Size DOES Matter. Are You Maximizing Your Resources?
Size DOES matter. Whether it’s the size of your budget, your server or your time. It doesn’t matter if your server is on-premise or in the cloud – you should still assess your resources. The term resources doesn’t just apply to servers, it also means time as well as money.
On-Premise
Are you paying for something you aren’t using? Many companies future plan their on-premise servers and only use a fraction of what they paid for. And, their equipment depreciates every year. 3-5 years later they are purchasing equipment again, configuring and installing software on the server AGAIN. Not only does this take financial resources but time as well.
Or conversely, are your users not able to use the system because it is too slow? This may mean that you need to increase the resources on your on-premise server which can be costly and takes time – this cannot be done on the fly and may cause disruption to your business because you are down until the resources are added.
In the Cloud
Even in the cloud, resource planning doesn’t stop there. You still need to assess how much disk, RAM, etc. that your server will need, but the difference is, you can add resources pretty much on the fly, with very little disruption to the business. And, if you no longer need the additional resources you can remove them at any time. The beauty of this is you only pay for what you use. On-premise you pay whether you are using it or not. And when you get a new server, you have to dispose of the old one. In the cloud, you don’t have to deal with that aspect.
In the cloud, you can also benefit from the SaaS model. No more large upfront software costs. You pay per month. And, if you stop using the software you stop paying for it. You aren’t locked into multi-year service agreements either. You can take full advantage of DBaaS (database-as-a-service) which includes the whole infrastructure as well as the database licenses. All you need is an Internet connection.
If you have a small budget, then consider our Cloud Starter Pack which includes our standard hosting plan, CirrusPrint and phiReport standard edition – all for just $319 per month.
Bottom Line
No matter where your server resides (on-premise or in the cloud) you need to know exactly what you need and how much you are paying for it. Overpaying in either situation is a waste of money.
The cloud is more flexible because you can add and remove resources on-demand and pay only for what you use. You ultimately save both time and money.
