What You Need to Know When Choosing a Cloud Solution for SaaS

Unless you are Oracle, Salesforce, or another enterprise-level company, the cost of opening your own data center can be prohibitive.

While this may be true, the benefits of operating in the cloud are clear from both a business and an IT standpoint. You can deploy software quickly, applications are easy to use, and maintenance and upgrade costs are lower than in the traditional model.

If your company doesn’t want to deal with the hassle or expense of managing everything itself, then working with a SaaS hosting company can offer you all the advantages of a cloud solution without blowing through the company’s capital expenditure budget.

By hosting in the cloud, you’ll be able to focus on developing software that runs smoothly without having to worry about managing equipment. IT departments will be able to rest easy, knowing that your cloud provider will handle data security, software upgrades, and compliance requirements — all without getting in the way of your business. What’s more, many IaaS providers offer models based on meeting various levels of operating expenditures, making it easier for your business to meet its budgetary needs.

As you explore different cloud providers, it’s important to consider each platform’s performance, reliability, and scalability before you make a final decision. The best cloud platforms are fully redundant, provide state-of-the-art equipment, are built to scale, and are backed by a team that understands the unique needs of different businesses and verticals.

Not all SaaS companies are the same, but what they do shareis a need to maximize their cost-to-performance ratio, something that can be a major factor in your choice of a cloud provider. Here are a few tips for selecting the best  SaaS hosting partner:

• Know what you need. Write down your requirements before you start selecting your provider. Hyperscalers can be expensive; they can also present the perfect solution in some situations. Remaining realistic about your needs will save you money in the long run.
• Think about a hybrid cloud model. If your company experiences peaks in traffic on a daily or monthly basis, you might benefit from a hybrid cloud model, hosting some of the workloads on hourly billed services and the base load on a longer contract that lowers monthly fees.
• Don’t forget about legacy software. Chances are good that you have some legacy software to host, too. Make sure your provider can connect your cloud services with your legacy software to avoid having data stored twice.
• Consider colocation. If you’ve already spent a significant amount on equipment to run your application and haven’t yet written it off completely, choosing a hosting provider that can host your machines and connect them to the cloud will allow you to utilize the benefits of the cloud without losing the investment in your equipment.

SaaS companies offer unique services, so it’s only natural that they have unique requirements for their hosting partners. With a little bit of research, you’ll be able to find a cloud solution with the ideal combination of performance, uptime, scalability, and cost for your company’s individual needs to help bring it into the growing sphere of commercial cloud users.

Want to find out more SaaS hosting? You can download our infrastructure blueprints here.