Cloud storage is the latest form of technology to hit the market, and its use has exploded in recent years.
Here’s why you’re paying more for your cloud storage than you think.
1.
You’ll pay more if you need a lot of cloud storage.
If you need 10 gigabytes of storage, it’s a good idea to get a terabyte.
If your storage needs a terabit, that’s an extra 200 gigabytes, or about the size of a standard hard drive.
Cloud storage also can store multiple versions of files and other files, and lets you upload and download files in batches.
“If you need to upload or download 10 gigabyte files, you’ll pay up to 15 times more for cloud than you would pay for your own hard drive,” said Andrew M. Lutz, chief executive officer of the data-center technology firm DataQuest.
“In the long term, you could pay 20 times more, but in the short term, the cost savings will outweigh the cost of additional storage.”
2.
Your cloud storage is a cost-saving measure.
If data stored on cloud storage gets damaged or stolen, you pay for it out of your own pocket.
“This is the price you pay when you want to protect data from being compromised by criminals,” said Mark Karpeles, chief investment officer of data-security firm Karpen.
“You’re saving money by using your own data.”
3.
Your personal cloud storage will be slower than your business cloud storage for a long time.
Cloud-based services like Google Drive and Dropbox will get faster as companies like Amazon’s AWS service grow, but there will be a catch.
If cloud storage becomes slower than business cloud, the company will charge you for the difference.
That could mean you’ll have to pay up front to keep your data secure, or you’ll need to pay a monthly fee for the extra time.
“That’s the price of keeping your data safe,” said Tom Teneycke, chief technology officer of Teneya, which helps businesses manage cloud.
“For a small business, it makes sense to pay for that data to be safe.”
4.
The cloud is a valuable asset for businesses.
If business users are paying for their own cloud storage, they’re also paying for the potential for hackers to compromise your business data.
“Businesses have an opportunity to be able to protect their data from criminals, and to be confident that they won’t lose access to it,” said Lutz.
5.
You don’t have to worry about having to pay.
Businesses can choose to pay as a business, or as a customer.
If they choose to be a customer, they pay for the full cost of the cloud storage service and no more than the cost that the cloud provider charges to the customer.
“A customer could pay for a full year’s worth of cloud data for a fixed price,” said Teneys.
“They would be paying for a total of 10 years worth of data.”
Cloud storage can also be an advantage for small businesses that have fewer than 1,000 employees.
“Small businesses that don’t need to be big are more willing to pay the upfront cost of their own storage than large businesses that are looking to add more staff to their cloud team,” said Moxley.
Business customers will also save on their own costs by paying monthly for their storage, but that won’t necessarily be enough to offset the cost.
6.
You can store your data in the cloud.
If all you need is a single copy of a file or a video, you can store all of your files on your own cloud server and store them in a folder on your computer, said Karpes.
That’s great if you only have a single machine, but if you have a lot more storage you may need to store all your data on the cloud server.
“When you have more storage, you will pay more for that space, but you can do more storage on a single server,” said Kars.
“The cloud is going to be the future of file storage, and there’s nothing you can’t do with that space.”
7.
Cloud is cheaper.
Business cloud storage providers are often offering a discount if customers sign up for a service before their contracts are up, said Litz.
If that’s true, you won’t be paying a premium for cloud services.
Cloud costs can vary widely from one provider to the next, depending on the size and speed of the service, but the most common prices for cloud-based storage are between $1.00 per gigabyte and $2.00, said Tereys.
Cloud services are typically billed in advance of your data storage purchase, but some companies will offer up to 30 days to cancel your cloud subscription.
“Cloud can be a good thing, but a lot can go wrong before you get your data,” said Goyal.
“Some of the best services