Your might be considering Cloud for any of the following reasons:
You Need Cheap Secure Offsite Backup. The Cloud can be an effective way to achieve this.
Your Server Hardware is Old. You have some applications running on a server that is aging and ought to be replaced. If “Cash is King” then saving the capital expense might be useful.
You’d Like to Reduce Your IT Costs. Sometimes a service that is currently provided in house such as email can be delivered more effectively (and possibly cheaper) by a Cloud Service Provider (CSP).
Whatever your drivers are, it is essential that you resolve the following important issues!
Choosing the CSP. There are a number of providers. Which one(s) are a good fit for your business?
Account set up. The last thing you need is to set up the account in a way that will leave you frustrated later.
Cost Management. You need to be certain that costs cannot escalate horribly because of a poor design.
Security is essential. How can you be 100% sure that your data (and your customer’s) data is secure?
This blog expands on the topics above. I would be delighted to assist you with investigating and providing solutions for any of these. Insperitas is also able to provide support for Cloud solutions.
Choosing The CSP.
The three largest providers are also the most flexible
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest CSP on the planet and offers a very wide range of services. The tools are relatively well known and can be adapted easily. For many this is the go-to place when beginning a Cloud Journey. https://aws.amazon.com/choosing-a-cloud-platform/
Microsoft are good at providing a Cloud version of services that they would traditionally provide by selling applications. Email is a classic example. For larger companies MS also offer a mature Identity and Access Management Solution based on Active Directory. Microsoft have a large network of partners and are “Enterprise Ready” in the sense that they are the oldest and most mature of the Big 3 CSPs.
Google are slightly newer to providing Cloud Services when compared to AWS. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) provides a much smaller array of services than AWS. However the services which they do provide are very well executed. They have a stated aim to be the largest CSP in the world in the next few years. https://cloud.google.com/why-google/
Setting up the account
The important things to ensure when it comes to setting up your account in either AWS or in GCP are:
- Dont get locked out! You need MFA but who will have ultimate control?
- For AWS choose a good Phone number.
- For Google, will you get an enterprise account or a Gmail account?
- How can you give access to another account for support?
- Can you make use of free services?
https://aws-tutorials.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/setting-up-your-new-aws-account.html
Setting up the account
The important things to ensure when it comes to setting up your account in either AWS or in GCP are:
- Dont get locked out! You need MFA but who will have ultimate control?
- For AWS choose a good Phone number.
- For Google, will you get an enterprise account or a Gmail account?
- How can you give access to another account for support?
- Can you make use of free services?
https://aws-tutorials.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/setting-up-your-new-aws-account.html
Managing Costs
If you have teenagers in your house you will well understand the difference in attitude to electricity use between bill-payers and non-bill-payers (also known as freeloaders). When you are using your own hosted infrastructure you only have to make sure that you don’t fill up the hard drive or place too many demands on memory and processor. However when you use Cloud Services you need to be sure from day one that you will be warned if your monthly costs are going above your anticipated levels.
In addition you need to be sure that your costs are allocated correctly. This isn’t difficult but demands that you follow good Cloud practices right from the start.
Security
When I setup one of my first Cloud servers I was a little surprised to find out a week later that a virus had been installed on the server. I had left open a port to the server that could have been disastrous. These days whenever I build any service online I start with ensuring that it is secure. This isn’t complicated but it is necessary.
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