Due to its elastic, agile and scalable nature, cloud computing continues to be a pillar of safety and innovation to support growth in uncertain times. Global spending on public cloud solutions is projected to increase by 20.7% to $591.8 billion in 2023. Despite inflationary pressures, this is higher than the 18.8% forecast for 2022.
With an increase in demand to meet the remote collaboration needs of an evolving hybrid workforce, it’s no surprise the cloud continues to constitute the biggest portion of IT spend for most businesses.
From cost, security and regulatory compliance to scalability, reliability and support, there’s a lot to consider when choosing the best cloud solution for your business. In this guide, we’ll look at the types of cloud solutions available and discuss important factors to consider when choosing the best cloud solution provider for your needs.
Types of Cloud Solutions
There are four key types of cloud deployment: private, public, hybrid and multi-cloud. Since each cloud type has certain limitations, understanding the differences can help you decide what best suits your company.
Public Cloud
Public clouds are computing services that are not hosted by the end user. Rather, they are divided among several tenants. Some of the most prominent providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud and Alibaba Cloud. In the past, public cloud services operated off-site — but now they are often delivered to on-site data centers.
Private Cloud
Private clouds are cloud environments dedicated to a single user or group and often run behind that user’s firewall. Once, on-site IT equipment powered traditional private clouds; however, the introduction of rented data centers has made location and ownership irrelevant. Third-party providers now offer managed private cloud solutions that give enterprises with limited IT resources access to improved solutions.
Hybrid Cloud
Hybrid cloud computing combines public and private clouds with on-premises data centers or edge locations. It allows migrations and workloads across environments, enabling businesses to build versatile infrastructures. Many organizations use a hybrid cloud solution as their preferred infrastructure setup, as it has the potential to reduce costs, minimize risk and help in digital transformation. Cloud migrations usually lead to hybrid cloud due to the need to transition applications and data slowly and systematically.
Multi-Cloud
While hybrid cloud combines on-premises private and external public clouds, a multi-cloud combines cloud services from multiple providers to meet specific workload needs.
A multi-cloud approach offers strategic advantages, like avoiding cloud data center outages or bandwidth problems. Multi-cloud allows businesses to customize cloud services according to their security, privacy, performance or geographic reach needs.
Types of Cloud Computing Services
The above solutions can be applied to a variety of service models, each of which offers different advantages. This makes it essential to understand the various types in determining the best cloud solution for your business.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS is a cloud-based service delivering software applications managed by a provider. Accessible through a web browser, users can use applications without installing them on their devices. Providers take care of software maintenance, updates and bug fixes for the user; furthermore, multiple users can connect to the software simultaneously — eliminating the need for local installation.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Platform as a Service is a type of cloud computing architecture providing customers with hardware, software and other tools to build, develop, run and manage their applications. It saves time and money, as customers don’t need to create solutions from scratch and can access available libraries, frameworks and templates to simplify and speed up the development process.
PaaS does have some potential drawbacks. Incompatibilities between programming languages and frameworks or a lack of the desired framework versions can create runtime issues. Legacy systems often do not work well with PaaS solutions, requiring extra money to customize and change the setup.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
IaaS is a type of cloud computing that allows you to rent computing resources — such as storage, servers and networking — provided by a third party, usually at a data center. This is the most expensive and reliant type of cloud service. It’s ideal for when you need big data but have limited funds.
IaaS offers a range of cloud computing benefits, the most significant being cost savings. Companies can outsource management of cloud computing infrastructure to a third party, which takes care of hardware and software upgrades, maintenance and repairs. IaaS provides service reliability and allows organizations to focus on core competencies without worrying about their infrastructure. Moreover, IaaS is renowned for its scalability, since businesses can adapt their service infrastructure to meet changing demands.
This scalability can, however, lead to unexpected expenses if instances are not shut down promptly. When using third-party services, software updates and security can also be a concern.
Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Cloud Solution
When choosing the best cloud solution to meet your business requirements, consider the following:
Goals and Impact on Your Business
Carry out a risk-benefit analysis to understand how cloud migration aligns with your strategic growth. Ensure cloud-supported technologies are compatible with your existing systems and applications; an addition, consider the potential business disruption.
Cloud Computing Security
You have a noteworthy responsibility to keep your client data secure. Due to the sensitive nature of data, the financial, healthcare and legal sectors are especially vigilant when it comes to security. Before embracing cloud solutions, you need to bolster security measures to guarantee data safety.
Cloud Computing Infrastructure
You need to ensure you have a secure, scalable and reliable cloud infrastructure in place to accommodate any amount of data. The wrong framework can lead to increased costs — as well as a computing infrastructure that is unable to meet your future needs.
Cloud Computing Model
You’ll need to decide whether a public, private, hybrid or multi-cloud model is most suitable for your business. With shared resources, public clouds are economical; however, security can be an issue. Meanwhile, private clouds offer more robust security, as resources are restricted to one organization. Consider your needs as well as the skills you have available to manage these resources.
Disaster Recovery Solutions
Before migrating to the cloud, you need an effective disaster recovery plan in place. Cloud migration does not mean that organizations can neglect backing up their data. A backup strategy is essential, allowing you to continue operating in the event of cloud downtime or a disaster.
Complexity
Complex cloud computing architecture systems require integration of multiple applications that are costly and time-consuming. Opt for a system that is user-friendly and requires minimal training time for employees to use effectively.
What to Ask When Choosing the Right Cloud Solution Vendor
Avoid costly problems down the road with a little pre-planning: ask these important questions to assess the best cloud solution vendor for your business.
- Does the vendor comply with recognized standards and adhere to industry best practices?
- How does the provider support continuous adherence to quality frameworks and security standards?
- Does the provider’s information security controls support your own security policies and processes?
- Are user access and activity auditable?
- Does the cloud architecture meet your workload requirements and match your management preferences?
- Will re-coding or customization be necessary to make your workloads suitable for their platforms?
- Does the vendor offer migration services and assistance in the assessment and planning phases?
- Does the vendor give you a choice and control over the jurisdiction in which your data is managed, stored and processed?
- What is the vendor’s data loss and breach notification processes?
- Assess interoperability with other tools and platforms. Is there a cloud marketplace with preconfigured services that integrate well on the same platform?
- To what extent can the provider unilaterally change any service or contract terms?
- What insurance policies, guarantees and penalties does the vendor include?
- To what extent is the vendor willing to expose their company to auditing and compliance operations?
- Do they encrypt data to protect it?
Incompatible proprietary technologies, inefficient processes, and contract constraints can result in future vendor lock-in difficulties. Consider the policies on contract renewals and modification or exit notice periods.
How an Independent Cloud Solution Expert Can Help You
Choosing the wrong cloud service can have disastrous consequences for your business. However, assessing just which solution and provider are the best match for your needs can be overwhelming. There are a significant number of factors to consider to ensure data safety, system compatibility and regulatory compliance. In addition, you want to secure budget alignment and avoid potential future headaches.
Don’t delay your choice because you’re overwhelmed — let Growth Acceleration Partners (GAP) help.
At GAP, we know exactly what to look for when matching cloud services to business needs. We’ll provide a cloud-independent report that considers your organization’s requirements against current public cloud offerings. Our evaluation focuses on application-specific workloads, prioritizing manageability, performance, availability and cost. Moreover, our recommendations take into account your corporate culture and the skill set of your existing team to determine the best fit for your organization.
Chat with a cloud solution expert today and we’ll help you navigate the best cloud solution to drive digital transformation and business growth!
