27 tips for buying cloud iaas

8/22/2019 27 Tips for Buying Cloud IaaS

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27Tips For Buying

Cloud InrastructureA Comprehensive list o questions to ask yoursel

when reviewing potential cloud providers

By Christopher Wilson@chrisleewilson
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Intro: Evaluating a Crowded Market

Section 1: Look Within - Internal Assessment

Section 2: Cloud Provider Must-Asks

Final Thoughts

Free 30 Minute Cloud Assessment

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Table o Contents


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Where to Begin?

Public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) is a complex market.Its also a market thats evolving rapidlywith new entrants and offer-ings continually emerging.

The fast pace of cloud innovation brings businesses a solution formore flexible, agile and better performing IT. However, navigating thecrowded market to find the best provider for your organization can bea daunting task. There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comesto cloud IaaS. And, the right decision is critical not only to IT security

and performance, but to the overall competitiveness, growth, and bot-tom-line success of your organization.

Within this ebook, weve given you a head start to evaluating thecrowded cloud market to support you moving forward in your pathtoward cloud adoption. Read on for expert tips, summarized with re-sources that make cloud IaaS selection a more digestible, tackle-abletask for CIOs and IT managers.

Intro:Evaluating a Crowded Market

Internal Assessment

1. Determine Business & IT Goals2. Assess Your IT Environment3. Document Your Expectations

Cloud Provider Must-Haves4. Certifications5. Cloud Model6. Storage Architecture7. Data Center

8. Capacity9. Elasticity10. Technology11. Privacy12. Upgrades13. Interoperability14. Infrastructure and Apps15. Management Controls16. Data Center Security

17. Threat Detection18. Data Processes Security19. Encryption20. Tech Industry Compliance22. Vertical Market Compliance22. Service Level Agreement23. Support24. Redundancy (DR) Planning25. Privacy

26. Cost27. Gut Check


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Look WithinYour Internal Assessment

Section 1:


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What are your business goals and expectations for thecloud? Where does your organization currently stand interms of business processes and its IT environment,

where do you want to go? And, how does this affect yourcloud computing evaluation process?

Its easy (yet overwhelming) to start Googling cloudcomputing in your search for the perfect option. How-ever, Googling cloud computing makes you one of morethan 1.5 million global searches per month. Are you will-ing to trust your business and IT processes to the best-

ranking results?

The best reason to adopt a cloud infrastructure is be-cause it makes sense for your organization. To make surethat business goals and processes drive cloud computingdecisions, the first step in cloud evaluation is internal as-sessmentboth for IT and company executives. Then, goto search engines with a detailed, more specified query

for more relevant results

Start your internal assessment:Looking Within...

Quick Questions To Ask Yourself:

What are your business goals and

expectations for the cloud?

What are your current businessprocesses you want to move to thecloud?

What is the best reason to move tothe cloud?

Whats Next? Tips 1-3

1. Internal Assessment Questions

2. Questions to Ask

3. Free 30 Cloud Assessment


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Tip 1. Determine Business & IT Goals- What are your organizations short- and long-term business goals? This is aconversation that should involve the C-suite, and identify the potential businessimpact that the cloud can have.

- What are your expectations for the clouds role in achieving these short andlong-term business goals? Are all parties on the same page? How will businessprocesses and procedures improve with cloud adoption?

Tip 2. Assess Your IT Environment- What current business processes include IT? (Or perhaps more simply, whichdont?) How is IT involved? How can or should it be?

- How would cloud computing affect these processes? Would it improve them?

- What does your current ecosystem look like in terms of storage, capacity,hardware, software, usage, and more? Document your current state of IT tostart conversations about how to integrate and manage a cloud-based system.

Tip 3. Document Your Expectations- With a clear idea of business and technology goals, along with your currentenvironment assessment, you will be able to better see how the cloud can fitinto and improve your processes.

- Document expectations and benchmark KPIs to ensure you know what youwant to achieve, gauge potential providers against goals, and measure success

after implementation.

