Ask These Questions When Shopping for your Provider!

It’s the end of the year and its time to start thinking about 2014 and the restructuring of your IT contracts. If you haven’t already made the switch and investing in moving to the cloud, Gartner has predicted that over the next couple of years the cloud industry is about to sky rocket. With all businesses of all sizes switching to the cloud finding your perfect and preferred provider may be a struggle with someone just beginning to look into the cloud industry. We have compiled a list of some basic but informative questions to ask when choosing your cloud provider.

1. First of all ask the most basic question, what cloud services do they provide? Before beginning your search, make sure that you know your budget and what services you need. Know each technology and do your research, that way you know exactly what you are investing in.

1. Next ask about their pricing structure. Something fascinating about the cloud market and that some have found to be crucial for the success of their telecommunications needs is that you should only be paying for what you use. A lot of the time you can find providers who offer a month to month plan which in turn will save you and your company money because essentially you are only paying for what you use. Always make sure that you are wary of large upfront costs because reputable cloud vendors typically do not require that.

1. Find out the location of your provider and ask them how safe it is. Because you will be relying on your provider to protect your data, knowing their reputation and how secure their facility is, is a must. Make sure you ask the provider how they intend on protecting your data in case of any natural disasters and how it is secure from other clients. Make sure to ask what will happen if they lose your data. Although this is rare to come by, knowing a head of time will save you trouble in the long run. Be sure to ask what provisions are in the providers SLA (Service Level Agreement) that will address and take care of the potential data loss. What will the company do to compensate and ask to see record of if it has happened in the past.

1. Don’t be afraid to ask for references. A reputable cloud provider should be more than happy to show you a list of their references. If they are hesitant to do so then be wary that they may have had problems in the past and that could be a potential red flag for you that you may want to consider.

1. Another feature about the cloud is that it offers large scalability and growth. As your company grows in either way your cloud should be able to as well. So make sure that your provider is meeting up to your business needs. Find out what additional storage capacity and capabilities that they offer and what is the price difference, because having to switch to a new cloud provider can be pricey and a pain while posing risks such as data loss as well. Make sure you know costs a head of time and flexibility to avoid unnecessary difficulties in the future.

1. Next you want to ask how you will be getting set up. This also refers back to the pricing model. Make sure that they aren’t making you pay some unreasonable upfront cost. That is usually not the case with a reputable cloud provider. Make sure that you are well versed about how your chosen provider will go about setting you up and that you are aware of how to access the cloud. A good cloud provider will walk you through how to set up and install their devices to make it easy on you and your business.

Now that you know what basic questions to ask, it’s time to begin your search. To make it easier on you, contact AeroCom today and let your account executive do the shopping for you. Let us know what you need and your budget and we will quote you with the best pricing from your preferred provider. Contact us at (877) 465-3505 or visit our website at www.aerocominc.com