Select Page

By Kyle Overall, Senior Systems Engineer and Mike Tarangelo, Associate Systems Engineer

There are a lot of things to consider when deploying an ECM cloud solution: security, connectivity, maintenance, vendor. Without talking, understanding, and planning for each element, a project can get messy and end up costing more than anticipated. To prevent this from happening, we compiled a list of questions every organization should ask before flying into the cloud.

  1. How secure is the ECM cloud solution?
  2. Have you ever had a security breach? If so, how did you handle it?
  3. How do I get the correct security from my secure network to the cloud (new network)?
  4. How can you ensure a tunnel is secure?
  5. What is the fail-over plan if one of my environments goes down?
  6. Where are my secure tunnels hosted?
  7. How often will my cloud sync with internal security?
  8. If I lose data, how quickly will it be replicated?
  9. How do I connect “Server A” to “Cloud B?”
  10. How will users connect to the ECM cloud solution?
  11. Will it connect to my internal systems?
  12. What kind of maintenance does this require?
  13. When is my scheduled maintenance?
  14. What is the expected downtime associated with maintenance periods?
  15. Who maintains the IP and URLs?
  16. Who will manage it?
  17. What are the financial benefits to hosting in the cloud versus internally?
  18. How much will this ECM cloud solution cost?
  19. What fees are associated with maintenance and support?
  20. How much money does this save me in the long run?
  21. How does my administrator access the server?
  22. How do I add users to the server?
  23. How do I check log files?
  24. Who do we contact for support or issues? A vendor? Host? Internal IT team? (In other words, what is the chain of command?)
  25. Where is the ECM cloud solution stored?
  26. How responsive is this going to be since it is not on our internal network?
  27. What are you doing with my data?
  28. Why should I let my data reside outside of my network?
  29. How do I promote through environments (development, production and quality assurance)?
  30. How long will it take to set up?
  31. Do you offer training for internal IT on how to access and connect to the cloud?

Hopefully, these questions help you think about aspects of deploying an ECM cloud solution that you hadn’t thought of before. It is important to partner with an organization that is thorough so you can easily leverage the cloud and so the project goes smoothly. If you are interested in learning the benefits of the cloud, take a look at one of our client’s experiences.

About the authors:

Kyle is a hockey fanatic. When he is not watching his favorite team, the Detroit Red Wings, he is on the ice playing in recreational leagues with his friends and family. One of Kyle’s favorite things about working at Pyramid Solutions is that his colleagues are not just coworkers, but friends.

Mike transitioned from intern to full-time employee this year. He works on anything from writing documentation to troubleshooting to building solutions. Every morning Mike walks into the office with headphones on. He is a huge music fan and enjoys playing piano in his spare time.