More and more companies are moving to the cloud for email and data storage. By moving your business operations to the cloud, you can restructure your workforce, cut costs and manage your resources better. It also makes it easy for remote employees to work and access all necessary work related documents and work with other teams online. But with the plethora of cloud computing service providers online, it is important to choose a trustworthy cloud hosting. Making a wrong choice would incur a lot of angst, work hindrances and unnecessary expenditure.
Here are a few guidelines to help you choose the best cloud hosting service that suits your business needs perfectly:
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Know All the Cloud Services of Your Host
First analyze and understand all the cloud computing services that you need from your cloud service provider. Having clarity regarding your own needs will help you better in zeroing in on the service provider. There are several software based cloud applications such as Drop Box, Quick Books and Salesforce etc. which offers different kinds of services. Drop Box enables online sharing of documents and pictures, QuickBook takes care of online accounting and Salesforce facilitates online Customer Relationship Management.
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Understand the pricing structure
It is best that you understand the pricing structure depending on your needs. Usually, the charges are pay-as-you-go and reputed vendors, generally, do not have upfront charges. The billing structure for the cloud should be clearly on what you use and should provide you the freedom to add services when required. The fees are usually charged on an hourly, monthly or annual basis. The charges may vary from $1 to $100, depending on your usage.
Also Read: 5 Must Have Tools for Small Businesses
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Security of your data in the cloud
Security is one of the most important factors you should keep in mind while choosing your cloud hosting service providers. You should ask questions about who will have access to your data, does the service provide carry out background checks of employees to weed out potential cyber criminals etc. The security measures undertaken by cloud hosting service providers usually include firewalls, security audits, multifactor user authentication systems, anti-virus detections etc. Also, keep in mind that the service provider should also be able to answer questions relating to the legislation specific to your industry. Securing your data in the cloud is of utmost importance.
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Know about the data center and its safety aspects
Knowing about the location of the data centers and the measures the vendor takes to keep your data safe are as important as online security. You can ask your vendor all the information regarding his data centers and the steps he takes to protect your information from thieves, natural calamities such as floods, earthquakes, fires etc. The best way to ensure that your vendor has a safe and secure data center would be to check for an SSAE 16 certification. SSAE stands for the Standards for Attestation Engagements 16 which indicates that the vendor is compliant with the security standards of the industry.
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Find out more about the Back Up services
One of the most important aspects that you need to consider before choosing your cloud hosting service provider is to check what provisions for recovery it has in case your data is deleted or lost. Ask if the company has experienced such a problem before and what steps it has taken to increase data redundancy to prevent data loss. If the cloud provider doesn’t offer any backup services, you need to consider ways to back up your data in the cloud.
