Posted by The amount of cloud computing has increased in the recent past as many organizations have shifted their operations to cloud solutions for every aspect, such as storage or applications.
As the market share of the key players grows, many cloud service providers have started incorporating incredible freebies for customers. These extras can add tremendous value if used as further components of your thinking about cloud computing.
Thus, we will compile a list of twelve of these little-known advantages that cloud service providers offer to their clients in this post.
1. Free Tier Access
Some of the biggest players in the cloud service provider market allow free access to some resources all the time. For a start-up new to the cloud or a small business that gets to experiment with services and offerings without having to worry about the bill, this can be a very useful benefit.
All in all, it is necessary to remember that if you use it more than slightly, it can begin to involve fees. However, it is important to note that to avoid the accidental use of paid resources in the free tier, fully understand what resources qualify for free tier before widespread utilization.
2. Extended Introductory Trials
Most cloud service providers will give the first customer 1 or even 3 months of free trial services to use the platform. It also gives enough leeway to lock and load proof-of-concept demonstrations, data imports, and other crucial processes so that one can put the provider through their finest before locking them for the long term.
Use these newly formed trials to test if the platform is a good fit technologically as well as determine key characteristics of the vendor, such as their responsiveness. It means you need to have the ability to respond to problems quickly before you become a client.
3. Cloud Credits and Incentives
Besides intro trials designed for people who have just registered, some providers also extend credits and bonuses to current clients. These credits may be used towards your account to pay for service charges you amass and, in effect, allow you to have free use of a certain resource for a while.
4. Solution Architects and Technical Account Managers
Cloud service providers offer their customers solution architects and technical account managers (TAMs), mainly when the customer is deploying a massive workload. They assist in interpreting users’ requirements into specific cloud designs that use the services in a provider’s portfolio.
The adoption of cloud computing can be greatly accelerated by having an informed advisor who is aware of your goals for cloud services and the range of services provided by a provider. Specifically, do not miss the possibilities of using the results of architecture reviews and recommendations on optimization.
5. Infrastructure As Code Tools and Templates
To ensure the successful deployment of infrastructure across different regions and accounts, it is not a simple feat. Providers have utility libraries and code snippets that can be used to implement environment deployment patterns that have already been tried and tested.
For instance, AWS CloudFormation comes with ready sets of templates in terms of VPCs, networking components, compute clusters and so on in accordance with best practices. This can be used to accelerate your learning curve compared to developing customized environments from the ground up.
6. Direct Training and Certification
Cloud service provider giants have developed comprehensive training resources and educational courses that revolve around the services they offer. Some even offer free digital training on basic certification exams, which are quite easy and include AWS Cloud Practitioner or Microsoft Azure Fundamentals.
Other than self-paced tutorials, others, such as AWS, provide classroom training and virtual instructor-led training on more complex issues from solution architects and engineers. Endorsement and supervised training guarantee that services are utilized effectively, as well as passing knowledge on to a broad group of coworkers.
7. Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Support
Cloud providers enable clients to utilize on-premises infrastructure while using public cloud services, APIs, and tools. This offers efficient management and the flexibility to move workloads across different environments.
It is also worth noting that many of these cloud vendors also offer strong tooling for either importing or exporting workloads from/to other rival providers. This multi-cloud flexibility provides customers with choice over committing to a single ecosystem for the long term.
8. Hands-On Sandbox Environments
Most of the major cloud players offer specific personalized sandboxes pre-populated with some credit so that users are able to experiment without being charged. These sandboxes are well-aligned with learning labs and/ or challenges to cultivate important competencies concerning the most used services.
9. Cloud Adoption Programs and Transformation Support
It is evident that transitioning enterprise workloads or undertaking massive digital transformations anchored on the public cloud has numerous complexities. Cloud service providers comprehend this, and many of them offer specific support programs to help customers achieve successful transitions to the cloud.
These structured programs offer reference architectures, technological contents, migration solutions, and adoption pathways relevant to your context and aspirations. Make use of this help, particularly if one cannot organize particular cloud competencies in-house at the moment.
10. Special Considerations: Discounts for Non-Profits and Startups
The major cloud players recognize that non-profits and early-stage startups are tight on resources and funds. Most offer programs to provide these customer segments with the services for a non-cost or lower cost.
11. Rewards Programs
You bet everyone can appreciate a great branded customer loyalty program. There are reward programs from AWS and Google Cloud where customers earn points that can be redeemed for cool cloud merchandise and branded outerwear, as well as access to exclusive events and credits toward their cloud services spend.
12. Free Extended Support
Every major cloud service provider currently provides some level of support that is bundled with a free base tier. This often encompasses options for contacting technical professionals, obtaining manuals, participating in discussion boards, and accessing informational databases at any time.
Many also offer access to cloud architects, support engineers and solution specialists at no extra cost once there are issues to solve. However, it is critical to note that there are fee-based premium support options that promise certain response times.
Conclusion
I hope this list brought your attention to some more cloud provider perks that may have been hidden in plain sight beyond the simple necessities of infrastructure and services. Getting the most of such bonuses as free trials and credit, transformation support, and loyalty programs can generate colossal and lasting value.