Cloud Hosting

Technical expertise is table stakes when it comes to evaluating IaaS providers. To ensure you find the right fit for your business, evaluate various IaaS providers and dig under the surface of potential partners who might meet your needs.

With no shortage of hosting providers available, selecting an ideal IT partner can be challenging. Help your search go smoothly by identifying specific criteria you must evaluate in a potential IaaS provider.

You must decide first whether to buy infrastructure versus consume it as a service. You've probably heard the myth year-over-year that 90% of workloads are hosted in the cloud, but the reality is they aren't. Moving the backbone of your entire organization to a cloud model is not as easy as headlines make it seem and creates potential issues in the process.

On one hand, purchasing IT infrastructure gives your team the ability to protect sensitive information and meet regulatory needs with complete control over the hardware it lives on. It also keeps with your finance department's traditional cost model. For some organizations, owning infrastructure is a must. You manage the total cost of ownership and have the ability to customize any solution. On the other hand, the upfront cost and the process of predicting what future resources you might require can be major deterrents. Between time, personnel and unknown or anticipated growth, maintaining your own infrastructure can rapidly change and demand more effort than anticipated.

McKinsey's 2018 "IT as a Service (ITaaS) Survey"reported a 65/35 split between private workloads and public workloads. This trend continues to shift the balance from building to consuming IT. Furthermore, 40% of companies use two or more IaaS and SaaS providers, narrowing the gap.

IaaS models' predictable payments provide agility and flexibility to grow or shrink as needed. In-house IT teams can determine the right mix of on-premises and cloud infrastructure for their businesses. No one-size-fits-all solution exists, but with due diligence and proactive planning, you can make an informed decision for your team and company.

When pursuing a combination of on-premises and cloud solutions, IaaS stands as an efficient option to lower the barrier to entry for the cloud. IaaS reduces the large upfront payment on hardware which may or may not be the correct infrastructure several years from now. IaaS is specifically tailored to the applications you use and it instantly frees up in-house resources by putting the burden of daily maintenance and upgrades on your IaaS provider instead of on your internal resources. Choosing IaaS has many advantages in itself, as long as the partner you work with is an expert.

Keep these seven criteria in mind when starting your search for an IaaS vendor:

Having candid conversations that address the above criteria can help you quickly identify winners and losers in your search for an IaaS provider. Your IaaS vendor should serve as a true partner, able to provide technology advice and a comprehensive strategy specific to your business goals.

About Hannah Coney

Hannah Coney leads ComportSecure's suite of cloud-based solutions. Her expertise in BaaS, DRaaS, IaaS and managed IT services helps customers navigate the transition to the cloud and optimize IT environments.

Excerpt from:
What to consider when selecting an IaaS provider - TechTarget