How to Find a DaaS Provider in Your Region

The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that the cloud is essential for modern businesses. It helps them stay competitive and efficient in the increasingly digital world. Today’s employees want the freedom to work from anywhere and on any device. 

Nevertheless, many organizations continue to struggle to meet the growing needs of remote employees. That’s where DaaS comes into play. With cloud-hosted desktops, businesses can scale quickly, enjoy flexibility in device choices, and access data storage from anywhere, at any time. 

However, most companies struggle to find the right DaaS service provider to meet their requirements. Choosing the wrong DaaS provider can lead to security failures and IT struggles. Hence, it’s important to select the right provider from the start.  

Let’s discover how you can find the best DaaS provider in your region and save time and money on penalties and legal charges.  

Understand Your Business Requirements 

Before choosing a DaaS provider, it’s important to understand your business needs. Review your requirements in terms of security, compliance, and service management. Ask yourself the following questions: 

• Do I need to change how my current system works? 

• How many people in my team need access to DaaS? 

• Is DaaS safe for my business? 

• Can my team manage virtual desktops easily? 

• How much will it cost to move to DaaS? 

• Does it support the software and tools my team already uses? 

Suggested Read: 10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a DaaS Provider

Research Different DaaS Providers 

After identifying your business needs, explore DaaS providers in your region. Choosing a local or regionally supported provider can offer better responsiveness and familiarity with local compliance requirements.

Consider the following factors: 

• Background: Choose a provider with a solid financial background and proven experience supporting businesses in your industry or region. Check what other customers’ experiences were like.   

• Local reviews and case studies: Check reviews, testimonials, and case studies from businesses in your area. See if the provider offers reliable customer support during downtime or technical issues, and how quickly they resolve queries. Find out if they provide support on weekends or holidays, and through which channels, i.e., phone, email, chat, etc.  

• Technical expertise: Go beyond basic services. Choose a provider that understands your local market and business operations and can align its solutions with your specific needs. Are there experts experienced in handling security and IT challenges? Do they offer practical insights and guidance on managing virtual desktops?    

Compliance Standards 

It’s important to choose a provider that helps you stay compliant by supporting regular audits and meeting required regulations. Before choosing a DaaS provider in your region, check if they understand your specific compliance needs. Are their data centers compliant? What certifications and standards do they follow themselves?  

Different regions have their own compliance requirements based on local laws and regulations. Failing to meet these requirements can result in heavy penalties and legal consequences. In fact, organizations that don’t comply with data protection regulations face an average cost of $14.82 million. 

That’s why it’s important to choose a DaaS provider located in your region. It is because they’re more likely to be aligned with your local compliance standards and follow the same data protection policies. Here are the different compliance standards to follow as per your region. 

India and US: HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC-2 

France: Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) 

Europe: GDPR, EU Cybersecurity Act 

Australia: ISO/IEC 27000 series, SSAE 16, Privacy Act 1988 (with APPs), Information Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP) 

While standards like ISO and HIPAA are common across multiple countries, certain compliance requirements vary by region. For example, DaaS providers in Australia must meet specific regulations to ensure customer data remains safe and secure. 

Evaluate Pricing Structure and Cost Management 

One of the common mistakes companies make when comparing DaaS providers is only looking at upfront costs.

The pricing structure provided by the providers can be complex due to different tiers, varying data transfer needs, and variable usage costs.

Once you start looking into different pricing models, you’ll quickly find yourself surrounded by even more plans.  

Hence, it’s crucial to understand the pricing structure and cost management to avoid unexpected expenses in the future. Here are a few things to consider: 

• Cost transparency: A transparent and consistent DaaS pricing model will help you budget effectively and keep costs in check.  

• Long-term financial planning: Integrate the expenditures into the company’s long-term financial planning for effective cost management.   

• Cost management tools: These tools help organizations predict and mitigate unexpected spending surges, enabling them to optimize their expenditures. Check if your cloud provider offers access to these tools to help you manage cloud spending.  

Geographic Data Center Locations 

When selecting the best DaaS provider in your region, one of the most critical factors is the location and quality of their data centers.

Below are the key factors to evaluate: 

• Multi-Location Redundancy: Select a provider with data centers in multiple geographic locations, i.e, USA, India, etc., to support disaster recovery and backup solutions. In case one data center fails or experiences data loss, your information can be restored quickly from another location.  

• Regulatory Compliance: Verify that the provider’s data centers comply with your region’s regulatory standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or other local data protection standards. 

• Infrastructure Reliability: Assess the reliability of the provider’s data center infrastructure. Look for certifications (like ISO 27001 or SOC 2), uptime guarantees, and the strength of their security measures. A reliable infrastructure supports consistent performance and data integrity. 

• Proximity to User Base: Choose data centers that are geographically closer to your users. Reduced physical distance can lower latency, improve application performance, and enhance the user experience. 

Evaluate Data Security 

Assessing a DaaS provider’s security measures is crucial in safeguarding your organization’s digital assets. This assessment begins with thoroughly evaluating their security protocols to identify vulnerabilities and mitigate risks. The DaaS provider must adhere to various security standards and industry regulations.  

Below are some of the key considerations:  

• Physical security: Evaluate the data center’s physical security controls, including 24×7 CCTV surveillance, on-site security guards, access controls, and secured facilities. Strong physical security prevents unauthorized access and potential breaches. 

• Data Encryption: Choose the provider that uses advanced encryption standards such as 256-bit TLS encryption to protect data in transit and at rest. Additionally, multi-factor authentication, enterprise-grade antivirus protection, and high availability of physical and network firewalls are needed to maintain data confidentiality and integrity. 

• Backup and disaster recovery: Verify that the provider has reliable backup policies, including automated backups retained for at least 30 days. They should also have disaster recovery plans in place to minimize data loss and ensure quick business continuity in case of an incident. 

Things to Check Before Choosing the Right DaaS Provider  

Once you’ve shortlisted your DaaS service provider, follow these steps to help determine if they’re the right fit for your business: 

1. Request PoCs: While every provider will try to highlight their strengths, focus on both their strengths and weaknesses to identify which one aligns best with your requirements. Focus on parameters tailored to your business needs, and every provider should be assessed using the same criteria for a fair comparison. 

2. Review References: Every provider will want you to review their success stories, regardless of the similarities between the subject customer and your organization. However, it is imperative to pick the ones similar to your organization’s business and size. Ask for references from nearby businesses that are already using their DaaS services. Find out what challenges they faced, the pros and cons of working with the provider, and how the provider helped them address security concerns and reduce costs.  

3. Negotiate Contracts: Standard contract terms may not always meet your specific needs. Review and adjust terms to align with your business requirements. Evaluate tiered plans as most providers offer options for startups, SMBs, and enterprises, or plans based on user counts or contract length.  

Which one is Right for Your Business? 

Choosing the right DaaS provider in your region is a long process. However, finding the right provider to fit your requirements is not easy. 

Most providers offer customized DaaS solutions to meet the client’s business and industry requirements. This exercise may consume a lot of time, effort, and money, but it is worth it to invest all this and more.