While it has been around for a while, Cloud Computing is still fairly new for many organizations. Yet it offers something immensely valuable and unique including superior scalability and flexibility with respect to application services and IT operations. Cloud has the greatest potential to meet rapidly growing and shifting business requirements in a cost-effective manner.
Because more and more organizations are building their businesses around the capabilities of their technology platforms, it is imperative for business owners to know whether their organization is ready to move to the cloud to scale out these capabilities. But how do you know which services are right for cloud and which are not? How secure are cloud services? How do you build a flexible environment that can adjust rapidly to changing business requirements?
Choosing the optimal cloud solution for your organization—and the right cloud vendor to help you secure your data and applications—is no simple task.
Benefits of Cloud Computing
Organizations may look to the cloud for:
- Flexibility & Scalability: If your organization needs to grow quickly or add functionality, most cloud solutions allow for instant adjustment to plans and users.
- Up to date application: The application your organization uses is looked after by a third party – updates to security and functionality is conducted centrally, (no need for your IT department to install patches and upgrades).
- Security and Disaster Recovery: Your data is stored in secure data centres monitored 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
- Cost effective: With a variety of flexible plans you can add and remove personnel and functionality as and when required, no large capital investment is required just a monthly operating expenditure.
- Collaboration with work anywhere benefits: Cloud solutions incorporate functionality to improve the collaboration as though remote personnel were still part of the office.
Choosing the right service provider
It’s important to choose a cloud provider that will work with you to design, build and support a customized solution that meets your business requirements for security, compliance and reliability. But how do you determine which provider is right for your business?
Below are four key criteria to help you choose the right cloud provider for your business.
1. Ability to service all your business and audit requirements
Look for a provider with a standards-based cloud environment and a security program that meet the regulatory policies and procedures with which your business must comply.
2. Service Level Agreements (SLA)
Cloud SLAs contain details in several areas, including cloud governance, security specifications, compliance, and performance and uptime statistics. When looking for the best cloud provider for your organization, be sure to compare and contrast the specifications for each of these areas among your top options.
3. Reputation and experience
What is the provider’s reputation? How long have they been in business? How much experience do they have with clients in your industry and how well do they understand your industry-specific requirements? Are they staying on top of technology and security trends and investing in new technologies?
4. Security
Consider not only virtual security but also physical security. Find out where the data centers are located and how well they are protected. It is important to assess the security software to discover whether it matches your expectations.
The Litcom approach
Moving to the cloud can be an ideal proposition for small, medium and large sized organizations. At Litcom, we conduct a thorough assessment of your IT environment to determine how much of it can be moved to the cloud and what, if anything, is better suited to remain in-house.
Litcom has professionals who are experienced in developing and aligning business and IT strategy. We can help your business understand the benefits offered by cloud computing and help you determine where the focus should be for your first project. Litcom professionals have real world experience integrating virtualized and cloud based solutions. Contact us today at: info@litcom.ca