Is cloud or on-premise right for your business?
Many businesses are starting to face a similar dilemma when deciding between on-premise and the cloud: Which is better?
Cloud based solutions are on-demand services, computer networks, storage, or applications accessed via the internet and through a providers shared cloud computing infrastructure. While, on-premise means your business’ storage and network remains in the data center that your business privately owns and controls.
While cloud services are becoming very popular, that doesn’t mean they are the best fit for every business. There are many factors that a business should consider before deciding which technology is the right fit for them.
Cloud Software
Cost: There are many reasons businesses choose to move to the cloud. One common reason is because they hope to see financial benefits. With the cloud, it’s a subscription model and you only pay for what you need, often on a monthly basis. This allows businesses to plan their expenses and never be surprised by unexpected costs. In addition, the cloud eliminates the need for businesses to buy, house, run and maintain their own hardware, as the partner takes care of everything for them.
Security: Security is always a main concern for growing businesses and storing your information in the cloud can seem scary. However, the cloud is typically more secure than on–premise data centers. This is because cloud centers have large teams of security personnel with the most recent and innovative security tools that protect your data.
Availability: The very nature of the cloud is its availability. Everything that is stored in the cloud will be accessible anywhere there is Wi-Fi. This allows for workers to access what they need from virtually anywhere and on any device.
However, this also comes with some drawbacks. Some users might be in a place with little or no connectivity. Similarly, in the rare case of a natural disaster that knocks out the internet, users won’t be able to access the cloud until both the power and internet are restored.
Scalability: Scalability is a huge advantage of cloud software. Businesses can add more users without ever worrying if they have enough infrastructure to support them. Alternatively, you can scale down your infrastructure if ever needed. Ultimately the ability to scale with the cloud provides you the best experience in relation to flexibility of time and money for your business.
On-Premise Software
Cost: While on-premise software has much higher upfront expenses compared to the cloud; some businesses find that in the end, the total cost of on-premise ends up less when they extend calculations out over several years.
Security: In general, businesses tend to have a smaller security staff than a cloud provider.However, the thought of being in control of their own information and data can give them more confidence. In addition, it’s easier to integrate their own protection tools if their data resides in-house.
Compliance: Businesses gain a huge advantage when they choose to store their data on-premise. Only when an application is in house can a business be completely sure that it is meeting its compliance obligations. On-premise may even be the only option for some businesses that utilize hyper sensitive data.
Unfortunately, this does mean businesses must spend a lot of time and effort to ensure their on-premise applications meet their regulatory responsibilities.
Flexibility: On-premise software is generally a lot more customizable than cloud software. It gives businesses more freedom to choose the infrastructure that their application will run on, including the operating system, hypervisor and hardware. Businesses may also find it easier to integrate applications with their other tools and hardware, including monitoring and security solutions.
Making the decision
At the end of the day, there’s no one right answer for whether a business should adopt cloud or on-premise technologies. Every business is different, with different strategies, goals and objectives, that will influence their buying decision. What’s most important is that businesses to take the time to do their research, evaluate their needs, and tune in to their long term goals before making a decision.
Plow Networks can help determine which technologies are right for your business. Contact us today.
About Plow
Headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, Plow is a Total Service Provider (TSP) with several distinct business practices that, when consumed together, offer our clients a unique, best-in-class experience that give them peace of mind, valuable time back and the economies of scale that come with having one partner that is focused on exceeding their expectations with every engagement.
