Provider Questions
Do not be afraid to ask in depth questions and get into the
fine print of the contracts. Some questions to definitely
ask.
- Make sure the Provider you choose has active case studies, testimonials, and multiple references you can call on.
- Make sure you understand the TCO and any fine print. Taxes with associated services, or any other possible hidden fees i.e. bandwidth overages, any software or subscription based fees, any initial setup or data migration charges?
- Make sure you clarify from the Provider that there are no jump in monthly fees after 12 or 24 months. If so, where is that coming from and what % increase can I expect?
- How long has the Provider been in business?
- How is their rapport and relationship with clients?
- Do they have a consistent track record overall?
- Any worries of M&A that could change who the new company that services you performs? (Will you have to have a new Rep that you do not have a relationship with? Will that change current/future pricing?).
- Depending on they type of data workloads you need hosted, make sure your chosen Provider has current experience hosting that particular data set (i.e. municipalities, analytics, transactional, financial, medical, etc)
- Any major outages within the last 12 months?
- Does the DC have the ability to allow you to move any of your data workloads between other "Clouds?" Reducing vendor lock in and interoperability will ccontinue to grow in need.