{"id":9487,"date":"2016-05-30T06:00:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/?p=9487"},"modified":"2017-05-11T09:42:35","modified_gmt":"2017-05-11T16:42:35","slug":"cloud-therapy-ep-004-questions-for-public-cloud-providers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/cloud-therapy-ep-004-questions-for-public-cloud-providers\/","title":{"rendered":"Cloud Therapy: Ep 004 &#8211; Questions for Public Cloud Providers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/cloudtherapy.libsyn.com\/e004-questions-for-public-cloud-providers\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9488\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Cloud-VM-Top-Questions.jpg\" rel='magnific' alt=\"Cloud VM Top Questions\" width=\"546\" height=\"273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Cloud-VM-Top-Questions.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Cloud-VM-Top-Questions-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Cloud-VM-Top-Questions-250x125.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Cloud-VM-Top-Questions-600x300.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In Ep 004, your host, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mikesmithaerocom\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Smith<\/a>, lists the top questions you should ask yourself before you start shopping service providers for <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/our-products\/cloud\/servers-desktop-infrastructure\/public-shared-cloud-servers\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cloud VMs<\/a><\/span> (aka Public Cloud). This list is the result of hours of research he did, calling tens of providers and asking them what differentiates their services from their competition.<\/p>\n<p>Click below to listen!<\/p>\n<p>For more episodes, find <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/cloud-therapy-aerocominc.com\/id1112772590?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\">Cloud Therapy on iTunes<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"border: none;\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/4397912\/height\/90\/width\/640\/theme\/custom\/autonext\/no\/thumbnail\/yes\/autoplay\/no\/preload\/no\/no_addthis\/no\/direction\/backward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/87A93A\/\" width=\"640\" height=\"90\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Too many Cloud VM options? Click below to have us tell you your top 3.<\/span><br \/>\n<script src=\"\/\/static.leadpages.net\/leadboxes\/current\/embed.js\" async=\"\" defer=\"defer\"><\/script><button style=\"background: #f26e22; border-color: #f26e22; border-radius: 4px; color: #ffffff; display: inline-block; vertical-align: middle; padding: 16px 32px; min-width: 192px; border: 1px solid #f26e22; font-size: 1rem; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center; outline: 0; line-height: 1; cursor: pointer; -webkit-transition: background 0.3s, color 0.3s, border 0.3s; transition: background 0.3s, color 0.3s, border 0.3s; box-shadow: 0px 5px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);\" data-leadbox-popup=\"144249073f72a2:136337e37f46dc\">MY TOP 3<\/button><\/h5>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/search?q=Cloud+VM%27s+%28Public+Cloud%29\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to see which Cloud VM solutions have the best customer reviews.<\/a><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><em>\u00a0See below for a full transcript:<\/em><\/h5>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/aerocominc.lpages.co\/leadbox\/1419819f3f72a2%3A136337e37f46dc\/5704147139559424\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/RB-xlCBQ9RJ3324Drdj1avFds6qFpI54rToFB1RpABQxRsBxoYdZZjmYtZ4jpb5ZvtOyI9Dgb0SVc5tv95OwTQ=s0\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><script src=\"https:\/\/aerocominc.lpages.co\/leadbox-1493060101.js\" type=\"mce-text\/javascript\" data-leadbox=\"1419819f3f72a2:136337e37f46dc\" data-url=\"https:\/\/aerocominc.lpages.co\/leadbox\/1419819f3f72a2%3A136337e37f46dc\/5704147139559424\/\" data-config=\"%7B%7D\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Mike: \u00a0\u00a0 So, when you\u2019re tasked with finding a new <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/our-products\/cloud\/servers-desktop-infrastructure\/public-shared-cloud-servers\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cloud VM<\/a><\/span> provider for your company, I know it\u2019s not the most enjoyable process in the world, but I can tell you, it\u2019s a great opportunity to really impress your boss by doing a fantastic job. How do you do that? By bringing a Cloud VM provider to the table that meets very specific company needs, and you show your boss how the big-named provider that they\u2019ve heard of does not fit those needs and this other provider does. Your boss is going to be very impressed. It\u2019s going to look like you really did your homework. It\u2019s going to look a lot better than if you just bring the big-named provider at the table and have your boss ask you a bunch of questions about why you didn\u2019t dig a little further to find other providers who might be a better fit than the big named provider. It\u2019s going to look like you didn\u2019t do a lot of work, you just went to big-named provider, and got your boss a price.<\/p>\n<p>So, I know what you\u2019re thinking though \u2013 How is this sales guy going to tell me which cloud providers we should use for our company? Well, I\u2019ll tell you. As some of you may or may not know, in addition to being the host of this podcast, I\u2019m also the owner of AeroComInc.com, which, if you haven\u2019t checked it out, go take a look, it\u2019s a review site for cloud and telecommunications service providers for businesses.