Internal Assessment1. Determine Business & IT Goals2. Assess Your IT Environment3. Document Your Expectations



17. Threat Detection18. Data Processes Security19. Encryption20. Tech Industry Compliance21. Vertical Market Compliance22. Service Level Agreement23. Support24. Redundancy (DR) Planning25. Performance



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Cloud Provider

Must-Asks

Section 2


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What are the need-to-knows in evaluating different cloudoptions? It starts with knowing what you need, clearlyidentifying options, then being able to compare apples-to-apples on some of your most important criteria.

With a handle on your internal business and IT assets,and an idea of how the cloud can best fit into yourorganization for optimal impact, start to assess your topcloud providers.

The following is a list of 24 cloud qualifiers. We recom-

mend that you scan through the list, rank your organiza-tions top 5-10 considerations, then find the best provid-ers for each of those categories. For example, if youre inhealthcare, youll want to immediately weed out providersthat may not be able to meet compliance requirements.

Cloud Provider Must-AsksQuick Takeaways:

- Now that you have an idea of how thecloud can best fit your business you canstart to assess potential cloud providers.

- Use the following list of CloudQualifiers to rank your organizationstop categories when choosing a cloudprovider.

Looking to do your own

Cloud Assessment?

See:Cloud Assessment:Where Does IaaS Fit Within YourOrganization?
http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/cloud-assessment-where-does-iaas-fit-in-your-organization/http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/cloud-assessment-where-does-iaas-fit-in-your-organization/http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/cloud-assessment-where-does-iaas-fit-in-your-organization/http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/cloud-assessment-where-does-iaas-fit-in-your-organization/http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/cloud-assessment-where-does-iaas-fit-in-your-organization/http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/cloud-assessment-where-does-iaas-fit-in-your-organization/http://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=http://bit.ly/I3Zpnzhttp://twitter.com/home/?status=Reading+27+tips+for+buyting+Cloud+Infrastructure+http://bit.ly/I3Zpnz+via+@cloudprovider+#business+#cloudhttp://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://bit.ly/IEgaCBhttp://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=%3Chttp://www.cloudproviderusa.com/landing-page/download-27-tips-ebook/%3E%20&t=%3C27%20Tips%20For%20Buying%20Cloud%20IaaS%20eBook%3E%3C/a%3E


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Tip 4 Certifcations

Do potential cloud providers processes and technologies stand up torecommendations from the IT industrys leading organizations?

Ask about how the cloud solution compares to: Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) 70 800-53 high-impact security controls International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001

Tip 5 Cloud Model- Will the cloud model you choose (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS) driven by businessneeds?

- Does your IaaS solution work well with existing software and platformapplications?

- What processes and technologies would you like to migrate to thecloud? Can you meet these requirements with your currentinfrastructure?

Tip 6 Storage Architecture

- How will data be stored in the cloud? Will it have a private network, or sharedspace?

- Does storage architecture account for redundancy planning? Ensure that it willbe stored with continuity of operations (COOP) in mind.

- Is data replication built-in? Does the provider use network attached storage(NAS) or storage area networks (SANs) within the data center?

Internal Assessment





http://sas70.com/http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.htmlhttp://www.iso.org/iso/home.htmhttp://www.cloudproviderusa.com/business-driven-cloud-models-iaas-paas-saas/http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/business-driven-cloud-models-iaas-paas-saas/http://www.iso.org/iso/home.htmhttp://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.htmlhttp://sas70.com/http://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=http://bit.ly/I3Zpnzhttp://twitter.com/home/?status=Reading+27+tips+for+buyting+Cloud+Infrastructure+http://bit.ly/I3Zpnz+via+@cloudprovider+#business+#cloudhttp://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://bit.ly/IEgaCBhttp://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=%3Chttp://www.cloudproviderusa.com/landing-page/download-27-tips-ebook/%3E%20&t=%3C27%20Tips%20For%20Buying%20Cloud%20IaaS%20eBook%3E%3C/a%3E


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Tip 7 Data Center

- How do location, security and reputation impact your compliance pos-ture or business processes?

