Cloud or on-premise servers?

Cloud or on-premise servers?

As an IT support company, we often get asked by our customers whether they need to keep their servers onsite or is it best to have them hosted in the Cloud? The answer is that both may be applicable, but what are the Pros and Cons of each, and which would be most suitable for your business? Before we talk about which one is more suitable lets first recap on what the difference is between Cloud and On-Premise Servers.

what’s the difference?

Servers are used for multiple purposes; to store company data, run business applications, securing your workstations etc. but what is the difference between cloud and on-premise?

On-premise servers are located at your office or one of your sites (if you have multiple).you can have servers spanning across multiple sites for added security if your business model and budget allow. an on-premise server simply means it is at your site and will therefore be part of your network, it will be your responsibility to ensure it is connected, protected and managed… which is usually where an in-house it presence or an it support partner like majestec can assist, we can help you manage and maintain your server infrastructure.

Cloud servers are servers that are hosted at a remote location, usually a secure data centre that must meet very specific security and safety criteria. the term ‘cloud’ can be deceiving as the servers will be located on the ground (usually in said data centres). cloud servers will provide the managed infrastructure, however an it support partner can help your users with day-to-day queries and support.

Now that we have touched on what the difference is, which one is right for you?

‍Why on-premise?

Most of our customers that prefer to keep their servers where they can see them do it for the same reasons:

• full control of their own data

• internet outage will still allow data access locally

• slow internet connections are less of a problem

• more cost effective for small to mid-size businesses

• businesses with large amounts of data will find it more cost effective‍

Why cloud?

The cloud can offer a number of advantages if the infrastructure is in place. some benefits include:

• most data centres will have multi-site data replication for additional data protection

• server maintenance & backups are generally managed on your behalf

• no capital outlay in server hardware

• UK infrastructure developments are increasing internet reliability and speed

• easy to scale up data allowances

• email and software packages are now already moving to cloud packages

‍Key things to consider

Based on the highlighted advantages for both cloud and on premise servers, it is clear that both options can be suitable depending on your business goals and infrastructure.

If your business has large amounts of data, then the cloud will quickly become a very expensive ongoing option for you. if your business has already started embracing cloud based applications and emails, then the transition may be quite simple and inexpensive.

At Majestec our goal is to understand your business needs and help advise the technology and solutions that best fit your requirements. we would be happy to discuss further: