Cbeyond Finds that Trust is the Cornerstone of Infrastructure-as-a-Service

Trust matters when it comes to migrating data to the cloud, whether that data is personal or sensitive corporate information.

So it doesn’t hurt when you’re a hosting company named on Forbes’ annual “Most Trustworthy Companies” list, as happened last year with Cbeyond (News - Alert).

“When you’re engaging with customers and talking with them about something as sensitive as their data, and moving it away from a physicality into a virtual environment, that can be very frightening,” Zane Long, VP of Indirect Channel Sales for Cbeyond, told TMCnet during ITEXPO (News - Alert) Miami this past January.

The first step for a hosting provider such as Cbeyond is, of course, to have a rock-solid security system in place.

The Cbeyond data center is SOC 2-compliant, meaning it has high standards for security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy. The company’s data center also is state of the art, which itself is a form of security in that it has the latest, most secure equipment, noted Long.

“Through that, we can demonstrate the security of our cloud data center. We even have the pylons that pop up outside the building if there’s any kind of threat so a tank couldn’t get through,” laughed Long.

But building confidence in the cloud enough to move sensitive data to it requires patience on the part of the hosting provider and creating the opportunity for customers to get their feet wet slowly.

“What we offer is an opportunity for customers to come in, as part of our Total Cloud Data Center environment, where they don’t have to move everything at once,” he said. “We understand how customers can be sensitive to that data, and we demonstrate it to them by moving pieces and portions. Once they get comfortable with what we are able to do, we obviously have an opportunity to sell more.”

This is the normal migration path to the cloud for most companies. Most companies that use Cbeyond start with moving a portion of their data, he said. Then they test it and discover the security and cost savings it provides.

Cbeyond also makes the migration easy with a white glove remote migration service that helps companies migrate data from their own on-site equipment to Cbeyond’s data centers.

The easy migration of the Cbeyond Infrastructure-as-a-Service and its overall quality has recently led large firms such as CDW (News - Alert) and Insight to join Cbeyond as partners.

“It is thrilling for us obviously to have those kind of partners,” noted Long. “What it really does is it empowers these products, and it allows us the opportunity to scale like never before.”

Trust carried over time pays dividends.

Watch the full interview with Zane Long here.