In years gone by, nearly every business would have had a dusty closet with an equally dusty old computer shoved in the back somewhere under all the clutter. This was usually known simply as “the server”. This device would usually house nearly all Internet and network services you needed. Often times this would be all of your files, website and email, a database (or two) all running on something like Novell Netware or Windows Server. As the Internet got better we started to see these new fangled online and cloud services start popping up all over the place.
With the proliferation of online and cloud services (also known as SaaS – Software as a Service), many businesses have moved away from hosting their own services and moved most of it, if not all, to one or more of the multitude of online services available. This likely alleviated a lot of headaches as you no longer had to worry about the server and it was someone else’s responsibility. If there’s an issue you can usually just contact support and they would get it all sorted out.
Jump to today and it seems like there are millions of these online services (and products). Here are the names of just a very few.
Which online and cloud services are right for you? How do you choose?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself about these providers when evaluating their offerings.
- Does this provider offer everything I need or do I need to go elsewhere for other services?
- Are there any conditions that lock you in or make it difficult to remove your data from their service?
- Is their price reasonable over the long term? If it is an introductory deal make sure to find out how much the service will cost after this period is over.
- How do they handle backups or data integrity and what happens if they lose data?
- What is the security track record of this provider?
- Have they had any security breaches?
- How have they handled any breaches they’ve had?
- Did the company disclose the breach and inform customers in a reasonable manner and timeframe?
- Do they offer any compensation or remediation services if your personal information or account is compromised?
- What are online reviews saying about the service or provider you are looking in to?
Even with all of the questions above, it does not necessarily cover every single point you should consider when choosing a new service or service provider. However, it is a good start and can set you on the path to making the right decisions for your business.
Choosing the right technologies for your business can be very overwhelming. You can get in touch with us here anytime. We can help!
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