How to evaluate a cloud computing vendor?
If an organization is willing to adopt cloud computing then what steps should it follow in order to access which vendor is the most suitable? How it should go about vendor evaluation? What are the key points or areas that should be focussed upon?
Good Answers (7)
Sarath C.
Information Technology Manager for Sears Hearing Centres
Best Answers in: Project Management (2), Computers and Software (2), Planning (1), Starting Up (1), Computer Networking (1), Web Development (1)
I believe when you evaluate a cloud computing vendor you should use both your instincts and long term prospects of staying with them. Because most of the common "complaint" about cloud vendors is that they do low-ball with the pricing and then increase as years pass by.
So the analysis should be to see if they are "cash" hungry, see how they reach to the pricing structure and how well they "say" they will stay focused on as time goes by.
The next will be, see how you will use this product say 3 yrs from now, and what will be the development or business changes at that time, can your vendor support that and at what cost
Create a solid SLA and Backup service with the vendor. And make sure they adhere to it all times.
Dealing with international vendors can be challenging because of the legal issues/liability. As long as their branch in your country can be made liable to the any legality that may happen in future, you should be safe.
Check Data Centre of vendor (Gegoraphical Area)
Ceck Data Centre Level
Cross verify Backup Architecture
Check Internet requirement at client end to access Apps on Cloud
Nick O.
Solutions Architect at Datapipe
Best Answers in: Enterprise Software (2), E-Commerce (1), Computers and Software (1), Web Development (1)
It is important to recognize that not all cloud platforms are created equal.
Many cloud providers will want to win your business and there might be negotiations on price and commitments to the levels of service.
I would start out with finding out what level of support is needed for your applications within the cloud. If you are needing administration or custom monitoring that scales beyond ping, cpu, disk then you may need to look at a more managed solution.
Take a look at the SLA policy and evaluate uptime agreements what happens if a virtual machine becomes unavailable.
Additional; if you are looking for a turnkey solution that also offers additional services such as; Managed Database, Content Delivery, External Monitoring.
If you need some recommendations I would be more than happy to help out, good luck.
Bryan B.
Consultant and Problem Solver at Decomplexification
Best Answers in: Computers and Software (5), Telecommunications (3), Small Business (2), Enterprise Software (2), Customer Relationship Management (1), Nonprofit Management (1), Project Management (1), Databases (1), Information Storage (1), Wireless (1)
Don't ignore the terms of service. Read them carefully. I had a client using Microsoft CRM Online. This is a cloud/hosted application. The client accidentally modify a large amount of data necessitating a restore from backup. Microsoft support informed the client that they (the client) was responsible for backing up their own data and that Microsoft was not responsible for restoring it. This was stated in the ToS.
To Microsoft's credit, they did restore the data. The problem I have is that there is no good way to backup the CRM Online system much less restore it.
Make sure your cloud vendor has disaster recovery that includes user created disasters.
Nick C.
A jack of many trades and a master of some...
Best Answers in: Web Development (9), Software Development (6), Blogging (5), Using LinkedIn (5), Education and Schools (3), Accounting (3), Corporate Law (3), Business Development (3), Starting Up (3), Computers and Software (3), Venture Capital and Private Equity (2), Risk Management (2), Government Policy (2), Staffing and Recruiting (2), Work-life Balance (2), Internationalization and Localization (2), Change Management (2), Personal Investing (2), Small Business (2), E-Commerce (2), Information Security (2), Wireless (2), Commercial Real Estate (1), Facilities Management (1), Car and Train Travel (1), Certification and Licenses (1), IPO (1), Corporate Taxes (1), Economics (1), Exporting/Importing (1), International Law (1), Offshoring and Outsourcing (1), Tax Law (1), Advertising (1), Internet Marketing (1), Public Relations (1), Lead Generation (1), Business Analytics (1), Corporate Governance (1), Organizational Development (1), Equity Markets (1), Hedge Funds (1), Nonprofit Management (1), Inventory Management (1), Supply Chain Management (1), Personal Real Estate (1), Engineering (1), Industrial Design (1), Energy and Development (1), Enterprise Software (1)
The truth is, you simply can't evaluate the cloud vendor. The vendor may be offering the latest and the greatest, but there is no guarantee that a year from now, they won't have latency issues or oversold bandwidth.
