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Alternative cloud providers offer developers and SMBs a legitimate alternative to the big three: AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.

Alternative cloud providers are becoming an increasingly popular choice for SMBs. These cloud providersoften built with open source technologyare capable of providing the scale and quality of infrastructure needed for most enterprise workloads.

Examples of alternative cloud providers include Linode, Digital Ocean and Vultr. These companies are excellent choices for SMBs because they focus on delivering the most in-demand infrastructure primitiveslike Linux compute nodes, databases as a service, bare metal instances, load balancers and Kuberneteswithout the more exotic services they dont need. Alternative cloud providers also tend to be less expensive than the big threeAWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platformespecially at the scale most SMBs need.

Alternative cloud providers offer developers and SMBs a legitimate alternative: typically, the same or better performance at a much better price. So, once you and your client decide that an alternative cloud provider is the right choice, whats next? Each provider is different, but heres an example of how Linode approaches getting data and apps onto its cloud via three distinct migration options.

Option 1: The DIY

Plenty of people choose to figure out migrating their data on their own, and there are certainly resources available for those who decide to take this route. For the DIYers, Linode offers excellent customer service through its 24/7/365, no tiers, no bots, no hand-offs support. There is also tons of documentation available about migrating to Linode, including some best practices and how to migrate from Google Cloud Platform.

Option 2: Get Help from a Professional Services Team

If the first option sounds daunting, Linode and others offer cloud consultants who can help migrate workloads with minimal stress and downtime. Theyll handle everything from content transfer and DNS records to the cutover of your traffic. Although anyone can certainly spin up Linode in less than a minute on their own, working with a team of experienced consultants to provide guidance for architecture, migrations and software deployments makes things easier for users unfamiliar with certain add-ons. Also, qualifying projects are eligible for free infrastructure credits to make the transition to Linode at no additional cost.

Option 3: Make Use of a Partner Program

Lastly, many alternative cloud providers offer partner programs as a means to collaborate and make improvements alongside multiple teams of users. Linodes partner program, in particular, offers technical and marketing resources such as:

Some of the managed hosting providers and development agencies that work with Linode include BitPusher, Cloudways, Pressidium, Stark & Wayne, Cloudnet, Jarvus, Savvii and Configr.

Each alternative cloud provider has similar options for migrating workloads, and many users find that one of the three options works great for them. When making a move to an alternative cloud provider, make sure it has the infrastructure primitives you and your clients need, and that it can support all types of migrations.

Jon Hill is Vice President, Revenue Operations, at Linode. You can reach him at jhill@linode.com or (844) 869-6072.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.

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Migrating Your Clients to an Alternative Cloud Provider is Easier than You Might Think - Channel Futures