Comparing Cloud Providers: What should you look for when choosing a cloud solution?

Which cloud provider should you choose? From Hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud; to powerful challengers such as Akami Connected Cloud, DigitalOcean, Exoscale, OVH Cloud, UpCloud, and Vultr; and beyond to bare-bones servers – the list can feel endless. 

Choosing a cloud service comes down to finding the right fit for your organization’s unique needs, scalability requirements, and future aspirations,  not flashy features or the lowest price tag. 

You want a cloud provider that grows with your organization, provides ironclad security, and allows you to pivot at a moment’s notice. 

The key is matching your needs to the best cloud hosting service that fits your long-term strategy. Let’s break down what that means. 

Key Factors in Choosing a Cloud Provider

Keep these key considerations front and center as you evaluate your options.

• Performance
• Reliability 
• Scalability
• Compliance
• Support
• Pricing

Performance

Speed and responsiveness affect user satisfaction and operational efficiency. Top-tier providers offer high-performance computing options, fast storage solutions (like SSD), and low-latency network connections. 

Here are some important performance specs, including Geekbench scores, which measure a system’s performance, to consider:

Alongside, UpCloud’s MaxIOPS technology delivers exceptional performance, with read speeds of 100,000 IOPS and write speeds of 30,000 IOPS for 4K block sizes. This significantly outperforms standard cloud SSDs, which typically range between 3,000 to 16,000 IOPS per volume.

For businesses running I/O-intensive applications or dealing with high-concurrency scenarios, this performance edge translates to substantially reduced latency, markedly faster application response times, and improved overall system throughput.

Reliability 

Performance and reliability go hand-in-hand, and hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud offer impressive Service Level Agreements (SLAs), typically guaranteeing 99.99% uptime. However, other providers can often go one better.

For instance, UpCloud offers a 99.999% availability SLA. This commitment is backed by a compensation policy: any period of unavailability lasting longer than five minutes is eligible for compensation that amounts to 50x the cost of resources unavailable.

Scalability

Most cloud services have flexible scaling options to optimize costs and manage workloads. The best cloud hosting providers offer vertical scaling (boosting the power of your existing resources) and horizontal scaling (assigning more instances as needed). 

Intelligent auto-scaling capabilities and fine-tuning resources based on custom rules or real-time demand have also become popular features. This ensures optimal performance during traffic spikes without overspending during quieter periods.

Security and Compliance

Since protecting sensitive data and maintaining customer trust is essential, you’ll want to ensure your provider has the following:

• Strong encryption capability for data rest and transit
• Identity and access management tools
• Network security features like firewalls and DDoS protection
• Security monitoring and threat detection services

Trusted providers boast a range of industry-specific certifications – including GDPR for EU data protection, and ISO 27001 for general information security. 

They also offer features that aid compliance, such as robust audit logs, flexible data residency, and regular compliance reports. These are necessary measures to prevent serious legal issues and reputational damage.

AWS, UpCloud, DigitalOcean, and Akami Connected Cloud prioritize data security, offering essential features such as data encryption at rest and in transit, user authentication, firewalls, and basic monitoring tools. All provide virtual private networking options and support compliance with standards like ISO 27001.

How does UpCloud compare? Beyond the gold standard of internet security, ISO 27001, we’re also aligned with ISO 3100, NIST CSF, and the CISPE Code of Conduct. When it comes to  UpCloud vs AWS, our core security features meet the needs of most small—to medium-sized businesses and projects without added complexity. 

Support

High-quality technical support means rapid issue resolution and smooth operations. Hallmarks of excellent support include: 

• Fast response times
• Knowledgeable staff
• 24/7 availability
• Multiple support tiers (basic to enterprise)
• Diverse communication channels (email, phone, chat)
• Dedicated account managers for personalized assistance

Compared to other cloud providers, UpCloud offers better chat support and quicker responses:

Then, there are also service level agreements (SLAs) to consider, which we touched on earlier.

Let’s talk SLAs – a solid one should spell out:

• Uptime Guarantees: Higher percentages (99.99%+) mean better reliability.
• Performance Metrics: Clear standards for response times and data transfer speeds.
• Support Response Times: Maximum wait times for different issue severities.
• Data Protection: Encryption, backup, and disaster recovery measures.
• Breach Compensation: Fair reimbursement if service levels aren’t met.

Pricing

When comparing cloud providers, don’t just focus on base compute and storage costs. Instead, look holistically at: 

• Pricing models: Pay-as-you-go, reserved instances, or spot instances
• Hidden costs: Data transfer, load balancing, monitoring, and other add-ons.
• Potential savings: Volume discounts or long-term commitment perks

Understanding your usage patterns and requirements is the most important cloud pricing factor. It helps you pick services that you actually need and use.

The best cloud hosting providers  tend to offer a combination of these pricing models:

It’s difficult to provide exact costs as they vary significantly depending on your needs. UpCloud starts at €3/mo for 1GB and goes up to €3190/mo for 512GB. Plus UpCloud offers a zero-cost internet transfer, so you’ll always be certain of your monthly cloud spend.

So, first things first: figure out precisely how much storage you need before looking at price tags.

1. What are your exact resource requirements (CPU, RAM, storage, bandwidth), and do they fluctuate over time? 
2. Are there data transfer or API call limits, and what are the overage charges? 
3. What additional services (e.g., load balancing, backups, monitoring) do you need, and are they included in the base price? 

Then find out: 

4. If the provider charges for data egress, are there any free tiers?
5. What’s the cost of potential downtime or performance issues?
6. Are there any long-term commitment discounts, and how do they compare to pay-as-you-go? 
7. What are the total migration costs of moving data? 

Conclusion

Choosing the right cloud provider depends on your organization’s long-term needs. But evaluating CSPs on performance, reliability, scalability, security, support, and cost efficiency is a great place to start. And while hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud might seem the easiest choice, challengers such as UpCloud and DigitalOcean offer compelling competitive alternatives. 

• Performance matters, with high-speed SSD storage and low-latency networking improving efficiency. 
• Reliability is crucial, with providers offering 99.99% uptime or higher—UpCloud even guarantees 100% availability. 
• Scalability ensures flexibility with vertical and horizontal scaling.
• Strong security features like encryption and compliance with GDPR and ISO 27001 are essential. 
• Quality support, fast response times, and transparent SLAs further differentiate providers.
• Pricing varies by model (pay-as-you-go, reserved, spot instances), and hidden costs should be considered. 

Ultimately, the best choice is one that aligns with your organization’s long-term needs, ensuring growth, security, and cost-effectiveness.

Your Free UpCloud Trial 

Of course we’re a little biassed, but we pride ourselves on helping all end users to develop, deploy, and manage their applications with ease. With 13 global data centers, and a cloud native product stack engineered for exceptional scalability, speed, and security, we’re the European force challenging what the cloud should be.

UpCloud’s stack offers: 

• Public Cloud and Private Cloud servers
• Simplify databases with Managed MySQL/PostgreSQL/Redis/OpenSearch
• Store large datasets on Object Storage
• Distribute traffic using Load Balancers
• Manage containers with Managed Kubernetes
• Secure networking through Software Defined Network
• Easy-to-use VPN gateway 

All unscored by a 100% SLA and 24/7 support, 365 days a year, with a median response time of just 46 seconds.

Start your free week-long trial, or check out our zero-commitment demo today.