Have you decided to make a full or partial switch to the cloud in order to work more cost-efficiently, more securely and more flexibly in line with your business needs? With a specialized cloud partner, you will reap the greatest benefits. We would like to give you a brief guide to choosing a reliable Cloud Service Provider (CSP).
Technical expertise and procedures
Technology, expertise and solid processes are inextricably linked at an experienced Cloud Service Provider. Be sure to check that you will maximize the benefits of increased flexibility after moving to the cloud. For example, it should be faster, easier and cheaper to implement, manage and upgrade new software and applications afterwards.
For this reason, check whether your potential partner follows fixed procedures and uses standard interfaces to quickly establish connections with the cloud. Since you are outsourcing management, it is also important that your cloud partner works with a solid system to permanently monitor and manage your network remotely. In any case, choose a Cloud Service Provider that can provide support for a hybrid cloud to ensure you always have all the options available and don't get stuck.
Efficient security and backup
When your IT processes run through the cloud, you need to be able to count on a cloud partner that secures everything perfectly. Cloud security involves not only the right infrastructure and technology, but also sound policies and procedures for authentication and access to IT systems. In addition, your partner must of course also incorporate physical security, with redundancy in the various data centers at every level. A perfectly built, secure and de-duplicated data center is the indispensable foundation for a reliable cloud service.
Outsource your IT to Cheops?
With these three tips, it can be done in an organized way without major hurdles.
Read the blogBut what if things do go wrong and you have to deal with a hacker smuggling in ransomware, for example? For those disaster scenarios, it is essential that you have a solid backup and a disaster recovery plan. A cloud partner that offers backup-as-a-service and disaster recovery-as-a-service takes all the worry out of your hands. So you can be sure that you have secure access to your critical data and applications under all circumstances.
A matter of trust
Outsourcing your IT environment and management requires a certain amount of trust in your Cloud Service Provider. If you can tick off the aspects above, you are starting from a solid basis. In addition, a Service Level Agreement or SLA is indispensable to clearly lay down the agreements on guaranteed availability, service quality and response time. Be sure to include agreements on reporting in the agreement, so that it remains easy for you to monitor the performance of your CSP.
The benefits of a Belgian cloud partner
A reliable cloud specialist is also a financially healthy company. So perhaps you are considering one of the large public cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS or the Google Cloud Platform. Be sure to compare their offerings with those of a more local player like Cheops, which focuses on the Belgian market. This offers a number of specific advantages: personal contacts and accessibility, but also the guarantee that you are in line with GDPR legislation. Moreover, you can combine the Cheops Cloud with the public cloud and with a private cloud. Cheops can design, set up and manage such a managed hybrid cloud completely for you.
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