One of the biggest benefits that cloud hosting provides to businesses is its ability to handle the security, backup, and support all by itself and allows the company to concentrate on the business end of things.
Cloud computing has emerged as the leading solution for:
- Businesses seeking to cut storage costs
- Ensuring that day-to-day tasks are streamlined
- Eliminating the need for excessive hardware or IT personnel.
With an ever growing number of companies opting for cloud-based storage, there is a growing concern whether businesses are truly getting their money’s worth with cloud-based providers. Here are 10 security essentials that you should absolutely look out for when going for cloud enabled IT solutions.
#1: Review the cloud hosting company’s testimonials
While many cloud hosting companies make tall claims, you can verify a good company from an ordinary one by reading user reviews. Third-party confirmations such as awards and accolades as well as solid proof in the form of verification from other users are a good sign. Request the cloud vendor to provide additional customer references and also do a quick run through on review sites to see if the cloud services meet the expectations.
#2: Opt for a Trial Session
Generally, top cloud hosting companies provide a free trial for users to test before making a purchase. If the cloud vendor doesn’t have a trial on the site, request for one via the contact information page. If the services are as good as they say, they should have no problem in allowing you to try out their services.
Explain in detail that you would like to be fully satisfied with their services before you go ahead and make a large investment.
#3: Transparency in services
As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to know everything that goes down with your cloud service providers. From the type of technology used to the secondary service providers employed by the parent cloud company. In order to better understand the type of infrastructure used by your cloud vendor, you need to be in the clear to operate your business functions reliably.
#4: Disaster Recovery Management
Unfortunate scenarios such as server crashes and power outages are a common occurrence in many cloud hosting companies. As far as your business is concerned, you need to be online 24/7 and such instances only cause a loss of revenue, this is why communication between the vendor and client is so important. Ensure that your cloud vendor can be contacted at a moment’s notice and can provide all details of any untoward incidents.
#5: The Success Mantra
Whether it’s exceptional customer support, excellent data-center infrastructure, or the best deals in the business, cloud service providers have their specialties. It’s important to understand this success formula so your company can understand if it stands to benefit.
#6: Contract flexibility and price protection
Many cloud computing companies offer protection from seasonal price peaks in the form of standardized annual price protection. What this means is, as a consumer you are safe from shelling out extra money during a surge in pricing for the duration of the contract or annually.
A violation of contract generally shows a bad licensing practice from the cloud hosting company, hence it’s advisable to only commit when you are fully convinced of the cloud company’s subscription terms.
#7: Integration capabilities on offer
Robust integration is something that most business companies look out for in their cloud vendors. It’s important to know if the integration has any limits such as short or long-term and whether they use a pay-per-use model. Knowing whether your cloud vendor has a skilled pool of integration resources that can be summoned when needed is critical for your business.
#8: Know your cloud’s security layers
Security features in the form of firewalls, malware scanners, anti-virus, etc. are some important tools that you need to have a good idea on. Apart from the software-based features, physical security features such as fingerprint control, remote surveillance, and protected server racks are some of the basic security protocols that can be expected from top cloud vendors.
#9: Data transport costs
A large number of cloud hosting companies attach a flat fee to the amount of data that is being sent and received by their servers. It’s important to determine the distance between the cloud server and you, as you end up paying more, the greater the distance.
#10: Should be Platform Agnostic
As a privileged customer, it’s your right to ask your cloud vendor if their infrastructure supports your choice of the operating system. This is very important as all your data and applications should remain in their current state without altering them. It’s the vendor’s job to support different types of OS.
