This Is What You Should Know Before Choosing Cloud Services

The original article was published here (in Norwegian)

We asked six industry experts three questions:
1. What are the benefits of using the cloud?
2. What expertise should you look for when choosing a cloud provider?
3. How can one ensure proper identity verification when logging into cloud-based services?

This is what Morten Forfang, Industry Director at Computas answered:

1: What are the benefits of using the cloud?

There are many benefits, the degree of which depends on business needs. Common to most are advantages such as scalability, security, uptime, robustness, and reduced infrastructure, operations, and physical maintenance. It can be cost-effective, but for most of our customers, that is secondary to the fact that the cloud can get them to market faster, provide access to modernized solutions, and act as a facilitator enabling them to drive business development and data-driven innovation within their own business domain. Examples include machine learning, process automation, image recognition, text interpretation, translation, and audio recognition.

2: What expertise should you look for when choosing a cloud provider?

You often need a platform provider, such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud, and a solution provider, such as a consulting firm with cloud expertise. For many, it’s natural to engage with a solution provider for advice on what should run in the cloud, which cloud provider to use, and in what manner. “Anyone” can create tutorials and try out products from a cloud platform. Assembling products and technology into solutions that securely meet a business need is an entirely different matter. Choose an independent consultant with certifications and experience in building solutions on multiple cloud platforms.

3: How can one ensure proper identity verification when logging into cloud-based services?

Cloud platforms use modern standard login components. The choice of identity manager is crucial for trusting the correct identity. Many choose to enhance security by using multi-factor authentication, such as receiving a code via SMS in addition to a password. Equally important is ensuring the rest of the solution is secure so that the mechanisms for identity management are also secure. To assemble this into a holistic solution you can trust, you need assistance from someone with experience and expertise who can follow best practices on the utilized cloud platform.