Knowing which cloud storage company to choose, can be an overwhelming task. Especially, if you do not have much knowledge of what cloud computing can actually offer you. There are hundreds of reviews of the top providers available, but not so many of them have negatives that stand out making your decision easier. In light of this, here is how to compare cloud storage providers, so you can make the best choice.
Whether you want to compare cloud storage in order to make the best selection for either business or personal use, you can’t be swayed by the packaging. That’s to say, that you have to get brutally honest with yourself, step away from the confusion and figure out what you actually need the cloud storage service to do. For example, if your company deals with client information that you absolutely must keep secure, then you need to select a cloud drive which takes security seriously. If you work in a fast-paced environment and you find yourself struggling to remember everything you need to do at the end of a long day, then select a service which is fully automated, so you don’t need to give it your energy and attention.
Figure Out What’s Important To You
Work Out A Budget
If you don’t know your budget, then how on earth are you going to compare cloud storage providers effectively? Unless of course, money is no issue then your budget won’t play a part in making your comparison, however, if you are like most of us, one of the main deciding factors when making a comparison, is getting value for money. Many people are tempted to use a free storage option, whilst this can be a good choice for some people, for other’s it is not. Many of the free cloud drives only offer a meagre amount of storage space, which sooner or later is going to run out unless you will be using it few and far between. Most of the best products will offer different pricing tiers and give substantial discounts if you pay for one year upfront.
Look At Speed And Performance
If you want to properly compare cloud storage providers, then you have to be prepared to look at every aspect of the companies on your shortlist. Speed and performance is a big deciding factor and although large amounts of data understandably take some time to backup, some services are faster than others. Performance also includes additional features such as sharing options, mobile applications and how smoothly the process works when it comes to backing up and restoring files. Some providers can tend to be a bit buggy, which is exactly why you need to choose one which has a good reputation all round.
Customer Service
In my humble opinion, customer service is of crucial importance when you compare cloud storage services before making a decision which one to invest in. Even if you are extremely tech-savvy when it comes to cloud computing, you never know what could happen and the worst thing that could happen is that something goes missing and you have no means of contacting the company to help you with the mistake. Many of the better providers offer a variety of ways to contact customer support, including phone support for those who need to be walked through the process, live chat, and email support. Some of them even have video tutorials and extensive knowledge bases on their websites to help you resolve the issues you are experiencing quickly and easily.
Features And Extras
Following on from the first point of knowing exactly what you need cloud storage for, the final important factor to consider to compare cloud storage providers, is to look at the extras and features of each one. For example, if you want to update files across several devices, then be sure to choose one with strong automatic syncing features. If you often collaborate with a team, then choose a service which makes sharing files easy and that offers real-time collaboration on documents.
If you follow the above steps, then you should end up making the right choice for you. There are of course several other factors to consider, however the points above with give you a good starting point to start making your comparisons.
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