Last month’s Software Development 101: An Introduction to Cloud Native focused on solutions for businesses at the startup stage. But we know that those who are more established are also in the process of transitioning to the Cloud. We’ve put together a few scenarios to help you evaluate whether Cloud or“on-premises” hosting is the right fit for you.
While the Cloud is great for flexibility at a relatively low cost, without a thorough evaluation of your company’s requirements, it can add up to an unexpectedly high monthly fee. Let’s walk through a few scenarios to help you evaluate if the Cloud is the best solution for your business.
Think about your licensing costs
The immediate reaction for many companies that have “on-premises” infrastructure is to “lift-and-shift” to the cloud, taking the virtual machines from their server room and hosting them in the Cloud. While this makes sense and is the simplest path to the Cloud (and is especially attractive to minimize hardware refresh costs or add capabilities like high availability or disaster recovery), continuing to support the operating systems including licensing and the usual support costs are often overlooked.
Let your service subscriptions help you streamline
Moving to the Cloud as an established company offers the opportunity to re-think the infrastructure by moving from servers to services where it is most advantageous; you own and manage your data, integrations and any custom applications/modifications required by your businesses and your service subscriptions will take care of the rest. This will help to streamline your business so you can focus on the primary concerns of the business, relegating he secondary and tertiary concerns to service-providers that are experts int heir domains and at “changing at the speed of the internet”.
Cost vs. Benefit Analysis
While it makes sense to move to the Cloud wherever possible and where it works for your business, sometimes, there are good reasons to stay on-premises, or even repatriate from Cloud services. The most compelling reason to repatriate from aCloud service is when the costs and benefits of the service exceed those of an “on-premises” solution. This is more likely to happen when the additional features offered by Cloud solutions are not needed, or when there are specific hardware, operational or other needs. Sometimes, the return on investment for moving to the Cloud simply doesn’t exist for a business. Usually, an established company will look at moving to the Cloud if there is a requirement to add or replace software/hardware, such as adding a procurement department or replacing outdated payroll software. These are prime opportunities to take full advantages of Cloud services.
Conclusion
As with everything in systems design and implementation, the solution that’s right for your business will greatly depend on the requirements of your company. In any case, you should be looking at services to facilitate your growing company and meet your requirements with the best return on investment. As you evaluate your options, we recommend reaching out to experts who can help you make the best decision for your business.
To learn more about which hosting option may be right for you reach out to the team at Arcurve.
