Over 60% of enterprises now use cloud-based services. Migration enables them to cut capital expenditure, reduce internal IT burdens and gives them the scalable resources to carry out large-scale operations, such as big data analyses, cost-effectively.
If that sounds appealing, one of the things you’ll need to find is the right hosting solution. Here, we’ve put together a list of the things you should look for in an enterprise-class cloud provider.
- High-availability and great performance
One of your primary reasons for moving to the cloud is to improve your IT capabilities. Central to this will be an environment that gives outstanding performance and high-availability. Before choosing a provider, always consider the infrastructure they offer.
If you are looking for guaranteed stability, availability, high performance and great manageability, look for a Hyper-V virtualisation platform. Its hyper-converged architecture, state of the art technology and host-level clustering provide redundancy, self-healing and superfast SSD-accelerated storage.
Protected from server failure, your mission-critical applications will be available 100% of the time. Look for a provider that offers 100% uptime, guaranteed by SLA. - Technical support
A major consideration when looking for an enterprise host solution is that 24/7, expert, technical support comes as part of the package. One of the reasons is that there will be a split between the IT tasks carried out; you’ll need to manage your applications whilst the service provider looks after the hardware, virtualisation software, server monitoring, operating system and any patching.
With such a split, it is vital that the provider and the customer have 24/7 accessible communication channels where expert, technical assistance can be given. These channels should include telephone, email, live chat and ticket. - Scalability
Enterprises are collecting and analysing data in ever greater volumes and using it for a wider range of purposes. One of the main benefits of enterprise cloud hosting is that it provides the scalability companies need to carry out these resource-hungry operations on demand.
Whether you’re having a peak in web traffic or running a big data analysis, you want a host that can provide the resources you need.
The other great benefit of cloud computing is that any extra resources you require should be charged for on a pay-as-you-go basis: you only pay for what you use. Financially, this can be a very cost-effective way to operate. - Compliance and security
Security breaches can have devastating consequences for enterprises and failure to comply with the increasing raft of regulations can result in heavy fines, the new GDPR regulation, for example, can fine up to ¬20 million or 4% of annual global turnover.
To give you the best protection, find a service provider that takes security and compliance seriously. For example, look for FortiGate Next Generation advanced firewalls that provide intrusion prevention systems and in-flow virus protection so that threats can be detected and isolated before they reach your server.
For compliance, make sure your provider is ISO 27001 accredited and that, if you store sensitive data or have a complex configuration that requires stricter controls, offers bespoke data processing agreements to ensure that any data they process on your behalf is treated in a way which keeps you compliant. - Provider reputation
Before choosing a cloud provider, we recommend that you research the company’s online reputation. With so many reviews available online, this should be easy to do. You’ll find customer feedback on sites like Facebook, TrustPilot or Google.
Past and current customer’s views can give you a real insight into the company, including any issues with their services. - Migration assistance
While the benefits of migrating to the cloud can be enormous, the migration itself can be a challenge. If not handled correctly, there could be disruption to your services, compatibility issues between the new operating system and your applications and issues maintaining operations while transferring your data.
A service provider should be able to provide you with expert guidance and assistance during the migration process, including at the planning stage. They will be able to point out potential problems, offer suggestions and help with the actual move, ensuring it takes place successfully. - Cost
Every enterprise needs to take cost into consideration, however, the highest priority is the long-term benefits any solution can provide to your business. In general, enterprise cloud hosting is much less expensive than creating and running your own data centre.
There is no need for capital expenditure on hardware, no premises to maintain and IT staff can be freed up to work on more productive tasks.
Do remember that not all cloud providers offer the same types or quality of service. Lower pricing doesn’t always mean the best deal; you may not get the same level of technical support team or the standard of hardware. These things cost a great deal and if you want the best solution for your business, it could be worth paying a little extra for them.
Conclusion
Enterprise cloud hosting is ideal for those businesses that want to take advantage of big data, IoT, artificial intelligence and machine learning. It provides all the IT resources they need to carry out those tasks and can do so with speedy deployment. However, the key to doing it successfully is to ensure that the cloud solution company you use has everything you need to make your migration successful.
If five-star rated enterprise cloud hosting is the solution you require, check out our cloud hosting packages.
