Picking the right cloud service provider is a huge decision for your organization. While the cloud provides improved cost and scalability over traditional computing, you do give up some level of control as a tradeoff.
As you look to move to a cloud platform, here are five important questions you should ask before signing a service-level agreement.
What security measures do you have in place?
This is the most important question you should ask. While cloud providers will ensure you their solution is safe, it’s best to look for industry standards such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (abbreviated PCI DSS) or Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70). While these don’t always guarantee security, they are a good baseline to determine a provider’s capability.
Where is your data center?
The importance of this question depends highly on the type of business you do. If you are involved with government-related work or store large amounts of personal information, you will want to work with a partner that has a data center in the United States. For other businesses, the location is less important, but you will want to ensure that the operator has the proper physical security systems in place to avoid potential disruptions later on.
What rules are in place for data?
This is a key part of each service-level agreement. While the cloud providers store your data, you want to ensure that there are written rules in place to determine the data’s ownership, especially once your agreement ends. You also want to ensure that clear rules are in place for who can access the data, what happens if the data gets stolen and what redundancies are in place.
How flexible are you?
One of the major benefits of the cloud is its ability to scale capacity based on demand. This is especially beneficial for organizations that know they will be busy during certain parts of the year or may experience rapid growth. Make sure that your cloud provider can meet these demands and that a structure is in place to do so to make sure you always have the computing capability you need.
What’s your downtime history?
IT downtime can be very costly, so you’ll want to see what your provider’s downtime history looks like. While no one has a perfect record, it’s worth checking the reasons a cloud provider’s service went down. This way you’ll know if this is a recurring problem or a series of one-off incidents.
Are You Looking for a Cloud Service Provider in The Bahamas, Caribbean or Latin America?
If you're thinking about switching to a cloud service provider, consider Cloud Carib. Located in Nassau, Bahamas, Cloud Carib is a cutting-edge, cloud service provider that offers private, public, and hybrid cloud solutions. If you're looking for tailored cloud solutions from a reliable provider, call (800) 390-2806 to speak to a cloud specialist.
