How to Choose the Right Cloud Services

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With the rapid proliferation of cloud services, it’s difficult to know which ones are a good fit for your company’s needs. Here’s an explanation of the different types of clouds to help you make the decision.

If the topic of cloud computing leaves you feeling a little confused, you’re not alone. There are countless ad campaigns selling ambiguous cloud solutions and scads of analyst reports telling us which software publishers have a leg up on the competition. It’s hard enough for those of us in the technology services industry to keep up with all the buzz, let alone for other business owners. But ready or not, your business inevitably will be impacted by the cloud, and understanding your options is half the battle. Let’s cut through the technical terms and clear up some of the confusion.

Let’s start with the fact that there are business applications in the cloud typically referred to as SaaS. You can also purchase the infrastructure that supports those applications in the cloud, which is typically referred to as IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). Two examples of IaaS are Microsoft’s Windows Azure (soon to be rebranded Microsoft Azure) and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Both SaaS and IaaS can be delivered in a public, private, or hybrid cloud. So how do you know which cloud is best for you?