When you choose a cloud storage service, the factors you will be considering will depend on your objectives and your environment. As a small business, you may be looking to begin an IT service such as file sharing; as a large enterprise to improve your processes including backup. Without concern for the differences, it is important to consider three main factors when choosing the right cloud solution – flexibility, availability and security.

You will find cloud storage services in two forms. The first ones provide a total turnkey system and the second types offer only the physical storage solutions in the cloud. Then there is a hybrid type that goes between the two.

The choice of the secure sharing system will depend on your needs and how the services can deliver on the main factors – flexibility, availability and security. Security is crucial to any type and size of enterprise, including individuals. While encryption is at the heart of the security solution, the where and when of encryption is also important. At least the data in the cloud must be encrypted. For example, if the provider hosting your data has to respond to some legal requirement, they must not be able to read your data.

You will also want that the data is encrypted even when it is being transferred to another cloud storage. Typical applications will use local storage for caching data as it is transferred, and it is important that this local storage is also encrypted. It will protect your data in case a drive is to be disposed of.

Because the caches usually are based on a single drive, if there is no encryption they could be easily read. But if the key is removed, they could become useless for anyone.

The next important factor is availability. Make sure to choose a cloud storage provider that is not likely to face an outage. Even if there is an outage, you must have options to protect and secure your data.



Consider all these factors when choosing the right cloud storage provider.