How to pick the best Cloud Partner for your business in 2021
Tags: devops, cloud, aws, azure
Published: 2021-03-22 07:37:29

***Best Practices to follow when choosing Cloud Vendor
Introduction***

The introduction of cloud technology has benefited many companies with fewer expenses and improving operational performance. Implementing a cloud approach and strategies helps the business to deliver digital innovation that has become the influencing factor for the business.

Though many cloud services and providers are offering different features for different sizes and areas of business. But the key concern is How you can choose the right cloud vendor?,  that can help you to leverage all its benefits within your budget and meets your business needs. 

The absence of a common standard framework or process for assessing Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), combined with the fact that no two CSPs are the same, also complicates the process of selecting the one that’s right for you.

Also the field has a lot of competitors in it, including the big three — Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) — not to forget the local and niche players.

**Cloud Trends Across the Globe**

Below data has been taken from `Flexera 2020 State of the Cloud Report`

*Increase in Public Cloud Adoption :* we do see an increase in public cloud adoption YoY, with more and more enterprises trying to get on Cloud or even Multi-cloud models.

Public Cloud Adoption trends
![alt text](https://mk0blogflexera9w0ogf.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Chart-9.png)
Image Source: https://www.flexera.com/blog/industry-trends/trend-of-cloud-computing-2020/

*Enterprises are growing their Public Cloud expenditure:* Cloud-first policies and cloud migration are at the top of mind for senior IT leaders, particularly in enterprise environments. As a result, enterprises are rapidly increasing their public cloud spend and also workload volumes.

Public Cloud Spend
![alt text](https://mk0blogflexera9w0ogf.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Chart-11.png)

**How to choose the right Cloud vendor for your workloads?**

The base for choosing the right cloud vendor may vary from organisation to organisation, as each organization has it pwn unique business requirements and needs for the cloud. So firstly, you have to understand the need of your organisation, why you want to go for the cloud, and what type of cloud service you want to avail. 

Below we are sharing some of the key points that you might consider while evaluating the cloud vendors for your business needs.

*Business requirement*
First, you need to understand your business requirement in detail. Then you should look for the list of providers offering that business needs. Each vendor has their set of specifications that they will provide and you can choose the plans accordingly. In this way, you can easily shortlist the providers within your operational cost.

*Cloud Vendor Cost*
If you are already leveraging cloud services and want to migrate to another cloud platform that can be costly. So choosing the right plan at the start is important. Before opting for any service, check for your infrastructure budget and compare it to the vendor’s pricing plans.

*Data Security*
Before integrating with any cloud service you have to check how secure is the cloud and understand its data security policy. If you are dealing with crucial data then security is a must and needs to be ensured. If you have a massive amount of data, then the location of the server(DC) also plays an important role to avoid the overhead for uploading and downloading the data.

*Technology Advancements*
Check whether the cloud provider offers you the latest technology or the technology that is compatible with your business needs. If you want to enroll in the latest technology then you have to make sure that your company has the in-house team well-dipped and trained on that technology.

*Support*
With the huge amount of data on the cloud, there can be many cases where you might need assistance from the cloud providers regarding any issue. It is better to have a vendor that provides 24X7 support. Cases like migration and deployment required professional assistance or a third-party that can provide you assistance.

*Reliability*
Before you go for any particular cloud provider you should check its reliability from the past trends. You must be aware of how the cloud vendor can handle unexpected downtime and data recovery during a disaster.

*Certifications & Standards*
Vendors that comply with recognised global standards and quality frameworks demonstrate an adherence to industry best practices and standards. While standards may not determine which service provider you choose, they can be very helpful in shortlisting potential suppliers.
Factors to help you choose the right Cloud service provider

Many factors drive your choice for choosing the right cloud vendor. But the one who can customize its services as per your business needs is the one to approach. Below are some reasons that will help you in choosing the right provider.

Services offered- As clouds are now offering on-demand services and costing for those services only. Cloud services are not limited just to store your data but also provides you computing solutions for infrastructure and IT networking. It provides hosting different applications on different platforms. So make sure what services you are looking for that will help you in selecting the right cloud provider.

Ensures faster software updates- If you are going for any cloud vendor, they provide you with easy and instant software updates. If any latest update is available for the services or applications that you have opted for will get an update in a few clicks. With cloud services, you will always be up-to-date in terms of the software version.

App performance- Before you choose any cloud provider, make sure that your application will be able to run on that cloud properly. As applications may work differently in some environments and are suitable for a particular architecture. If an organization goes for a third-party, it will surely help in avoiding common mistakes sharing the workload.

Consulting engagements- The consulting services may vary from vendor to vendor. Some cloud vendors ensure that they provide the best-consulting arrangement for their clients. It is one of the most important factors that allows the organization to choose their vendors. It can be a crucial factor for organizations if they lack in-house expertise for providing consulting support for your applications. Having a third-party at your disposal can help you bridge the knowledge gap.

Disaster recovery- With a lot of data and workload, it may be possible that cloud services may hinder and lead to disaster situations. Thus organizations want their cloud service provider to provide real-time disaster recovery solutions. Organizations should focus on this factor and investigate the process in action offered by the providers during data and resource recovery.

Multi-Cloud facility- With the advancement in technology and the need for different platforms to host applications that require different infrastructure requirements for various cloud vendors. It allows the organization to migrate easily from one environment to another with great ease. In those cases, incorporating a multi-cloud solution to your business can be the best fit and provides you with a lot of various features.

Service levels- If you are opting for a cloud service provider then you must look into the SLA they are providing. You must have a clear contractual relationship with your cloud service provider. You should consider the security of your data being hosted whether it has GDPR policies in place or not. You must have a legal contract that will back you up in case of any mismanagement.

Easy manageability- before choosing your cloud provider, you have to make sure that it allows you for easy management and integration of services and applications you have at your end. As different providers support different tools and can integrate with different services. Also, you have to focus on how much time and efforts are required by your team to manage large scale applications on the cloud infrastructure. This can be an important deciding factor for your organization.

Scalability- for any organization, the data and demand for the resources may vary from time to time. There may be situations when the company will no longer require particular resources from the cloud provider. Then the cloud provider will be able to de-provision those resources and ensure easy scalability during the changing company demands. Also, in case of rising storage or resource demand, the cloud provider will be able to allocate those features at that instant.

Easy workload- it is a good option to choose a cloud service provider that will handle everything from the network, infrastructure to handling applications within a cloud infrastructure. It is more efficient than to have a team at your end and get it managed from a third party without posing a workload on your team. So look for all these facilities before choosing the cloud provider.

**Conclusion**

While the above points, might not give you all the information you need, but they can help you build a solid analytical framework to use when you are determining which Cloud vendor you should trust with your data and applications. You can even add granularity by doing a thorough analysis of your organization’s needs and requirements to discover additional factors that will help you make an informed decision.

Also we should think about long-term to avoid lock-in – avoidance of proprietary technologies and a clearly defined exit strategy to avoid a lot of headaches down the line.