When it comes to choosing a cloud hosting service, it’s important to make a careful decision. As cloud hosting companies become more and more prevalent, it’s important for businesses to be able to effectively navigate the seemingly endless menu of cloud computing solutions. Here are the top questions companies need to ask to choose the correct cloud hosting services.

1. How does pricing work?

Depending upon which company you choose to work with, pricing will vary. As a general rule, you should route around companies that demand large upfront costs. Instead, you should look for a cloud hosting provider who offers pay-as-you-go pricing, within which you’ll only pay for the cloud services you use. Commonly, you’ll find cloud hosting services that offer monthly, hourly, or annual fees, so it’s important to determine which payment schedule works best for your company.

2. What are your security measures?

Cloud security is a huge conversation right now and rightfully so. People use the cloud to store critical data, so it’s important to ensure that your cloud hosting provider is as secure as possible. A reputable cloud hosting provider will offer several separate security measures to protect your company data, and you should be wary of a provider who doesn’t require employee background checks, as most cloud security issues begin within a company.

3. What does your data center look like?

When choosing a cloud hosting provider, be sure to ask about their data centers. The location and security of a data center play a large role in the overall quality of the cloud hosting provider itself. As a general rule, larger cloud hosting providers are generally more established and secure than smaller providers. It’s also important to understand how a hosting provider protects its data centers from events like fire, flood, theft, and hacking.

4. What are your customer support options?

Every good cloud hosting provider offers customer service options, and it’s important to choose a cloud provider based on their ability to provide help when you need it. Ask important questions like how long it takes the host to respond to questions and how you can reach them when you need them (via email, phone, or text). You should also be careful to ask about whether the hosting provider offers customer service reps or cloud engineers to answer your questions.

5. Is your cloud scalable?

When choosing a cloud hosting provider, it’s important to choose a service that can scale according to your business needs. As your business grows, your cloud service provider needs to be able to grow to accommodate your increased sales and data needs. For this reason, it’s important to choose a cloud service provider who offers additional storage options and scalable service solutions. This will help ensure that your cloud solutions continue to work for you in the long run.

Finding the Right Cloud Hosting Service for You

As more companies begin to offer cloud hosting services, it can be difficult for companies to sift through the seemingly endless options. Fortunately, these five questions can help companies determine which cloud hosting solutions are best for them. From considering things like the hosting platform’s scalability to its ability to cater to customer service requests, asking these questions will help ensure that your company winds up with the cloud hosting provider it truly needs to function optimally in the long run. To learn more about choosing a cloud hosting platform, contact Allied Telecom today.