Data and systems that run and power many businesses around the world are in the hands of few giant companies. The impact of TOP 3 global cloud providers on the world’s economy is significant. Political risks are high and, by choosing them, you keep stimulating their power that devastates not only many local data centers, but local economic growth and your own business stability as well.
"It is cheap! I am going to save! They are global, everyone use them, and so I trust them! Fast and easy ready-to-use configurations!"
I hear this from many companies that trust their business to these giants almost every day. However, has anyone analyzed whether it is really so cheap? Has anyone studied their IT services in details? What is and isn’t included in price? Well, I have! And believe me – it is cheaper only if you are not using it. More accurate – it is cheaper only with low usage. As soon as you will start to use your IT systems with full power and not in the test mode, the price will grow rapidly. You will realize you need to pay for extra bandwidth, extra data flow, traffic etc.
Secondly, let’s consider security of these giant companies.
Do you really think they provide high security level only because they are large and trendy? And can you add extra security features customized to your specific business needs? A neutral data center is much more flexible and able to change your resources when you need it. You will not have to pay for changing the plan and pay for resources that you don’t actually use. Tailor-made security plan, fast support response and knowing where your data is stored are strong benefits that stand against global cloud giants.
A neutral data center will definitely increase your IT system’s security level and always will be interested in your particular needs. Individual disaster recovery plan, high data center security level, wide range of IT solutions and possibilities, as well as individual rack cabinets with extra security systems and personal attitude are only a few advantages that you will obtain choosing a neutral data center. Instead of waiting days for support or talking to a non-human support, you will have your own project manager that will not only help to solve your request, but also will provide professional IT advice when you need it the most.
Not to mention, large global companies with roots in one of the most influential country are potential target for political speculations that now can affect businesses and their data in the world. Various geopolitical risks are the most essential and important aspects when thinking about globalization of IT systems. As we have seen before, for example, when many IPs were blocked because of political decisions for Telegram messenger use restrictions, many other businesses struggled from downtime, too. Not only political aspects, but also change and fluctuations in financial policy can easily affect these large cloud providers, which have to comply with their country’s laws and requirements. Besides, these global cloud providers have very tight competition between them and they have tools, as well as resources to affect each other as well. Having so much customers around the globe, are they interested particularly in you and your company’s interests and security?
A large part of enterprises has already started risk diversification by splitting and deploying their data and systems in several data centers and trusting unrelated IT providers. In addition, neutral backup data center is a popular option for companies that are aware of their risks and that want to set a disaster recovery plan in case of a downtime. I don't want to persuade you not to use global cloud providers. Use them if that corresponds to your business needs and be aware of all risks, diversify them and analyze all benefits of global clouds vs local, neutral data center or cloud provider. Don’t trust all your critical business processes to one IT provider and you will minimize IT risks for a secure and continuous operations of IT system.
Andris Gailitis,
CEO at DEAC
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