Improving IT Service Reliability

Moving to Cloud Computing solutions is an affordable and efficient way to improve IT service reliability for your company.  By leveraging a Cloud Service Provider’s (CSP’s) trusted, proven, guaranteed level of service, and redundant, secured datacenter through the utilization of monthly, utility-style IT services, your business can enjoy all the benefits of a professional IT service without the capital investment and maintenance.  However, not all Cloud Service Providers are created equally.  It is important to properly assess Cloud Service Providers before choosing one to host your critical business data and systems to receive the most reliable IT solution.

How Can Cloud Computing-Based Services Improve Customer Experience and Help Improve IT Service Reliability?

Customers, especially those in the highly-regulated industry space, should take the time to evaluate how Cloud Service Providers meet up to the following measures – can they deliver guaranteed redundancy, scalability and have Service Level Agreements (SLA); do they monitor performance to guarantee optimal performance; do they have a proven track record of successful operation? Confirm a Cloud Service Provider’s reliability with the following criteria.

Speed to Scale.  Cloud services are built on a shared infrastructure that allows for the fastest scalability for your services. Investigate the proposed speed to scale from your Cloud Service Provider to confirm that you can meet market demand as quickly as possible.

Current and Future Capacity to Meet Business Demand.  Cloud services provide flexibility with the ability to scale to your growing business as necessary.  Ensure that your Cloud Service Provider has the current capacity to support your business needs, and that they have a growth plan and datacenter that can maintain the future requirements of your expanding company.

Guaranteed Service.  As mentioned above, Cloud-based services have a guaranteed service level, which can be measured and expected, especially when a documented Service Level Agreement (SLA) is provided.  Because it is guaranteed, this service level is much more efficient, cost saving, and redundant that a traditional in-house service.

Higher Level of Redundancy.  Cloud-based services have a higher level of redundancy than traditional on-premise/in-house IT solutions due to the redundant systems they utilize in their datacenters.  For example, NIRIX’s datacenter utilizes redundant power with power sources on different electrical grids, backup UPS, and a diesel generator.  The datacenter also has redundant heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) controlled environment with a Liebert cooling system including redundant compressors and AC units that are computer controlled, N+2 cooling redundancy, and vented cabinet doors for temperature control.  There is also a FM -200 gas fire suppression system with a backup sprinkler system.  The Internet service is also redundant with four fiber Internet connections with automatic failover and all the benefits, and in addition to this redundant Internet system, the NIRIX datacenter also has redundant Cisco-Powered core routing and switching.  These redundant systems allow for more redundant Cloud-based services.

Due diligence is extremely important when searching for the best Cloud Service Provider and most reliable IT solution, to meet your business requirements.  Outside of your Internet connection, the overall service reliability depends on the quality of the Cloud Service Provider.  Industry certification and operational excellence are important in evaluating service reliability.