Not quite ready to put your business in the cloud? Perhaps you can still reap the benefits!
There are a number of compelling reasons to look to the cloud (internet-based tools and software) when your company is in need of particular solution. Two big ones:
- flexibility – when you don’t need them anymore, or they fail to suit your needs… you simply cancel, and stop paying. Or, as your business grows, you simply adjust your cloud subscription to accommodate the expansion
- no up-front capital costs (you pay as you go!) Small businesses know how important cash-flow is and subscription-based solutions eliminate the dreaded ‘spike’ in expenses.
Sometimes however, it is not possible to move away from an ‘on-premise’ server and software setup. For example, many major industry software vendors provide software that requires onsite servers with minimum specifications.
Purchasing and maintaining on onsite server has typically meant that the a company must forgo the cloud-benefits mentioned above, and find the following challenges in their place:
- inflexibility – once you’ve decided to purchased a server, the only option is to pay for it in full, and hope that you realize the returned value over a number of years. If it fails to suit your needs, or you no longer need it, you’re stuck with the cost.
- The choice of: a spike in your budget, or applying for credit/lease to avoid it
This past year, we’ve partnered with Intel Hybrid Cloud (IHC) to offer a solution that allows our clients to run a server on premise, and yet enjoy the flexibility and monthly payments typically associated with the cloud – and more:
- No upfront cost – get the sever/software you need today, and simply pay as you go
- Upgrade, downgrade or even cancel your hardware/software at any time. The ultimate in flexibility.
- Name brand hardware (Dell/Lenovo) running just about any flavour of operating system
- Ability to add-on other common software packages such as accounting, security, backups and more
- For a small monthly fee, add a second server that will take over in case your main server fails!
If you’re in the market for a new server, and you believe in paying for value as you derive it, and you want the flexibility to adjust your hardware/software mix as you go… talk to us about this solution!
