The so-called "Fourth Industrial Revolution" or "Digital Transformation" It is a subject that has been on the lips of several people in recent years, because thanks to it companies have seen a significant increase in their earnings and savings in their production costs which has allowed them to remain competitive. But, entering this world may seem threatening at first, so we have prepared a Guide for Clients who contract Cloud Computing services.
Before starting, it is worth remembering what this revolutionary technology is, also known as “Cloud Computing”: a new way of providing services through the on-demand network. In this way, resources, hardware, software and data can be offered to clients through the network to a set of shared and configurable resources (networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be quickly allocated and released. with minimal management by the supplier.
In summary, the client can access the contracted services from anywhere and every day of the year, adapting them to their needs in a dynamic way. All this without making investments in major equipment and software. In fact, the cloud migration it saves about 15% on all IT expenses and in SMEs this figure rises to 36% (Source: OpsRamp, Skyhigh Networks, Directive). Therefore, you may be interested in this Guide to hire Cloud Computing Services.
In the same way, we want to mention that this is an introductory guide for this long path of Digital Transformation, if you need more details, We recommend scheduling a consultancy and accompaniment so you can really discover which model best suits your needs.
Guide to Contract Cloud Computing Services: Factors to take into account
In addition to clients looking to hire cloud computing services and those who offer them, we must take into account other factors that come into play such as partners or partners of cloud providers. These offer additional applications running in the cloud from more basic cloud services. Also, partners like Codster stand between the customer and the cloud provider, being able to formalize its relationship with the latter with different contractual figures (reseller, independent seller, etc).
This leads us to the next part of this Guide to Contract Cloud Computing Services, how to differentiate the different types that exist. There are several ways to classify them, but we can broadly define them by the following categories:
Public or Private Cloud
When we talk about a Public Cloud service, it means that the cloud service provider provides its resources openly to entities, with no other relationship between them than having signed a contract with the same service provider. They can be hired by any client, which offers a great disadvantage: security and performance may be compromised, because the same space is shared with a greater number of people.
At the other extreme is the Private Cloud, a single entity manages and administers its services in the cloud without others being able to participate. For its acquisition expense and higher maintenance costs, the entities that opt for Private Clouds are those that are complex and need to centralize computing resources and, at the same time, offer flexibility in their availability.
Other options to consider when Contracting Cloud Computing Services are Hybrid Clouds that offer certain services publicly and others privately; Community Clouds, with shared services in a closed community; or Virtual Private Clouds, which solve the security problem of Public Clouds with additional security guarantees.
Service Modalities
Depending on our needs as Clients who seek to Hire Cloud Computing Services, they will vary to different degrees. We can talk about a Software Cloud (Software as a Service or SaaS service model), when the user finds in the cloud the final tools with which he can directly implement his company's processes: an accounting application, an email application, a program to manage his company's documentation, etc.
If the added value is zero, we can talk about an Infrastructure Cloud (IaaS). In that case, the vendor provides raw compute and storage capabilities, upon which the user has to build the applications their business needs virtually from scratch. In this type of item, we can find mass storage services through the network.
Between these two options of Cloud Computing services to hire, you can find other intermediate calls PaaS (Platform as a Service), in which utilities are provided to build applications, such as databases or programming environments on which the user can develop their own solutions.
Portability or not?
The solutions you can Contract as a Client of Cloud Computing Services They can be open or closed, depending on how easy it is for you to move your data stored in the cloud from one cloud provider to another (or to customer-owned systems), ensuring data availability and service continuity.
This is very important to bear in mind, since it is possible that the cloud service provider's relationship with its client will come to an end, not only due to a termination of the contract, but also due to circumstances beyond the control of your company, such as changes in the commercial policy or regulatory framework. In such a way that it is an important factor to take into account, because the more closed to portability the provider is, the greater the difficulty, or even the impossibility, that you can continue with your work done in the cloud.
Outsourcing or not of cloud services
As we mentioned earlier in this Guide, Cloud Computing Service providers can offer all the necessary infrastructure for your company, manage it directly, and do not subcontract to third parties depending on the different workload you have. This is not the case for all of them, they may not be a final provider when the service offered directly to the user is built on the subcontracting of necessary elements (hardware, storage, communications, etc.) to third parties, as is the case with partners . In turn, subcontractors can again subcontract part of the service they provide to the final provider to third and successive companies. This outsourcing model allows you to continually resize cloud resources dynamically.
In addition, when contracting a cloud computing service, there are other conditions that must be taken into account, as we mentioned, services can be subcontracted iteratively. From the point of view of the rights of citizens and the exercise of the responsibilities of the client of said services, there may be local relationships that can dignify your employment relationship.
For example, the rights offered by cloud providers that are located within the European Economic Area or in countries that in one way or another guarantee an adequate level of protection of personal data. This location affects not only the headquarters of the cloud provider, but also to the location of each of the physical resources used to implement the service, directly or subcontracted.
Continuing with the legal topic of Cloud Computing services, in relation to the control of the location of a user's data, a cloud service can be auditable when the contractor can claim precise information on where, when and by whom their data has been stored or processed (within the provider's own resources or the subcontracting chain), and under what security conditions this has occurred.
Guide to Contract Cloud Computing Services: Risks to take into account
In this Guide for Clients that Contract Cloud Computing Services we have talked about the positive side of this technology, however we cannot ignore the risks that this type of investment implies. These are not greater than other contracting of services, but analyzing the conditions of provision that they have can allow a better service without reducing the necessary guarantees.
The two great risks that may exist when contracting Cloud Computing Services are: the lack of transparency about the conditions in which the service is provided and the lack of control of the controller over the use and management of personal data by the agents involved in the service. Regarding the first, we are faced with the need to know what, who, how and where the processing of the data provided to the provider for the provision of the service is carried out. Without this information, it is difficult for the person in charge to assess the risks and establish the appropriate controls.
Regarding the lack of control of the person in charge, we can identify it when there are difficulties knowing at all times the location of the data, the availability of the data held by the provider or the way in which it is shared, whether or not it is in a valid and interoperable format. This can be a determining factor when Hiring a Cloud Computing Service.
In such a way that the client has to study in detail what part or parts of his work are likely to be transferred to cloud computing services, considering not only the benefits, but also the potential risks that are going to be assumed. As we have suggested, A fundamental element will be knowing the data processing that have a special level of protection granted by law (for example, the conditions in which the service is provided must be verified prior to contracting in order to determine if they offer an adequate level of compliance or not) .
The conditions offered by the providers must be contrasted with a checklist that includes, among others, elements related to the information provided, location of the treatment, existence of uploads, security policies, user rights and legal obligations of the service provider . If you are interested learn more about this, discover the solutions it offers and will offer Codster beyond this Guide for Clients who Contract Cloud Computing Services, we surely have the perfect solutions for your company such as AWS partners (Amazon Web Service).
