Key to Cloud computing: Service level Agreements

While many people are talking about cloud computing, the focus is on technology, software, or what kind of new cloud computing services they are launching, but everyone ignores one of the most fundamental issues that we should discuss: service level agreements. Migrating to a cloud environment means looking at calculations from a service perspective, so consumers and business users should first consider service level agreements, not shiny high-tech elements.

Consider cloud computing from a relational perspective: in the past, customers and vendors have a long way to go, and after a short but passionate sales session, it's a lengthy and distant process of waiting for a new version. In the cloud environment, customers and vendors live together, there is no time interval. In view of this fact, the most important thing is to prevent the effect of a party's withdrawal on the other side. Service level agreements play a key role in identifying basic service content and service levels.

Usability

First of all, we need to realize that the customer's sense of service quality is related to the customer's needs. I wouldn't mind when I was at the office, but if I was watching a TV show at home, the blackout would make me scold the power company. The same is true of customers for cloud services. If the vendor provides 99% availability, and 1% of the interruption service always occurs during office hours, the customer will soon give up the cloud service provided by the vendor, although the 1% service interruption is the allowable scope of the service level agreement.

The other side of the problem is that most of us don't really need 99.995% availability, and what we need is a 100% availability when we need the service. Since most users ' usage habits are predictable, cloud services (especially software services) provided by cloud service providers can be optimized to move maintenance work that causes services to be unavailable to users at a low point in their use of the service. Cloud technology allows service providers to easily and closely monitor user usage of computing resources, so if a vendor discovers that a user is using a service frequently (such as a payroll payment program) in the first five business days of the month, The cloud service provider should, as far as possible, ensure that 24-hour uninterrupted service is achieved during this time period. And the rest of the time, you can reduce the amount of resources of the service, save costs (and reduce service costs, attract customers).

Performance transparency

Another important thing to remember is that service level agreements have real meaning only if users can monitor service levels. Transparency of services is therefore the key. Regardless of what service the user is using, he must be able to know in a simple way whether the service is available, and also to be able to monitor the performance of the service to the extent specified in the service level agreement. If you are a cloud service provider, don't forget to provide a "control Panel" that allows customers, media, and even competitors to quickly see your service status. Keep in mind that transparency can make your customers more tolerant, as if drivers are more concerned with traffic jams than why they are congested, but how long the congestion lasts.

So if you're going to build a cloud service platform, or migrate your company's software into a cloud service environment, I'll give you the following advice: first, consider the level of service your customers need, and the level of service you can provide, and then build your cloud services around this level of service. Do not simply say "We now provide cloud services, we provide 24x7 services", so as to avoid the embarrassment of the service can not be achieved. If you're looking to buy a cloud service, make sure you don't pay too much for the availability that you actually need. If you have ever suffered injury or loss due to an unreasonable service agreement, you are welcome to share your experience with us.