In life, it's easy to get caught up quickly in the excitement of a new material possession, such as a new car or gadget. Yet how many times have you thought you found the perfect item only to see something better a week or maybe even a month later? This kind of "consumer regret" happens all of the time, especially in a consumer-driven society that's ever changing.
A friend of mine recently experienced consumer regret with an Apple product. They went shopping for an iPhone last August and failed miserably with the purchase. Had my friend waited a few months, they could have had the new iPhone 4s for the same price they paid for the iPhone 4. At first they blamed the salesperson for their lack of information, but then finally came to their senses and realized that they should be upset with themselves for not asking or better researching their purchase. Had they done some research before they went shopping, they could have waited and had the newest version for the same price. That's not the end of the story; when they saw the iPhone 4 on sale for less than $100 dollars around Christmas, they felt very embarrassed about their purchase.
Okay, I'll admit it. This story is not about a friend - it was actually about me. The lesson I learned from all of this: do your research first! The same goes for choosing a cloud provider.
When choosing a cloud provider, take your time and become familiar with more than one provider. It's sort of like dating. Very rarely does someone marry the first person they go out with, and so should it be when choosing a cloud provider. If you are choosing a data center close to your business, then schedule a tour of the facility. I would recommend touring at least three centers if possible. Meet the staff members and see where your data and equipment will be stored. Take note of the security measures each facility offers. After all, not all data centers are created equal, and they all do not offer the same services.
Also realize that unlike marriage, choosing a data center is not a lifelong commitment. Should you need to change providers in the future due to a price hike, or anything else, this will be more easily obtainable if you choose to use an application programming interface (API's) that is common across a variety of providers.
Additionally, it is absolutely important that you not only take the time to figure out what your current needs are, but also take into consideration what your future needs are going to be. Since data growth is inevitable, try and map out how much storage space you are going to need in the future. Once you have a good idea of your needs, then you can take that research and go shopping for a cloud provider.
When it comes to choosing a cloud provider, doing your research first will save you a lot of heartache and "consumer regret" in the future. Unlike my iPhone fiasco, do your research first. Don't jump the gun and sign up with a cloud provider before touring their facility if all possible. Make sure that you choose an API that is compatible across several providers just in case you need to change to a different provider in the future. Lastly, have a clear understanding of your present data storage needs, and map out your future storage needs. These helpful tips should come in handy when moving your data to the every growing cloud.
Sarah Pollock works as a Marketing Writing Coordinator for Global Communications Group, Inc. (GCG). We offer independent and unbiased data center consulting and data center facility tours to ensure that you find the right data center facility. Are you searching for the best data center service provider to support your business hosting and networking needs? At GCG, we represent all of the major data center service providers in the US and abroad. Data center solutions include colocation hosting, dedicated server hosting and networking services. Learn more about data center locations by visiting our brand new website: http://www.datacentermapping.com/
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