Selecting the right enterprise cloud provider requires finding one that provides cloud services covering a broad range of your needs and includes critical aspects such as enterprise control, simple on-boarding, tight network integration, security and management systems and the freedom to move application workloads to the cloud without any complex re-engineering. Here are a few initial factors to consider as you start the process:

Does the enterprise cloud provider have a track record in the provision of cloud services?

New IaaS cloud services providers pop up every day. But only a few have the track record in terms of experience and years in business to provide enterprise cloud hosting - and have the customers to prove it. Ensure you speak to some of those customer references to get a good feel for the provider you’re looking at. Another good indication is the number of cloud services use cases available for review. iland has numerous of these available for download on iland.com.

Is the enterprise cloud provider focused on a single cloud platform so all development and strategic direction is focused on that platform and not on other demands and diversions?

Unlike many of its competitors, iland focuses on a single cloud platform for enterprise cloud hosting. Because we are not diverting resources to other product areas, we can devote them to our platform, upgrading it immediately as soon as we receive technology upgrades from VMware.

Does the provider offer a cloud platform that has all the features your organization will need? If not, is there a roadmap for their implementation?

iland's enterprise cloud platform is powered by VMware technology and has a wide array of advanced features. iland sits on VMware's Technology Advisory Board at which we provide feedback from our customers to VMware on the new technology features they would like to see in future releases.

Is the PAYG model offered really just pay-as-you-provision and not actually PAYG?

iland offers enterprise cloud services on a true pay-as-you-go model. When you provision resources you don't actually pay for them until you start using them. However, some enterprise cloud providers do not offer true PAYG but start charging you the minute you provision resources even if you're not using them.

Will I be able to migrate servers or server images between accounts?

For customers using iland's cloud, time is spent only on the creation and deployment of templates and workloads. iland completely manages the underlying hypervisor and hardware layer allowing you to focus on your core business needs. For customers that have already invested time and money into a local installation of vSphere, customers can leverage a free tool called "VMware vCloud Connector" that enables the migration of templates between environments and basic management from their vSphere client. For those virtualizing for the first time iland offers a number of methods for migrating data from your local site to ours.

Is free support offered and how easy is it to get it?

Unlike iland's technical infrastructure, support is included in your PAYG contract. We employ fully certified and experienced engineering and support teams that monitor, maintain, and enhance iland's enterprise cloud hosting with 24/7 availability, US-based engineers and ticketing services, and advanced resolution and escalation capabilities. It is easy to get infrastructure support when you need it via phone, email, or online.