A Startup Founder's Guide To Cloud Service Providers
Business data is essential in the growth of your company. It enables you to make wise management decisions and simplify your marketing campaigns. Without appropriate data management, you might not be able to help your company succeed.There are different approaches you can consider to store your business data. One of them is in the cloud. Make sure you hire the right service provider.This post features what you need to know about cloud service providers and each one’s shared responsibility models. You'll learn some important benefits of hiring one to help manage your business data. Besides, you'll learn how to choose the best partner in the market. But before that, you might want first to get an overview of the cloud storage platform. Continue reading to learn more.
What Is a Cloud Storage Platform?
A cloud storage platform is an online tool that can allow you to create, store and share files over the internet. In other words, it allows you to save documents in an off-site place which you can access only through an internet connection. Having data in the cloud is one of the best methods to enhance your cybersecurity strategy. Some of the major cloud service platforms or providers include Azure, AWS, and Google Public Cloud.
How Does The Cloud Work?
The data you transfer off-site is managed by a third-party cloud service provider. The selected company becomes responsible for hosting your servers and managing them. Besides, they'll ensure your files are secure.
What Is The Cloud Share Responsibility Model?
Cloud share responsibility means that the duty to manage your business data is shared between your internal workers and third-party companies. In other words, the outsourced cloud company won't be 100% responsible for maintaining your data. You can entrust your internal workers with some responsibilities and outsource the rest to a service provider.Different cloud service providers list down their individual cloud share responsibility agreements that their customers can review and choose to agree with or not before signing up for a subscription or service plan. As a golden rule, it’s highly recommended that you and your technical and legal team comb through the details before deciding to work with a specific cloud service company.
Benefits Of Hiring A Cloud Service Provider
Hiring a cloud service provider means entrusting part of your business data management to outside companies through outsourcing. It's one of the best ways to simplify your data storage and sharing process.Here are some benefits of working with a cloud service provider:
- Minimizes Your Business Costs
- Quick Adoption Of Latest Technologies
- Enhanced Online Security
- Reduced Business Downtimes
- Enhanced Data Law Compliance
Increased costs can be a major barrier to the success of your enterprise. This is because uncontrolled expenses can reduce your business profits. Your company might not achieve its expected growth trajectory with very high costs.Compensating permanent workers is one of the areas that can attract a lot of costs to your business. Note that, unlike other employees in the production department whom you can pay on a piece-rate system, this might not be applicable for your information technology team. You must pay them monthly salaries whether they're productive or not. This affects your business profits. For that reason, you may want to reduce your labor expenses.One of the best ways to keep your labor costs to a desirable level is outsourcing critical business functions – in this case, cloud data management.With a cloud management service provider, you won't need to hire a whole in-house (information technology) IT team. You only need a few of them to collaborate or work in support of the outsourced experts. This helps minimize your labor costs.The outsourced cloud data management company will also come with some tools. Therefore, you won't have to purchase and set up a complete data management infrastructure. Plus, shared cloud responsibility can help reduce your business costs.
Moving to the cloud is one of the basic steps to managing your online data. You'll also need to remain on top of technologies to overcome cybersecurity attacks.The world of technology is evolving faster than ever. You'll likely witness new technological trends, strategies, and inventions daily.Unfortunately, most online attackers aren't naive. They always watch out for any new technologies in the market to stay ahead of businesses.As a business owner, most likely, you're a trained manager. Thus, you might not know too much about major developments in technologies. For that reason, you might experience many challenges in adopting and implementing new technologies in the market. That's where hiring a cloud data service provider comes in.Cloud data management companies are also experienced in technologies. They can advise you to ensure you quickly start utilizing the latest technologies in the market. Adopting shared cloud responsibility, on that account, helps you stay on top of technologies and ensures your online data remains secure.
As noted earlier, using the cloud is one of the most convenient ways to access your business data. You can access it from any corner of the world. You'll only need to have a network-enabled device like a phone, tablet, laptop, and the like.But taking your data online may expose your business to hackers. Such people can steal or manipulate your critical business information. It's henceforth essential to ensure that business systems are secure when using the cloud.Maintaining better security of the cloud system isn't always easy. It requires individuals with exceptional skills and experience. Besides, it requires a person who’ll be there for your business round-the-clock. Hiring a cloud service provider may make more sense than working with an entire in-house team.Managed cloud service providers are experienced in cybersecurity. They can help implement the best strategies to keep your networks safe.Besides, most of these shared responsibility companies have enough workers to provide services 24/7. This ensures your business is constantly monitored for unauthorized access.
Like any other software, a cloud system is also prone to malfunction. This can be due to technical glitches or unmanaged risks. When that happens, your business may experience downtimes, thus affecting productivity.To some extent, your internal information technology may help monitor your cloud system. Nonetheless, they may not provide continuous support as they'll need to take a break from work at some point. In other words, they might not work 24/7. During that time, your business may experience downtimes.The best way to reduce business downtime is to work with a shared cloud service provider. They work round the clock to support your system or address any problem you might experience with your software.
With continued data breaches, the government continues to develop rules and regulations about sharing information. These guidelines differ among industries. For instance, the laws surrounding data transfer in health firms might differ from financial companies.You can be forced to pay fines and penalties if you fail to comply with data sharing laws in your industry. You can avoid this by hiring managed cloud services.Experts in the outsourced cloud service provider will advise you to ensure you're not working outside the law. Besides, most cloud service providers' servers are already built to meet specific industry data compliance requirements. Hiring a shared cloud service provider can be one of the most effective ways to ensure your business remains compliant with the set data transfer laws.
How To Find The Right Cloud Service Provider
As explained in the previous section, hiring a managed cloud service provider has several benefits. But you must ensure you select the right company.Here’s how to hire the best service provider in the market include:
- Check Whether They Have Got A License
- Make Sure They Have Sufficient Experience
- Ensure They Have Good Communication Channels
You'll likely meet with many managed cloud services online. However, not all of them are registered. Make sure you find a registered company.The best way to determine whether a firm is registered is by asking for a license. This is a document issued by the state or central government to companies wishing to provide services (cloud) to other businesses. Thus, to ensure you work with a genuine service provider, check whether they've got a license.Working with a licensed cloud data management company can guarantee you better services. This is because the government regulates such firms to maintain quality standards.Besides, before getting a license, the cloud service provider must adhere to legal and industry requirements. This helps ensure you remain compliant with the law when sharing your business data.
Another important consideration when hiring a managed cloud service provider is experience. An inexperienced service provider might not add much value to your business.The best strategy to determine the level of experience in a cloud management company is to determine the date or year of establishment. A cloud service company with many years in the sector may have enough experience to deal with your business data storage and transfer needs. For that reason, consider a managed cloud firm that has provided its cloud responsibility modules and services to multiple clients for a reasonable duration.
Most cloud management companies work remotely. This means that they'll barely come to your physical office. That's why selecting a company with better communication is essential.The selected company should be able to respond to your concerns or queries on time. In other words, there should be no delay in communication. Because of that, you may want to ensure your business cloud service provider utilizes modern communication media like chatbots to support live chat engagements.
Takeaway
Storing data in the cloud is the best you to streamline your business operations. It enables you to access and share data from anywhere and at any time. This is especially important in the modern digital era where remote working has become essential. As you take data to the cloud, make sure you hire the best service provider in the market.