Moving To The Cloud Or Using Traditional Web Hosting
With the expansion of Cloud-based hosting services being used, it's possible that many small businesses will also find themselves using Cloud hosting as the new norm. Use the considerations below to incorporate experience as part of your consideration of whether to choose Cloud hosting rather than traditional web hosting services for your company's sites.
In spite of its widespread use, Cloud services associated with web hosting are still evolving and are primarily being utilized by larger rather than smaller businesses.
If you're considering advertised benefits of using Cloud options offered by web hosting companies, it's important to retain realistic expectations about the level of service you'll receive in a newly evolving market.
Even established web hosting companies are frequently newcomers to the Cloud where their branding and reputation are not yet well established.
It's important that consumers separately consider how long a web hosting company has been offering Cloud options rather than assuming their expertise in web hosting will apply to their Cloud business.
Stay abreast of news events in Cloud hosting. Even signing up with well-known hosting companies, consumers run the risk that a company's Cloud services could undergo rapid change or shut down all together. In 2012, well-known web hosting companies introduced and then shut down their Cloud offerings within a couple of months because they found the format was not yet ideal for their business models.
Cloud hosting prices are currently less expensive overall than traditional web hosting prices for larger businesses. However, industry experts already anticipate increases in those prices so that long-term choices based on price may not make sense when it comes to the Cloud.
The size of the company that hosts the Cloud services does not mean that your sites will be immune from failure. While the Cloud is frequently reported to have less down time, as the news reported at the end of 2012, when Amazon's Cloud hosting went down affecting sites such as Netflix, the technology is not without risk of failure.
If you run a big business, Cloud services can simplify adding on users to your existing hosting accounts. For instance, news about how the city of Chicago is transferring certain functions of its employees such as email accounts to the Cloud means that new users will be able to access the city's accounts with the provision of a login. This simplified procedure for getting new users account access should be easy regardless of the device users are using to access accounts.
If you're happy with your current business web hosting, it's likely that at least in the near future, you won't have to consider making a change barring a drastic change in your web hosting company's policies and barring a drastic change in your business needs.
Don't prioritize technology implementations based on how new they are but instead consider your business needs before considering new business technology.
Web hosting services are trending towards options for companies to use the Cloud. Use the tips above in determining whether your web hosting decision should include a consideration of using Cloud hosting.