- Do potential providers offer at least two certified data centersin differ-ent regionsfor cloud redundancy?

- Are data center locations geographically aligned with end users?

Tip 8 Capacity- How much storage, CPU and network bandwidth does your business currentlyuse? What are the amounts you anticipate needing in the future, supplemented bythe cloud?

- Do potential cloud providers offer flexible, easy-to-create server options to an-swer fluctuating capacity needs on demand?

Tip 9 Elasticity

- Will your cloud solution be able to provision up, out and down? Think in termsof cloud users, machines, and resources.

- Will you be locked into a monthly contract, or can you avoid excess costs fromover-provisioned services?

Internal Assessment







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Tip 10 Technology

- What technologies are behind your cloud infrastructure? Do you trustthem?

- What data centers, machines, servers, and other hardware have accessto your most critical business data and processes? What are the standardtechnologies behind your cloud infrastructure built to meet?

Tip 11 Privacy- Is a private, virtual local area network (VLAN) stored behind a firewall fordata protection and prevention of cross-traffic contamination?

- Do potential cloud solutions offer vir tual private clouds and connectivity?

- Will your cloud share space and servers with other clients?

Tip 12 Upgrades

- How upgrades are delivered? What costs trickle to your solution pricing?- Are they all rolled into the product seamlessly, or will they be addedinto an instance of the application?







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Tip 13. Interoperability

- Will the cloud solution you choose be compatible with the technologywithin your existing IT infrastructure? Will it work well with other cloud-based solutions?

- Ask potential providers if solutions are driven by standard operatingprocedures (SOPs) and auditsit will help you stay flexible and avoidfuture vendor lock-in.

Tip 14. Inrastructure & Applications- Developers within your company will be the ones interested in cloud infrastruc-ture, as certain IaaS and PaaS offerings may require them to rethink how theywrite and deploy applications. Do potential providers offer infrastructure detailsduring the vetting phases of cloud selection?

- Whats behind your clouds architecture? Are imaged servers available, and iscustomization possible?

Tip 15. Management Controls

- What systems are in place to enable transparent, real-time insight, manage-ment and control?- Will you be provided with analytics and management tools to maintain thelevel of insight and control your organization requires?- Do you require cloud management support, and if so, do potential providersoffer managed services?







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Tip 16. Data Center Security

- How does the physical security of your cloud providers data center com-pare to security of your own IT environment? Are you moving up in terms ofdata center security, or does the cloud provider leave you with doubts?

Tip 17. Threat Detection

- What kind of intrusion detection and prevention system (IDPS) do potentialproviders offer? Do they go beyond industry IDPS standards?

Tip 18. Data Processes Security

- What is the standard protection for data at rest, in transfer, and as its ar-chived according to backup and recovery policies? Who is responsibleandliablefor data at each stage of the process?

Internal Assessment







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Tip 19. Encryption

- At what point in the process is data encrypted?

- What resources and third-party audits do potential providers employ in dataencryption processes?

Tip 20 Tech Industry Compliance

- Do potential providers look to industry-trusted organizations, like National In-stitute of Standards and Technology (NIST), for guidance in developing secure,interoperable cloud offerings? How do they go beyond these baselines?

Tip 21 Vertical Market Compliance

- Can potential providers give references for expertise and success in yourhighly regulated industry?

- Is their technology industry compliant, even in the most regulated healthcare,retail and federal industries? Look for solutions that are engineered to meet

HIPPA and HITECH (healthcare), PCI DSS (retail), and FISMA (government)regulations.





http://www.nist.gov/index.htmlhttp://www.nist.gov/index.htmlhttp://www.nist.gov/index.htmlhttp://www.nist.gov/index.htmlhttp://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=http://bit.ly/I3Zpnzhttp://twitter.com/home/?status=Reading+27+tips+for+buyting+Cloud+Infrastructure+http://bit.ly/I3Zpnz+via+@cloudprovider+#business+#cloudhttp://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://bit.ly/IEgaCBhttp://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=%3Chttp://www.cloudproviderusa.com/landing-page/download-27-tips-ebook/%3E%20&t=%3C27%20Tips%20For%20Buying%20Cloud%20IaaS%20eBook%3E%3C/a%3E


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Tip 22. Service Level Agreement (SLA)

-Once youve narrowed down options, compare details of potential providersSLAs closely. What levels of security, availability and performance does eachoffer? How do the high points align with what your organization expects fromits cloud usage?

