Why businesses should use UK-based cloud hosting

Cloud strategy advice from Newbury-based Stream Networks

WITH the talk of Brexit not seeming to slow down, Stream Networks wants to ensure business owners are implementing Brexit into their cloud strategy.

Here are three crucial considerations for all businesses to be aware of when selecting a cloud supplier.

Consistent monthly billing

Since Brexit occurred, the British pound to American dollar conversion rate has nosedived, meaning that we Brits receive less for our money.

Many of the larger cloud organisations are based in the USA and work primarily using the American dollar.

This results in billing being conducted in American dollars before being converted to the British pound.

This means that your current monthly bill may look substantially different from one you received in April.

As well as this, many of these companies bill dependent on the amount of usage in each concurrent month, meaning that no two months will be the same.

Couple this with a fluctuating exchange rate and your monthly bill can become quite unpredictable – a nightmare for financial directors.

Hardware

Much of the hardware that will compromise a server infrastructure is hardware that will be imported from overseas.

Technology manufacturers such as Dell have said that they will be raising prices in the UK as a result of Brexit.

It would be fair to hazard a guess that the crash of the GBP will have a negative effect on margins.

Using the cloud enables businesses to pass on the increased infrastructure costs to the cloud providers, ensuring that they have the newest technology, without the increased expenditure.

Data regulation

The past 12 months has seen much made about the legality of data transfer between Europe and the United States.

Safe Harbour has become Privacy Shield, which almost became obsolete before it even got off the ground. It has now been decided that Privacy Shield will not be challenged or reviewed again until next summer.

However, it has to be considered that Privacy Shield is an agreement between the EU and the US.

Now that Britain has voted to leave the EU, does this mean that a whole new arrangement has to be drawn up for us?

With all of the above in mind, now is the time to ensure your business is aware of the risk of placing its cloud business overseas.

If you want to speak to Stream Networks about your cloud strategy, please contact one of the team on (01635) 884170 or email info@stream-networks.co.uk