How to Choose Cloud Service Providers

Cloud service providers are third-party companies that provide cloud-based platforms, infrastructure, applications, or storage services. Companies typically only pay for the number of cloud services they use based on business needs.

1. 7 common reasons businesses use cloud computing services

(1) Fees
Cloud computing eliminates the need to invest in hardware and software, or to set up and run an on-site data center (including server racks, uninterruptible power supplies for power and cooling, and IT specialists to manage the infrastructure). It also increases speed.

(2) Global scaling
The advantages of cloud computing services include the ability to expand flexibly. For the cloud, this means that the right amount of IT resources, such as more or less computing power, storage space and bandwidth, can be provided from the right geographic location when needed.

(3) Performance
The largest cloud computing services run on a global network of secure data centers that are regularly upgraded to the latest fast and efficient computing hardware. Compared to a single enterprise data center, it can provide many benefits, including lower network latency for applications and improved economics of scaling.

(4) Safety
Many cloud providers offer a wide range of policies, technologies and controls to improve the overall security posture, which helps protect data, applications and infrastructure from potential threats.

(5) Speed
Most cloud computing services are provided as on-demand self-service, so massive computing resources can often be allocated in minutes with just a few clicks, giving businesses great flexibility and removing the stress of capacity planning .

(6) Work efficiency
On-site data centers often require a lot of "racks and stacks" -- hardware setups, software patches, and other time-consuming IT administration chores. Cloud computing avoids most of these tasks, freeing IT teams to spend their time on more important business goals.

(7) Reliability
Cloud computing can simplify data backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity at a lower cost because data can be mirrored at multiple redundant sites in the cloud provider's network.

2. Why use a cloud provider?

Seeking support from a cloud provider is an effective way to obtain cloud computing services, saving you the trouble of providing services yourself, such as:

(1) Infrastructure: The foundation of all computing environments. This infrastructure can include networking, database services, data management, data storage (referred to here as cloud storage), servers (the cloud is the foundation of serverless computing), and virtualization.

(2) Platform: The tools needed to create and deploy applications. These platforms may include Linux operating systems, middleware and runtime environments.

(3) Software: ready-to-use application. This software can be a custom or standard application provided by an independent service provider.

3. Public Cloud Providers vs Managed Private Clouds

(1) Public cloud providers
Public cloud providers use their own hardware to virtualize infrastructure, platforms, or applications, and then use management and automation software to integrate all virtualized resources into an orchestrated data lake, which is then delivered to end users over the Internet.

(2) Managed private cloud
Private cloud providers, also known as managed cloud service providers, offer their customers a private cloud, but the private cloud is deployed, configured, and managed by a party other than the customer. This cloud delivery solution is suitable for enterprises with understaffed or underskilled IT teams, and can provide users with better private cloud services and cloud infrastructure.