It is a decision that many SMBs are facing at the moment … do you go with a cloud hosted solution or a physical server? With a little advice from Portal we hope to make the decision less daunting.
The cloud has many benefits for a small business. The most appealing being the price and flexibility.
With a cloud hosted solution you are not immediately hit with a hefty upfront cost, heavy electricity bills and organising a dedicated server room. Furthermore as you are effectively outsourcing your IT solution you are taking away the added burden of any administration duties which you might otherwise have had with an onsite server. The cloud also offers great flexibility for a start-up business, only charging you for what you need and as your business continues to grow, so can your cloud solution. This also works in reverse – if you no longer need such a big solution you can easily scale it down to size and with that the price.
So if cloud is cost effective and flexible what does a server have going for it?
The main thing which pulls people towards a server is the security factor. People like knowing where their data is and who owns it. With your server sitting in the back office there is no questions of ownership and fear of who else is accessing your data. With Cloud it is a slightly different story. Whilst you are happy in the knowledge that you have a flexible and cheap cloud solution you may not be so happy with other businesses accessing your company’s data, especially if you deal with sensitive or private information. With your data being stored half way around the world you have limited knowledge of where it is and who can access it. You also have less control over technical issues and downtime. With thousands of people using cloud services, your provider will not have the resources to prioritise your business if they endure any downtime. It is also worth highlighting that the cloud solution is entirely dependent on having an internet connection.
The best advice we can offer if you have decided to use a cloud hosted solution is chose your solution carefully and do as much research as possible. Furthermore check the legalities of your solution to avoid any embarrassing mishaps with missing data or security breaches.
Portal have already helped several businesses choose the right solution to fit their requirements. Whether it was implementing a new on site server, backed up at our own office or help a business chose the right cloud solution. Feel free to contact Portal if you need some advice on what he best solution for your business is.
