When Are Free Cloud Tools Worth It?

Sure, you need to be on the cloud. We all understand that at this point. The harder question to answer is, which cloud should you use? There are so many options that it can be more than a little overwhelming. You want a good service that is worth what you spend, so how do you narrow your options?

The best starting point is to look at free cloud. As you suspect, free cloud services offer a lot less than their paid counterparts, but when you understand the primary differences, you get a chance to really compare services and find what works best for your business. These are the four times free cloud services are the best choice.

When You Don’t Need Much Storage

It’s pretty common practice among cloud providers to have a free tier of service. The most defining characteristic of these free tiers is that they offer limited storage. Every provider sets their own numbers, but usually you’re looking at a handful of Gigabytes of free space. It’s pretty clear. If the free tier offers enough space, that’s a strong incentive to save money and avoid upgrading.

When it comes to space, the decision is even easier. Pretty much every provider with a free tier will offer some version of pay-as-you-go upgrades. Basically, you can use the free tier until it’s no longer enough. When that time comes, increasing your storage space is as easy as providing a credit card number. You don’t have to deploy anything. You don’t have to plan beyond budgeting. So, if you’re currently operating at a level where free storage space is enough, make the most of it.

When You Use Small Files

The next common limitation on free accounts applies to file sizes. A lot of times bandwidth will be throttled, and a lot of accounts even put hard limits to the size of individual files that can be stored. Once again, this is an easy limit to assess. If the bulk of your data is text documents, spreadsheets and numerical lists, free levels will probably serve you well.

If, however, you use media files with any regularity, this is going to be one of the first things to push you to a paid service. This is especially true if you want to use the cloud for collaboration on media files. Most free services don’t have the chops to let you do this freely, and you can easily lose more money in lost time than you get back from utilizing a free cloud account.

You Understand Data Security

This is probably the most misunderstood part of cloud accounts. It’s common to advertise that premium cloud services are more secure. This both is and isn’t true. Let’s start with how it isn’t true. Cloud experts secure all of their servers in the same manner. If Amazon was using weaker security protocols for the free accounts, that would put their entire infrastructure at risk. They can’t afford that. More to the point, free and paid data is frequently stored in the same servers. From a provider standpoint, the security is uniform (and usually robust) no matter how much a customer is paying for it.

That said, there are services that can add real value to your cloud security — they just don’t have much to do with your provider. Instead, accounts with security management make things safer by reducing your company’s ability to mess things up. That might sound a little harsh, but one of the most common sources of data breaches is employees who don’t properly follow security instructions. Weak passwords and other bad practices are the biggest vulnerability to your data when you use good cloud services. An improved security tier usually provides professional account management. Basically, you get IT pros working tirelessly to prevent employees from doing things that put your data at risk.

Here’s the bottom line. Data security scales directly with the number of people who can access it. If you have five employees, a little training and a free account can probably keep you safe. If you have 500 employees, you probably want account management. Anywhere in between, you have to make a judgment call (but if you have 499, go ahead and invest in that extra security).

You Have Commitment Issues

The last, and best, time that free cloud is the way to go is when you’re afraid of commitment. It’s the underlying motivation behind these free services. Cloud providers want you to try their stuff and fall in love with it. They’re so confident that they don’t usually push free trials. Instead, it’s free until you need more stuff from them.

There are a lot of times in the business and IT world that spending money can save money. This is a beautiful exception. Free cloud is an opportunity to explore different services, formats and functions. You can play with ideas until you find something that truly is a good fit. From there, you have to weigh the costs and their benefits to decide how much money you should be spending on cloud services.

About the Author: Victor H.

Victor brings nearly ten years of enterprise and SMB sales experience in the information technology and software space. Prior to joining Valicom, he served as regional channel sales manager working for one of the industry’s largest enterprise labeling software companies. With a focus on great customer service in helping channel partners grow their businesses, Victor joined the Valicom team in late 2015 after relocating to the Madison area. Victor holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from UW-Milwaukee, and when he’s not in the office he enjoys exercising, travelling abroad, and spending time with his growing family.