Also, why would an organization be willing to adopt cloud computing at all? Cloud computing is a good solution if you need to scale on demand. In reality, this is something you need if you run a video-rich celebrity gossip Web site, not an organization... Absent the on-demand scaling requirement, you can do a much more sensible evaluation of "straight" hosting vendors...
Cristina F.
Technical Translations - Pharmaceutical Consultant - Lawyer -Chief Science Officer- I Do It- Creative Problem Solver
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (608), Customer Service (13), Health Care (13), Work-life Balance (13), Organizational Development (12), Career Management (10), Job Search (9), Education and Schools (8), Staffing and Recruiting (8), Business Development (8), Planning (8), Public Health and Safety (7), Change Management (7), Travel Tools (6), Internet Marketing (6), Biotech (6), Purchasing (5), Personnel Policies (5), Corporate Law (5), Public Relations (5), Customer Relationship Management (5), Ethics (5), Professional Networking (5), Accounting (4), Health Administration (4), Advertising (4), Supply Chain Management (4), Small Business (4), Mentoring (3), Government Policy (3), Government Services (3), Criminal Law (3), Writing and Editing (3), Business Analytics (3), Corporate Governance (3), Philanthropy (3), Branding (3), Blogging (3), E-Commerce (3), Computer Networking (3), Regulation and Compliance (2), Certification and Licenses (2), Freelancing and Contracting (2), Occupational Training (2), Event Marketing and Promotions (2), Budgeting (2), Economics (2), Mergers and Acquisitions (2), Compensation and Benefits (2), Exporting/Importing (2), Treaties, Agreements and Organizations (2), Intellectual Property (2), Property Law (2), Viral Marketing (2), Graphic Design (2), Labor Relations (2), Social Enterpreneurship (2), Project Management (2), Market Research and Definition (2), Communication and Public Speaking (2), Professional Organizations (2), Enterprise Software (2), Computers and Software (2), Databases (2), Information Security (2), Telecommunications (2), Software Development (2), Web Development (2), Wireless (2), Commercial Real Estate (1), Facilities Management (1), Conference Planning (1), Auditing (1), Corporate Debt (1), Risk Management (1), Internationalization and Localization (1), Tax Law (1), Direct Marketing (1), Guerrilla Marketing (1), Lead Generation (1), Sales Techniques (1), Search Marketing (1), Currency Markets (1), Equity Markets (1), Nonprofit Management (1), Inventory Management (1), Manufacturing (1), Packaging and Labeling (1), Engineering (1), Pricing (1), Starting Up (1), Energy and Development (1), Green Products (1), Information Storage (1)
I do not have a cloud computer vendor, I try to take advantage of what is offered for free, like storage room and some software; if I had to choose one I would look for references among the people I trust to give me that information.
Christophe P.
Founder at GetApp.com
Best Answers in: Software Development (4), Accounting (3), Web Development (3), Staffing and Recruiting (2), Customer Relationship Management (2), Planning (2), Small Business (2), Starting Up (2), Computers and Software (2), Business Insurance (1), Health Administration (1), Internet Marketing (1), Graphic Design (1), Business Analytics (1), Organizational Development (1), Equity Markets (1), Project Management (1), Supply Chain Management (1), Personal Taxes (1), E-Commerce (1), Enterprise Software (1), Databases (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
You can see from the links below an example of a cloud application vendor evaluation made by professionals. There is also a Cloud ROI tool and an article on Cloud software TCO that could be useful to you. Hope it helps.