Tip 23. Support (24/7)

- What levels of support does your cloud require? Do you need a hands-offsolution or more attention and support?

- Will you manage your cloud internally, or do you need managed cloudservices? What access to support and customer service is available in eachscenario?

Tip 24. Redundancy (DR) Planning

- Do potential cloud providers offer data replication and DR planning?- Can you engineer redundancies into your cloud infrastructure via its manage-ment platforms, or will the provider work with you to create a 100% availablesolution? Ensure that the level of support offered meets your organizationsneeds.- In the case of disaster is cloud outage accounted for in SLAs?


Cloud Provider Must-Haves4. Certifications5. Cloud Model6. Storage Architecture7. Data Center8. Capacity9. Elasticity10. Technology11. Privacy12. Upgrades13. Interoperability14. Infrastructure and Apps15. Management Controls16. Data Center Security




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Tip 25. Perormance

-- How many IOPS and network bandwidth does your business currently use?What are the amounts you anticipate needing in the future, supplemented bythe cloud?

- Do potential cloud providers offer flexible, easy-to-create server options toanswer fluctuating capacity needs on demand?

Tip 26. Cost- Your IT Budgets: What resources are behind your organizations transition to acloud-based infrastructure? How does budget align with the reality of achievingyour current IT goals?

- Competitive Pricing: How is the solution priced? Does it vary by computecapacity, network traffic, storage, additional services, flat fees and overages,etc.?

Tip 27. Gut Check

- Sometimes, it just has to feel right.

- Who are you working with in the evaluation process, and do you trust them?

- Has vetting this provider been an easy process, or does it make you question

the level of service and support that lies ahead?

Internal Assessment







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Thank you for reading,

Technology changes every day. In the past few years weve seenthe cloud market move through its infancy with growingcapabilities, adoption rates, and case studies filled with businessimpact.

The market is still young, with new players continually emerg-ing. Some see new players as less reliable, while others see themas the threatcoming to market with the latest, more advancedcloud solutions.

Whatever side you choose, navigate the crowded market by plac-ing your business goals at the forefront. Make the cloud work for

youits flexible and limitless enough to do so.

Best regards,

Christopher Wilson

FINAL THOUGHTS

Cloud Provider USA, LLC, is a public cloud hosting provider. Our infrastructure as a service (IaaS)cloud solution provides organizations with the flexibility to establish and scale server resourcesinstantaneously. In addition, we provide complete transparency and control through our Cloud Portalinterface. This takes the mystery out of the cloud, and gives you insight into security, data integrity,availability and more.


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Questions?Free Cloud Assessment

- Well review your questions- Youll get expert IaaS Advice- More tips or Migrating to thecloud

Book a Cloud Assessment

or Call: 800-283-4136
http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/landing-page/free-cloud-assessment/http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/landing-page/free-cloud-assessment/http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/landing-page/free-cloud-assessment/http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/landing-page/free-cloud-assessment/http://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=http://bit.ly/I3Zpnzhttp://twitter.com/home/?status=Reading+27+tips+for+buyting+Cloud+Infrastructure+http://bit.ly/I3Zpnz+via+@cloudprovider+#business+#cloudhttp://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://bit.ly/IEgaCBhttp://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=%3Chttp://www.cloudproviderusa.com/landing-page/download-27-tips-ebook/%3E%20&t=%3C27%20Tips%20For%20Buying%20Cloud%20IaaS%20eBook%3E%3C/a%3E

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