Organizations today are relying more and more on cloud-based and virtualized environments to archive content and make materials accessible for employees. However, certain practices and technologies can affect cloud performance, impacting the flexibility and benefits the platform can offer.
By identifying these issues, businesses can work to prevent them and make the most of their cloud resources.
What affects cloud performance? The device used to access it
One factor that can make a difference in cloud performance is the device being used to access the system. If the smartphone, tablet or computer being connected with the cloud has an outdated operating system or software in need of updating, it could impact how cloud resources appear and perform.
Even worse, if the device is infected with malware, opening cloud-based resources on the gadget or workstation could open the door to a data breach. Keeping this in mind, users should utilize devices that are up to date with their OS and all software programs to boost cloud performance and prevent security issues.
The cloud provider’s service level agreement
According to a recent Compuware study, 73 percent of IT professionals believe that cloud vendors could be hiding issues about the platform or infrastructure, and these problems could affect cloud performance. Furthermore, 63 percent of respondents stated that there is “a need for more meaningful and granular SLA metrics that are geared toward ensuring the continuous delivery of high quality end-user experience.”
TechTarget associate editor Steve Cimino agreed that SLAs can have an effect on cloud performance. However, the agreement could be beneficial for the client, as it could include an expected range of availability for cloud services, as well as specified levels of performance. While there are currently no overarching industry standards for these kinds of measurements, users can come to an accord with their service providers.
“Application and network performance should be a top concern before moving forward with other aspects,” Cimino wrote. “[T]he information gathered from these factors can be used to set cloud computing performance limits.”
WAN resources
IT network expert Zeus Kerravala told TechTarget that wide area network resources can also affect the performance of cloud programs as this technology provides the backbone for private, public and hybrid cloud platforms. Furthermore, today’s users are demanding more from their WAN network.
“We’re moving into an era where this isn’t your father’s WAN anymore,” Kerravala said. “The WAN at one time was used really just to distribute Internet traffic, a lot of things that most workers viewed as nice-to-have but not need-to-have. When we move to cloud computing, the WAN actually becomes in many ways the backplane of these virtual, cloud-based data centers.”
For this reason, it is critical to ensure that WAN resources are as optimized as possible. A solution like WAN load balancing can improvement management of these resources and help improve cloud performance. Additionally, decision-makers can consider increasing their available bandwidth to provide more support for the use of the cloud platform.
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