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to being a review site, we\u2019re also a broker for all of those services. What that means is that we constantly get asked to do trainings and take a look at marketing material on all these different cloud service providers that we sell. One of the products that they talk about a lot is Cloud VMs \u2013 public cloud.<\/p>\n<p>For years we\u2019ve heard how great these providers\u2019 public cloud offerings are. Yet, at the same time, when I looked online at the IT forums out there like Spiceworks, Reddit, Stack Exchange, it seems like all of you IT professionals, the only service providers you guys are talking about when it comes to Cloud VMs are the big names. You know who I\u2019m talking about. There are probably two or three large providers that everybody seems to be using for Cloud VMs. Obviously, that\u2019s sparked a question in my mind. You guys know me, I\u2019m not an IT professional, I\u2019m a sales guy, so I\u2019ve never bought Cloud VMs for my company nor will I ever buy Cloud VMs for my company. I\u2019d hire somebody to do that. So, when it comes to the differences between the big names and the small names, I have no clue.<\/p>\n<p>What do I do to overcome my lack of information in a situation like that? I just go ask a ton of questions \u2013 so, that\u2019s what I did. I went to all these cloud service providers that were offering trainings to us and marketing information that we can sell, and I asked them straight up about the elephant in the room. Hey, everybody seems to be using these big-named providers, how do you guys differentiate from them? How are you different? Why should I tell one of these IT professionals that they should go away from the big name that they\u2019re comfortable with and try out a provider like you guys? How do I spark a conversation to even get them on the phone with you?<\/p>\n<p>So, guess what I learned? Wow! There are a ton of reasons why these smaller providers can do a lot better job for a company when it comes to Cloud VMs. They\u2019re not the best fit all the time, sometimes these big-named providers are the best fit, but, holy cow, there are a lot of really important things that you guys need to know these smaller Cloud VM providers can do.<\/p>\n<p>I know that you\u2019re super busy, you don\u2019t have a lot of time to research all these providers, but that\u2019s where I can help. This is my job, I talk to these providers every day, and so that\u2019s what this podcast is about. It\u2019s trying to bring you guys some of that information that I learned so that you don\u2019t have to take the hours upon hours to call these providers and find these things out for yourself. But, point is, there are a lot of really cool stuff out there and a lot of really good reasons why your company could benefit a lot more by using a different Cloud VM provider other than the big names out there. You know what\u2019s even better is, sometimes, it will actually cost you less to get more features and functionality than you would pay if you used the big-named provider, which means more budget money for you guys to spend on other cool stuff that you want your IT department to have.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what this podcast is going to be about. I\u2019m going to give you seven questions that you should ask yourself about your company\u2019s Cloud VM needs prior to shopping Cloud VM service providers. By doing so, you\u2019ll know exactly what you\u2019re shopping for and you will quickly narrow down the top 3 to 5 Cloud VM providers that you should be shopping for your company.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, but quick disclaimer first. There are, obviously, a lot more than seven questions, which is all that I\u2019m going to cover in this podcast for the sake of time. If you want my full list of questions \u2013 I think there\u2019s twenty-five or so, give or take a few \u2013 I will give that to you for free as a free gift. So, I\u2019ll give you a free softcopy of all the questions you should ask yourself prior to shopping Cloud VM providers that will help you find a better provider faster for your company. All you have to do to get that free softcopy is text the word \u201cCLOUDVM\u201d to the number 44-222. Again, just text the word \u201cCLOUDVM\u201d to the number 44-222 and I will send you a free copy of the full list of questions that you should ask yourself prior to shopping Cloud VM providers.<\/p>\n<p>Alrighty, these are the seven best questions, according to Mike Smith\u2019s research, that IT professionals should be asking themselves about their company needs prior to shopping Cloud VM providers:<\/p>\n<p>#1: Ideally, which people in your office should have access to your cloud environment and what level of access should they have?<\/p>\n<p>This comes because some providers allow all kinds of different user permission levels and visibility levels while some do not, and that\u2019s a big deal. If you\u2019re a big company with a lot of Cloud VM needs in all types of different departments, you\u2019re going to want to make sure that you\u2019re with a provider that has a very customizable user access.<\/p>\n<p>#2: Do you have common VM deployments that happen often and require templates?<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re doing the same thing over and over again, why would you ever want to start from scratch? Find a Cloud VM provider that allows you to build custom templates so that you can just, within a couple of clicks, spin up the same Cloud VM that you did before. That is going to save you a ton of time. As we all know, you don\u2019t have any free time, so time is definitely money for you.<\/p>\n<p>#3: Do your Cloud VM server needs fit in to cookie-cutter templates or are they more custom, like, you need some custom builds, you need to be able to mix and match CPU, storage, and memory, things like that?