We speak to customers all the time about their desires to transition to more reliable and cost efficient solutions. There’s usually two types. One that’s launching a new app, and the other moving from old out-dated systems into something more fitting for their growth.
In both cases it’s not difficult to look past the most important but often overlooked areas. The benefits of Cloud Hosting, could potentially become roadblocks to your business.
Instead of losing sight due to luster, here’s three ways you can embrace Cloud Hosting and look like a next gen IT pro:
1. Controlling Cost (monthly or hourly)
Many companies desire the perfect solution but don’t need something big. Some don’t have a production ready application or are moving from a very old 32bit server with a few GB of Ram and old slow CPU. Within a few months of choosing a heavily equipped Cloud Server they realise it’s overkill. Instead of overspending, or being enticed by hourly hosting which you will likely leave operational 24/7, consider:
- Shop for competitive monthly costs for what you NEED
- Upgrade when it’s the right time (i.e. NEED has changed)
Look for ~20-40% savings over big name providers – you can often find a comparable provider with excellent uptime, low hassle at a great value.
2. Don’t Ignore Security
You would imagine that Cloud Hosting as a rule had security built right in. Often that’s not the case and you’ll be managing either security within the operating system, or have to add-on security as a service. Either way you’re learning something new and this takes time and it’s something you can mess up.
We think it’s best that your server is protected by a security service or device. When we were beginning to really grow several years ago we chose an IPS/Firewall to protect all our servers.
The two substantial benefits of having a managed firewall are:
- Server Ram and CPU not wasted protecting your server
- Time saved not having to deal with the impact of a security breach
I’m not recommending that you ignore application security, just save that for things that get through a well managed firewall.
3. Managed Services
Another way to multiply your savings is through capitalizing on managed services. This could mean you’ll spend less time handling the details and more time building the parts of the business that matter. Look for:
- Expertise with your software stack
- Automated monitoring & backups
- Really.. really great support
Be practical about expectations (bonus)
Finding the perfect service is not as easy as it sounds. I was recently reading an article about a huge deployment and less than satisfied (in the moment) customer. You can read the story here. The hosting provider had a bug, it impacted business – this is going to happen. Be practical about expectations.
Start with the problem areas
We encourage any business before transitioning to new and exciting services to also ask themselves where they feel things could have been done better with their old existing environments. This question will often lead to challenges that might be easily overlooked. Try managing those problem areas early on in the decision about transitioning to newer more exciting Cloud Hosting, and good luck!
If you’re ever in need of hosting Expertise, we’d love to chat. You can reach our Cloud/VPS Consultation Link on any of our VPS Plans Pages or sales through our contact page.
Tags: Cloud HostingCategories: Hosting