The information age, the rise of IoT and the use of smart devices in business transactions have led to an exponential rise in the data the world produces on a daily basis. Statistics from IBM put the daily data output worldwide at 2.5 quintillion bytes and your startup alongside the average startup contributes to this number. The average startup now generates data in the hundreds of millions of bytes on a regular basis through daily e-transactions. This has led to startups seeking more effective ways to collect, store and manage the data generated by their business operations.
Now, this is where an understanding of cloud infrastructures and the advantages they provide startups looking to compete with their more established competitors. This article will be focused on cloud computing infrastructure and the five timely tips startups must consider when selecting a solution.
Understanding Your Startups Requirements
There are a plethora of cloud computing solutions currently on the market and the first step to consider taking before accessing cloud infrastructure options, is putting your house in order. To do this, startups must access their operational capacity which includes;
· Calculating the amount of data produced against a set time-duration
· Storage capacity requirements
· Security and if
· Data processing or real-time analytics are a priority.
Accessing these important requirements puts your startup in the position to start shopping for cloud computing solutions tailored to fit its needs.
Private Cloud or Public Cloud
Once you have analyzed your startups requirements, the next step is choosing the service built to fit those exact needs. There are two main options cloud solution providers make available to business considering using their platform and they are; Public or Private Cloud. Private clouds are computing models that make use of resources wholly dedicated to your business organization while public clouds consist of shared resources used by multiple businesses for cloud computing. Now the tips to note for startups are these:
· Private clouds provide considerable more security due to the use of internal servers and infrastructures dedicated to your startup unlike public cloud.
· Private clouds can be deployed and configured to optimize business capacity as well as scale your cloud architecture to handle increased business transactions/operations.
· Public Cloud solutions are generally more affordable for startups than the average private cloud resources.
Review Available Cloud Options
The beauty of a free-market is that you have the choice of working with any cloud solution you believe fits your peculiar needs. Therefore as a startup—with limited resources—it is important that you review every option out there as well as take stock of the incentives they provide their clients. Some of the key features to look out for include:
· Storage capacity and cost
· User-interface ease of use
· Available communication and collaborating tools
· Added Incentives for customers.
Following Infographic from Ooma will help you carry out an effective investigation on the above properties.
A true understanding will allow you make more educated choices in the long run.
Customization should be avoided at all Cost
Hybrid cloud infrastructure or customized cloud solutions are currently making in-roads in the cloud computing community and while these solutions may be good for certain organizations; they could be the death of your startup. Hybrid solutions consist of putting together diverse infrastructure and apps from different vendors to create a bespoke solution. This technique generally leads to bottlenecks along the way which stem from app deployment and configuration issues. The disadvantages of using a hybrid cloud for startups include:
· The need for a dedicated cloud architecture expert
· Disjointed upgrades due to the use of multiple vendors
· The cost incurred in setting up the system.
Cloud computing is here to stay and to remain competitive in your business niche, moving resources and operations to the cloud is recommended. These tips are intended to provide you with a seamless transition when you finally choose to make that move.
