You need to store your IT project data. How can you find the most affordable cloud storage services?

Besides the suggestions from Dahir, you should also think about the requirements for collaboration and data compliance, especially data sovereignty and data protection. Then you should compare the services that Dahir mentioned and see which ones have built-in features or can work with other services to meet these requirements.

Storage needs are not ust in terms of volume of data and its availability its also got to do with security needs. if you are say dealing in financial data, PHI etc then your need for storage as per regulations will be different whereas when you are just storing data of dishwashers sold in a region its different. You have to assess your storage needs to ascertain whether you require to opt for private cloud, hybrid or if applicable community cloud. You also need to understand the regulations like GDPR etc or as applicable in your country or region. To conclude its not just volume of your data and your budget, its about security and regulations also

To find affordable cloud storage services for your IT project data, compare pricing plans, assess storage capacity needs, and consider scalability options. Explore reputable providers such as Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Microsoft Azure. Look for any promotions, discounts, or pay-as-you-go plans that align with your budget and long-term storage requirements.

Identify the nature of your data, whether it's structured or unstructured, sensitive or non-sensitive. Compliance requirements. Consider the nature of workloads, whether they require high-speed access, batch processing, or archival storage. Tailor your storage solution accordingly, balancing performance requirements with cost considerations. Evaluate different storage options, including on-premises solutions, cloud storage, or hybrid approaches, and it offers scalability, flexibility, and often cost savings, while on-premises solutions provide greater control over security and data locality.

We conducted thorough research to identify our project's specific storage needs and compared multiple cloud storage providers based on pricing, features, and security. Cost was a significant factor, and we carefully considered various cost optimization strategies offered by providers. Our decision was also informed by reviews, recommendations, and expert advice. Ultimately, we chose the most affordable option that met our project's requirements while ensuring data security and compliance.

Comparison of different cloud providers have to be done based on their strengths, challenges and your requirements. As far as reliability is concerned all three major CSPs are highly reliable. What i would suggest is that many a times they offer free trail periods and in that you can do a pilot project kind of thing before full fledged switch to any CSP. Further, if unsure of your decision split some potion onto each CSP may be your department wise and so on. With data portability things are not that complex if you want to switch from one CSP to another in case there are unforeseen issues.

This has to be a well thought of balance between the requirements and budget. But despite budget one must review the data for duplicity or non-relevance. At times organisations specially high budget ones keep dumping data in cloud and even after the data becomes irrelevant and beyond retention limits, it continues to be there, so review the data stored periodically for relevance, retention guidelines and duplicity. This will help reduce costs also and save from legal complexities as well.

One very important thing which i must think should be included here is Cloud Service Provider versus Cloud Service Partner. As we all are aware the Azure, AWS, GCP are all Cloud Service Providers which give us the clouds hosted by them for use and the short name for that is CSP whereas Cloud Service Partner helps us to decide our cloud utilisation requirement. So whenever in doubt or having complex requirements seek help from Cloud service partners. E.g. are Tata, Accenture etc To conclude take help from cloud service partners to get the best advice and utilise the cloud effectively not only for storage but more for computing.