On-premise solutions, also known as “on-prem”, are those that are deployed in a traditional method. This means all hardware, operating systems, applications and data sit within your four walls.
This creates an illusion that because your data is physically in front of you, it is safer. Have those that believe this ever considered factors such as theft and disaster? The answer is almost certainly no. As your data is available only within the office space, this means there is only one copy of it. This is just the foundation of the drawbacks, here are 5 ways on-premise solutions are overrated:
1) LACK OF EXPERTISE
In order to have a top performing, productivity-enhancing IT set up, you need to have the right people in place. The top talent comes with top costs. This talent is not easy to find or retain either, making it difficult to establish an in-house IT team.
With the cloud, service providers specialise in an offering and then supply you with expert IT support allowing you to have peace of mind and full confidence. All of which is included in your pay-per-user subscription pricing.
2) NO OPTION TO SCALE DOWN
One of the big benefits of cloud service providers is the ability to scale either up or down depending on your enterprise’s requirements. This means if you have opted for IaaS, you can return unused hardware back to your CSP meaning no money is wasted.
With on-premise solutions, once you purchase a new computer and hard drive for a member of staff it is then a part of your business. This may sound like a good investment but what about when that member of staff leaves the company? Not only this, but computers typically have a 5-year lifespan before they need replacing.
3) NO SERVICE = NO SLA
When an outage occurs at your office it is down to you and your team to get things up and running as quickly as possible. This results in work being grounded to a halt with no option to access data.
Of course, every method of IT is at risk of an outage. With the cloud, most CSPs offer financially backed SLAs. This means you will get credit for downtime and removes the need to work around the clock to restore services.
4) MORE COSTLY THAN THE CLOUD
On-prem means you buy all kit necessary for your data and employee workloads. They must be purchased, financed and replaced when necessary.
With the cloud, you subscribe only to the services you require. Allowing for cost efficient IT-based around you.
5) LESS SECURE DATA
Security is a make or break point for decision makers within enterprises.
Cloud service providers can and should offer bank-grade security measures with their services. Unlike on-premise, data in the cloud needs to meet compliances to ensure customers are aware that their data can not be lost or stolen. If these compliances are not met, this may suggest the CSP is not suitable for enterprises.
In addition to this, cloud providers have experts at the ready to monitor and back up precious data continually. With on-premise solutions, there is no system in place to make replicas of each piece of data produced as this would be down to an employee within the organisation. This means, that if there is an office fire or even just a power cut the majority of data would be lost with no way to retrieve it.
If you’re interested in moving to the cloud, do not hesitate to contact us.
