Cloud computing has made it possible for businesses to store a large amount of data and process information like never before. In fact, many businesses now run entirely in the cloud, which means team members can access the information they need and work remotely with an amazing level of effectiveness.
Choosing the right cloud infrastructure is one of the crucial points in establishing the right ecosystem for business operations. There are a number of important features to look for when choosing the perfect cloud infrastructure for your business; we are going to review them in this article.
Scalability
One of the main advantages of switching to the cloud is cost-effectiveness. Cloud servers are offered as services, negating the need to invest in expensive infrastructure. The existing services are also available at affordable rates, plus they can be used – even for the most demanding applications – with no initial setup fees.
The cost effective nature of cloud services makes scalability even more important. The cloud computing platform must be able to grow with the business for the solution to be truly effective. The best services can be upgraded and expanded at any time with little to no interruption to services.
Scalability also gives your business a competitive advantage. You can provide a reliable stream of information, both to team members and to customers directly, under any circumstance. This, in turn, will make the business accessible at all times too.
Load Management
Load management is a feature that many businesses still neglect when choosing a cloud solution to use. For small scale usages, load management may not be an important factor to consider. Most cloud infrastructure are capable of handling light to medium applications. More demanding tasks, however, require the cloud platform to be configured properly.
For businesses running an online storefront, load management is even more important. The last thing you want is to attract thousands of potential customers, only to have the online store crashing every few seconds due to bad load management.
Rapid Deployment
Today’s best cloud services offer something called rapid deployment. The feature allows businesses to set up their cloud infrastructure, including adding applications that support the companies’ workflow, within seconds. Some, naturally, do rapid deployment better than the others.
The OpenStack private cloud setup from Platform9 is a good example of rapid deployment done correctly. The cloud solution supports images and custom flavors, plus it can be activated within minutes. The system also supports containers and virtualizations, allowing Docker apps to be deployed instantaneously.
With the market being as competitive as it is today, having the ability to deploy clusters of cloud platforms for specific functions is a huge plus. Businesses can develop new solutions for both team members and customers without taking down the existing ones. All of these can be done while maintaining maximum cost efficiency.
There are other key features that will make a cloud solution more suitable for business use, but these three features are the ones to focus on first. By reviewing the key features offered, choosing the perfect cloud solution for your business will be much easier.