The time has finally come for you to create an online backup for your most valuable work and files. While that, in itself, is always a good decision, many people have trouble choosing a cloud backup provider. In this article, we thought we might help you with that. We’ll be exploring some of the main things to look out for in selecting your provider. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you’ll have a fairly good idea of how to choose your online backup provider.
While it may be tempting to choose based solely on price, a lot more factors enter into this choice.
1. Security
Nowadays, a whopping 94% of companies use cloud backup…but some providers are more secure than others.
Easily the most important thing to consider in selecting cloud backup is the level of security guaranteed. For example, a proper cloud backup service should offer strong data encryption, so as to prevent outsiders from accessing your important information.
You will also want to consider additional security factors, such as two-step verification, or ability to disable login. This will prevent third parties from accessing your data in the future, so make sure you consider this thoroughly before opting for a service.
2. Reputation
Another thing you’ll want to pay attention to is the reputation of your provider. There are some names in the cloud business with a long list of achievements and a standing reputation at their backs. Choosing an established provider offers many advantages, but so can opting for a smaller start-up. For one thing, a smaller provider can offer better pricing, but it’s always important to run a thorough background check of potential candidates.
3. Scalability
Regardless of where you are right now on the food chain, it’s natural that at some point, you’ll want to grow. As a business, it’s a smart choice to choose a cloud provider who can, in time, grow alongside your business.
This means looking for a company that offers solutions for larger enterprises, and not just individuals or small businesses. In itself, moving your data shouldn’t be a problem, but usually, it’s an inconvenience you might want to avoid.
4. Deletion Policy
Deletion is one of the biggest issues with cloud storage, with many companies losing data this way. It might not even be on purpose, just that one of your employees accidentally deletes your stored data. And that defeats the purpose of the whole cloud thing.
So one thing you’ll want to look for is an advantageous deletion policy, ideally one that prevents any backed data from being truly deleted. This will help avoid such unpleasant accidents.
5. Automated Backup
The whole point of getting a third-party service to handle your backup for you is speeding up the work process. This means you don’t want to have to worry about performing regular backups, so you’ll want your cloud provider to do those for you.
However, you need to examine their automated backup options carefully, to make sure they’re the right choice for your business.
There are many other factors to consider in choosing your cloud storage provider, but these will give you a good basic idea what to look for.
