Infrastructure as a Service Benefits and Best Practices For Mid-Size and Enterprise Companies
One of the major advantages of the hybrid cloud environment is its ability to integrate seamlessly with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions. Mid-size and enterprise level companies with a need for an improved digital structure are moving into the cloud at a rapid pace, pushing off some of the management to IaaS Providers so they can keep up with their company’s innovation needs.
Benefits like flexibility, scalability, maintenance, and speed are driving the trend towards leveraging infrastructure as a service, and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down any time soon. Let’s take a closer look at each of these benefits.
Benefits of IaaS for Mid-Size and Enterprise Companies
Flexibility. We’re not talking about being able to touch your toes here. We’re talking about the flexibility to scale to meet your business demands, without paying for anything unnecessary. One of the most important features of IaaS is the ability to scale down as well as up, ensuring that you aren’t paying for resources that are not being used.
Economy of Scale. Having separate in-house hardware setups across multiple locations within an organization is an IT nightmare. As companies grow, they don’t always grow equally across all departments, and demands are changing all the time. Operations may require more resources than marketing or vice versa. IaaS shares investments across multiple business units, so the whole organization gets what it needs in real time.
Maintenance & Operations. In house IT is struggling more and more to keep up with maintaining infrastructure hardware while finding the time to create business innovation and speed to market. IaaS provides cost-effective and efficient IT maintenance and operation, so you can offload manual processes like patches, upgrades, and repairs, giving you more time to focus on your business.
Speed. Flexibility and scalability allow for greater and more dependable speed. When you move your infrastructure into the cloud, you do not have to worry about resource spikes from a single department slowing down operations or requiring mid-budget reallocations. When your infrastructure runs smoothly, innovation will increase too. Innovation is at the heart of progress, allowing your organization to take risks and try new things, which opens countless doors.
Security. When it comes to cybersecurity, it is hard to keep up with the latest trends. With your team concentrating on constant updates and patches, there is little time to innovate nevermind securing your infrastructure. With IaaS, you have a team working to help you stay secure and gain access to technologies you couldn’t budget or implement on your own.
Choosing an IaaS Provider
Not every IaaS provider is created equal. Choosing the right provider can mean the difference between success and failure for your team—here’s what to keep in mind when choosing an IaaS provider.
Tier 5 Data Center. The first question you ask when analyzing an IaaS provider is “what does their data center look like?” Look for a provider that uses the Tier 5 Data Center that was recently announced. When compared to Tier 4, Tier 5 centers have the ability to run forever without water and detect and protect against outside air pollutants. Tier 5 also provides fault tolerant critical distribution paths and equipment. All of the important characteristics of Tier 4 are retained in Tier 5, including meeting ASHRAE temperature requirements and automatic leak detection.
Other new features in Tier 5 include the following:
- A & B power stays up during 90% of all site repairs and maintenance
- Stored energy system includes a monitor that is permanently installed and configured in an N+1
- Three locations monitor the primary facility to provide standby power if necessary
- The primary distribution path receives UPS circuit monitoring for panel branch circuits
- Fully fault tolerant 100 hour critical and standby power paths and switchgear; standby power generation
- Cybersecurity solutions including physical and technological advancements
Don’t settle for anything less than the best when it comes to security.
How long can your infrastructure run in an outage? This is crucial knowledge. At a minimum, your IaaS solution should provide geographically redundant options. Your virtual infrastructure should also contain power sustainability and efficiency options to further improve your experience.
Authentication and Authorization. Does your IaaS provider have the appropriate measures to authenticate those trying to access the system and give specific authorization for any use? You should also look for the ability to replicate tiered authentication systems. This protects the integrity of your system and the security of all data within it.
Maintenance. Your IaaS provider should be able to show regular maintenance done on the system to ensure normal hacks cannot get in through known vulnerabilities. In addition, you want to make sure they are staying on top of your environment to ensure optimal performance and prevent issues before they happen.
Support. Your business is unique, and so is the support you need. For most companies, business happens outside of business hours, so support needs to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Make sure to find a provider you can rely on when you need them, not one who will keep you waiting in line.
Closing Thoughts
The best way to get started finding an IaaS provider is to make a list of your needs—we suggest beginning by integrating IaaS with your existing cloud and on-premise environment. Once you feel comfortable, you can migrate more to your provider over time.
Comport Secure has a team that can help you fully integrate IaaS with your existing cloud environment. We will start with a plan to match your particular corporate needs. We ensure that our team walks beside you to provide the hand-on service you expect. Contact us today to discuss your needs.
