A large number of business startups today are looking toward the cloud when it comes to their network and even for their data storage needs. Sharing files and data between the employees at the company, and making that data accessible from anywhere makes the cloud an appropriate option for many companies. However, those are not the only reasons to consider cloud hosting. Lower costs, along with the ease of implementing the service are often motivators for startups as well.
A hosted platform will let you create servers, applications for the web, databases, virtual networks to keep everyone at the company connected, and storage options. Companies can use the services through a cloud hosting provider without the need to worry about adding additional and expensive hardware to their site. They can do this without the need to hire additional IT staff since everything happens offsite.
However, because of the popularity of the cloud, it means that companies have to choose from an array of different providers today, and this is not always easy. Sorting through all of the choices out there can take time, and some are most assuredly better than the others are. The following are three of the best cloud hosting providers for startups today, and they should have nearly everything that you and your company need.
Windows Azure
This is easily one of the best options for small companies and startups looking for a quality cloud hosting provider. It is very simple to set up thanks to the step-by-step wizards that help companies to get up and running with the service quickly. Another one of the advantages of the service is that it works well with other Microsoft products a company might be using. Since a large number of companies – most, in fact – use MS products, including Office, it makes sense that this would be a good choice.
The user interface is very simple to understand, and getting started generally takes only a matter of minutes. It’s important to note that those companies that want to have additional storage space will have to pay extra on top of the hosted server costs.
Amazon EC2
Amazon is a powerhouse in many regards, and they have a wide range of different web services available through their cloud platform. EC2 is a very popular choice for startups as they have competitive pricing, and they are able to offer options for both platform as a service and infrastructure as a service. While the prices and the choices are great with this platform, the only real downside that it has is that it could actually offer too much. Some smaller startups might not need to have all of the options that it provides.
Rackspace Cloud Servers
Small businesses can use a variety of different servers through the host. While the service offers excellent customer support, some might find that it takes some time to grow used to the interface. Once they do though, they will find that it’s quite powerful and full of options, making it an excellent value and a worthwhile addition to the company.
These three options are the most popular and most consider them the best three choices when sorting through the options available for a cloud hosting provider. All of them have the backing of respected and quality companies behind them, so startups will not have to worry about them going out of business and suddenly needing to look for a new provider.