Private cloud services are one of the leading, faster-growing sectors in tech right now. The reasons for this are plenty. It’s clear that, with the pressing need that many companies have for high-quality storage and infrastructure solutions these days, businesses can find their way by providing services that are up to the task.
Yes, for many companies building their own private cloud infrastructure can be more effective yet pricier, demanding all kinds of resources in order to operate as needed: from experienced IT professionals to up-to-date hardware.
This may be your case. Getting to a third party for your cloud needs can be more convenient indeed. The decision of choosing a provider can release your business from a long list of duties and responsibilities.
However, today there is a vast array of options in terms of private cloud providers. We must use smart criteria if we plan to work with the right people and make the most of their private cloud solutions.
In the following lines, we’ll address three different criteria we advise to use when it comes to choosing a private cloud provider.
Location and Compliance
Regulations that exist for cloud storage and usage vary depending on the geographic location of both the servers you are paying to use and your own business. Privacy laws are evolving constantly, causing confusion.
The good news is that these regulations are increasingly becoming more and more global and standard. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to always consider the location of the private cloud provider and, in consequence, the correspondent regulations.
This way, your business can guarantee full compliance in terms of data privacy and cloud solutions. Failing to do so, can lead your business to fines from public regulators.
Automation Capabilities
While having an admin on your team will be necessary for your business to enjoy the perks of a private cloud solution, automating repetitive workflows is a must in order to maximize productivity.
Dell Cloud Manager, Puppet, and RightScale, to say a few, are extraordinary tools that allow admins to use automation on their favor. Resource provisioning, reporting, and environment monitoring, tasks that aren’t only repetitive but time-consuming, can be automated by using any of these tools.
However, it’s important to have this in consideration when choosing a provider. You must be certain of the solution’s capabilities before hiring the service. Making sure of this will set your business on track to efficient automation.
Compatibility
Without a doubt, the private cloud solution to choose must be absolutely compatible with the human and infrastructure factors of your business. First, your team must be familiar with the technologies to implement through the cloud provider. This is key to reduce the learning curve and the possibility of potential issues that may arise not understanding properly.
Then, we have the infrastructure factor. The cloud solution must be fully integrable with the existent IT stack and workflows. If this requirement isn’t met, performance and scalability problems can easily arise over time. This is especially true if the private cloud solution that is being implemented will be foundational for the products and services provided by your business. In that case, absolute reliability is a must.