Cloud computing is, on the whole, an exciting development for businesses – especially startups. It gives you the opportunity to tap into services that used to be expensive for a far lower price, for example. The cloud is a great time saver, too, completely removing the need for manual updates and maintenance of IT infrastructure from the ballpark. And every business blog you read will extol the virtues of the cloud for startups.
But that’ is not to say that every cloud service will be a perfect fit for your startup – indeed, many potential problems can arise should you choose the wrong provider. In today’s guide, we’re going to take a look at those issues and ensure you understand how to avoid them. Read on to find out more.
Outages
One massive – and potentially fatal – flaw with cloud computing is that most of the industry still suffers from availability issues. Even the likes of Internet giants Google have major outage disasters. As http://www.digitaltrends.com/ point out, when the Gmail service was knocked offline, something like 5% of its users could not access their email; a disastrous situation for any startup. The solution is to ensure you are looking at a provider’s service-level agreement, and find out what you can expect in the event of such an outage. Terms can often be complicated, so it might be necessary to pass on the small print to your business lawyer to ensure you get the best deal and terms.
Unaligned with business goals
As a startup, you will have spent many an hour defining your business goals, to give yourself the best chance success. But then you go and choose a cloud provider, straight off the shelf, that doesn’t align with your primary aims. It happens more often than you might think, and it is a bad move. Cloud providers such as http://www.tierpoint.com/managed-services/ are right when they say it is imperative that you choose a service that can tell you precisely how they will help you achieve your business goals.
Growth
While your business plan might lay out your 5-year business plan in depth, it’s unlikely that events will occur as you imagine right now. Your startup needs to be flexible and prepared for anything. So, while many cloud providers offer scaling opportunities, you need to ensure that your service provider can scale as much – or as little – as you will need.
Unnecessary costs
Cloud computing can be an attractive proposition. You are always guaranteed the latest and greatest software, for example, and it is rare to face a significant capital investment when you use cloud services. But this simplicity causes a few major issues. First of all, you could end up buying services that you just don’t need, full of features that are irrelevant to your business objectives. Also, that low monthly cost could be fooling you regarding the overall expense of using the service. For example, it might be cheaper in the long-term to use a copy of Microsoft Office for several years rather than take the subscription route.
Cloud computing offers a host of fantastic opportunities for startups – but not every service will be suitable for your needs. Think carefully, and avoid signing up with a provider without ensuring they can match your business goals.