure in the network.
Instead of focusing on mundane tasks, cloud technology allows an IT staff to focus more on projects that directly affect the company. Cloud computing technology is already rapidly changing how organizations work and embracing it sooner could be the answer to increased growth.
About the Author: Jake Alexander is a free lance blogger who enjoys blogging about technology and computers. Follow him @JakeAlexander17.
License: Creative Commons image source
