By Jennifer Marsh
Jennifer Marsh is a software developer, programmer and technology writer and occasionally blogs for Rackspace Hosting.
Want to move to the cloud and don’t know what type of pricing to expect? The advantage of cloud storage is cost-efficiency, because cloud hosts only charge the company for the bandwidth and storage used rather than a static price. However, there are so many cloud hosts out there, it’s difficult to know which host is offering good prices and advantages and which are hyping up needless fluff.
Bandwidth Usage
How much bandwidth does the company need? Cloud hosts charge for resources used, but bandwidth use can creep up. The administrator can check with the current ISP to evaluate bandwidth usage. Streaming video and media can suck up bandwidth, but some companies block streaming to save money. However, if the company is hosting media files for customers on a cloud server, it’s important to calculate this use into bandwidth costs.
Storage Costs
Each cloud host offers a cost per gigabyte. Backups take up several gigabytes of storage, so incorporate these requirements into a cost analysis. The company also needs to decide if everyday files will be stored in the cloud or if desktop users use internal storage space. Scalability is also a concern, because as the company grows, the store requirements will as well. Create a projected cost analysis for the future.
Mobile App Support
Tablets and mobile devices are becoming more integrated with businesses and employees. For this reason, app support should also be a consideration when choosing a cloud host. Some cloud hosts offer app support for data access and uploading files to the cloud. Check for direct app support for each mobile operating system used internally. Support for Android and Apple iOS is standard, but Blackberry, Linux and Windows Mobile are also concerns for mobile support if these operating systems are used internally.
The company may have miscellaneous concerns, and these are usually covered by the host’s contract. Always check the contract and contact the host’s customer service with questions. Overall, costs associated with cloud hosting are less than those with internal hardware, but each host has its own costs for resource usage.
