A cloud only future?
Cloud services are big news – and deservedly so. Hosting your data in the cloud is undoubtedly the direction the industry is heading. More and more services are becoming hosted every day, and the pace is accelerating.
With the move towards an ever more decentralised model, it can sometimes seem like the humble onsite server will soon be a thing of the past.
Not so
Although services such as Office 365 and Azure are exciting developments and great emancipators of our data, for many, their restrictions and limits may well prove inappropriate.
Even with our drive toward the cloud, we at Delta Comtech still support more on-premises server equipment than ever.
This article is not anti-cloud, but instead, we want to highlight some of the considerations you have to make before taking the plunge into the world of hosted services.
Internet connection
This is your one and only connection to your data in the cloud. If your internet connection is not up to scratch, then your cloud experience will be miserable. Without a quick download and a solid upload speed, access to files and email will be painfully and maddeningly slow.
Fibre broadband may seem commonplace, but BT are prioritising their roll-out to areas that maximise profits. This means residential exchanges are favoured over commercial, and the easy sites are upgraded before the tough ones. One of the places desperately in need of Fibre but woefully neglected is Manchester City Centre. Manchester’s terrible ADSL2 service is just not quick enough for regular access to cloud services, but thousands of businesses are hobbled by this dark-ages technology in a world that demands cutting edge speeds.
Familiarity
Since the dawn of Windows 95 (nearly 20 years ago!), we have used computers in much the same way. Outlook has delivered our email, our data has been stored in files and folders, and we have accessed this all through programs on our desktop computers. The cloud shifts this to a whole new way of working. Email can still be accessed via Outlook, but also using your tablet, your phone, a website, and now even via your watch!
But its file access that’s the biggest culture shock to new users. SharePoint is a completely new take on the concept of data storage. It is powerful and feature rich, but with that comes a steep learning curve that many do not take into account. Training will be required and this can be expensive and time consuming.
Dirty data
Like most businesses you will almost certainly have a vast repository of historical data. This will be organised in your own particular way, within an ever expanding file structure, that has grown with your business’s success. These folders will likely be filled with ‘dirty data’. Uploading to SharePoint will often mean you have to discard this familiar structure to fit the many restrictions within.
SharePoint has document library limits, character type restrictions, and file path length limits. No business will be able to upload their raw data to SharePoint without a new structure decided upon and a thorough data cleanse. This can also be time consuming and expensive.
Your server, your property
With an onsite server your data is in your hands. It is your responsibility to secure, maintain and backup this data. Many relish the outsourcing of these tiresome tasks to others by hosting their data in the cloud, but some see this as a huge disadvantage.
There is still an apprehension attached to hosting your precious data with a third party. Microsoft has a vast and robust business model, so they are likely to remain in business for the foreseeable future, but what about reliability, security and privacy? These are all concerns you are going to have to entrust to others, and for some that is unacceptable.
The law
Expanding upon the above point, sometimes your type of business simply doesn’t allow for you to store sensitive and confidential data on third party servers. Some sectors of the financial and healthcare industries demand you keep very tight control of your data, and do not allow it to be stored outside of the UK. With many hosted datacentres replicating all around the world, you have to be doubly sure where your data lives as to not fall foul of these strict regulations.
Legacy demands
We at Delta Comtech have yet to find any two businesses alike. There’s never a ‘one solution fits all’ IT model. Every business has its quirks, its particular processes and its individual idiosyncrasies. These are often databases, software programs, or specialist pieces of equipment that are critical to the business. More often than not they demand a local server to live on.
Many companies are now offering hosted versions of their databases, but business owners are far more wary entrusting their critical data to the financial whims of relatively small businesses. It’s one thing having confidence in Microsoft, but entrusting the core of your business to a third party without MS’s financial might is a step too far.
The hybrid solution
As a result, we are increasingly installing hybrid environments. Typically Office 365 takes care of email, Office licensing and Lync, but a small local server maintains network security, hosts files and runs the databases.
This is a happy half way house for many of our clients. They retain the speed and familiarity of file access with a local server, their specialist database works as it should, but their server is far cheaper than their last monster, it is quieter and it consumes less resources. Their email is hosted in Office 365, their Office software will always be up to date, and they have the flexibility to migrate the remainder of their business to the cloud in their own time.
We at Delta Comtech, can help advise on the best course of action, utilising all of the advantages of both the cloud and onsite servers. Please call 01625 443 110 to arrange a consultancy visit now.
