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Why we believe on-premise servers are a thing of the past

At the end of 2017, we made a decision as a company – a decision to stop selling on-premise servers.

Some called us crazy, but we see it as a logical extension of the way the world is going.

It’s easy to sell someone an on-premise server. It may feel convenient, but we fundamentally believe it does our clients a disservice.

We believe the Cloud truly is the future of computing, and we’re ready to put our money where our mouth is.

That means no more servers. None. Nada. Zilch.

Let’s talk about why people “need” servers in the first place :

“We need a domain controller to push out group policy to our users – and Active Directory should be on a server!”

We hear this one a lot – but Microsoft themselves are moving away from using AD to manage users – we’re moving to Microsoft Enterprise Mobility & Security & in tune, which lets you manage your machines, but more importantly manage your identities, document sensitivity and encryption, and devices, integrating with the same Office365 you know and love.

“We need to store files!”

Great. However, we recommend that you use a proper content management system to do so, with OneDrive or Sharepoint. It provides all the features of a file server, but provides the following benefits:

  • Secure your content: Configure permissions as globally and granularly needed. Documents are automatically secured during upload based on the rules for the target library or folder.
  • No more documents floating around via email! Just link the files your team need, or set them up in a teams site for collaboration.
  • Alerts! Set it up so you know when changes happen with your important files.
  • Easy Version Control: Know when things were changed, and what was changed. Keep versioning histories, and roll back to a version of a file you need.

“We need to run our applications!”

Bingo! – that’s where the cloud excels. You have a few options for this one. The first is to check whether your application provider can provide Application as a service. A good example is office 365 – all you need to worry about is the app and your data – not where it’s stored and what it’s running on. An increasing number of companies are offering this these days.

The second option is Platform as a service (or PaaS) – this lets you use the platform you need, without worrying about the operating system it’s running on. Benefit from SQL Server for your applications without needing to worry about installing patches and taking care of the underlying operating system details.

However, if you need it, you can deploy Infrastructure as a Service – this lets you deploy the same systems with all the same integrations you have on-premise, but without having to worry about physical security, power, cooling and hardware depreciation. Plus, you can scale the performance to meet your needs. No running out to buy a new CPU, just scale the machine for when you need it.

“But the cloud is expensive!”

A common misconception. Did you know that a traditional HPE DL380 costs the average Maltese company between 100 and 130 euro a month for power and cooling costs? And that’s before factoring in the cost of equipment maintenance, support, hardware upgrades and administrative costs for your team.

Many studies have shown that the cloud saves companies money but you need to set it up properly. Unlike on-premise solutions, where we’re all used to over speccing to cater for future growth, you need to set up your cloud to only make use of what you need. Don’t worry, if you need to up the performance you can – with Azure’s flexibility.

It can be tricky to set up, but that’s where we come in. Give us a call!

“What about keeping my data safe?”

Well for a start, strong encryption, barbed wires, and people with guns.
In our experience, the biggest issue with moving data to the cloud isn’t security, it’s trust.

That being said that’s why you need to be careful which cloud provider you work with. We work with Microsoft because we trust them. We’ve done our homework and due diligence, and we firmly believe that they are the company that takes your data security most seriously.
Not only are they the most secure public cloud in the world, but they’re trusted by the US, German & even the Maltese government.

Have a look inside an Azure Data centre – it’s like Fort Knox!

Oh, but this is complex – what do I do next?”

That’s where we come in! We like the cloud, and we’re good at it. We’re more than happy to help you out and design what a solution would look like for your organization.

Hit us up – we’re keen to set up a meeting – contact us below!