<\/p>\n<p>If that\u2019s the case, some providers lets you build every server custom and some service providers only give you certain templates that you can work from. Obviously, you\u2019re going to want to find providers that lets you build custom servers if you have custom needs. Why is that important? Because every time something doesn\u2019t quite fit into your needs, what do you do? You actually overbuy. You never underbuy for your needs, you always have to overbuy. So, you\u2019re spending too much money as opposed to finding a provider that allows you to do custom builds, you\u2019ll spend exactly the amount of money you\u2019ll need to spend.<\/p>\n<p>#4: do you ever build out some Cloud VMs and then, sometimes, they\u2019re active and sometimes they\u2019re not? Are they inactive, sometimes, for long periods of time?<\/p>\n<p>If so, you want to find a provider that doesn\u2019t charge you for your Cloud VM environment when it\u2019s inactive. Some Cloud VM service providers out there charge you full boat all the time, no matter what while others, actually, only charge you when your servers are active. Yes, that\u2019s true \u2013 only when they\u2019re active, which is really cool. Obviously, that\u2019s going to save your company a lot of money and allow you a lot of flexibility to build out a lot of servers and only use them when you need to use them. If that fits you, make sure you\u2019re asking providers that upfront.<\/p>\n<p>#5: Are you able to put your servers in to different groups that would have different access needs or different automation needs? For instance, do you want to automatically power cycle certain servers or every time a server\u2019s storage gets full, automatically upgrade the storage without you having to do it? Things like that.<\/p>\n<p>You have different needs for different groups of service, if that\u2019s the case, find a service provider that could group your server and automate tasks within those groups and also have different user accesses or access rules for those different groups. You can think of it in a million of different ways, but basically, do you have different groups of servers with different needs? If so, find a provider that can group your servers and almost have, like, a different total account per group of servers but without having a separate account. Do you follow me on that one? That\u2019s going to save your IT department a lot of time, and a lot of confusion, and a lot of mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>#6: Do you need to adjust the size or storage properties or do you want to add marketplace apps for each of your VMs on the fly?<\/p>\n<p>After you\u2019ve already built in, you\u2019re a month in, all of a sudden, you want to change something, something big. Does that happen a lot? If so, find a way Cloud VM provider that will allow you to do that so that you don\u2019t have to tear down the entire server, and rebuild it, and start from scratch if you need to change something.<\/p>\n<p>If your needs are changing quite a bit, find a provider that can accommodate that. Obviously, that will save you, again, a ton of time. Your company is paying you X amount of dollars per month to do your job, so if you can save time and get more done in the same amount of time, your boss is going to be happy. If you show them that you\u2019re finding ways to save you time by finding a better provider that won\u2019t make you have to start from scratch all the time and waste a ton of time rebuilding a server, that would make a lot of sense to them.<\/p>\n<p>#7: Are your applications utilizing streaming or <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/our-products\/cloud\/servers-desktop-infrastructure\/content-delivery-network-cdn\/\" target=\"_blank\">CDN<\/a><\/span>?<\/p>\n<p>Some providers are not a good fit if this is the case. Make sure you ask this upfront. Some of the niche providers don\u2019t play well in that arena. Some of the big providers actually do. If that\u2019s a need of yours, make sure you ask that upfront because you don\u2019t want to get two or three quotes in to the process and realize this provider is not a good fit for that application. So, maybe find a whole new Cloud provider or maybe just a cloud provider that caters just for that one application, but definitely something you want to know upfront that will differentiate one provider from another in terms of who\u2019s the best fit.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, so those are the seven questions. I hope you felt like I did that those will really help get you in to a better provider faster. Again, if you want the whole list of questions the twenty-five or so questions that have, I\u2019ll give them to you for free, no big deal. These are the seven best, but the other are pretty good as well. Just text the word \u201cCLOUDVM\u201d to the number 44-222. Again, text the word \u201cCLOUDVM\u201d to the number 44-222, and I will send you a free softcopy of all of the best questions you should ask yourself prior to shopping Cloud VM providers for your company.<br \/>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/aerocominc.leadpages.co\/leadbox-1464370531.js\" type=\"mce-mce-mce-mce-text\/javascript\" data-leadbox=\"1419819f3f72a2:136337e37f46dc\" data-url=\"https:\/\/aerocominc.leadpages.co\/leadbox\/1419819f3f72a2%3A136337e37f46dc\/5704147139559424\/\" data-config=\"%7B%7D\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; In Ep 004, your host, Mike Smith, lists the top questions you should ask yourself before you start shopping service providers for Cloud VMs (aka Public Cloud). This list is the result of hours of research he did, calling<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/cloud-therapy-ep-004-questions-for-public-cloud-providers\/\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more &#8250;<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[371],"tags":[562,702,574,422,667,429,436,438,428,423,651,677,654,659],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}