Choosing the right IT solution: On-Premise vs Cloud Computing
The choice between Cloud and On-Premise is becoming increasingly difficult for companies who want to keep their IT systems up&running. Both options present unique advantages and disadvantages, but which solution is right for your company?
Cloud Computing:
Cloud Computing is a computing model that allows access to shared IT resources remotely, without the need to invest in expensive hardware and support it internally. In other words, Cloud Computing offers users access to software, storage, and infrastructure through the Internet, which are managed by an external provider.
On-Premise:
On-Premise, on the other hand, is a computing model that requires the installation and internal management of hardware. This means that the company must purchase and maintain its own hardware, which is run locally.
Advantages:
Anywhere and anytime access – You can access your applications anytime and anywhere via a web browser from any device.
Affordable – The cloud requires no upfront costs, instead, you make regular payments which makes it an operating expense (OpEx). Benefit from predictable monthly payments that cover software licences, upgrades, support and daily back-ups.
Secure – Data centres employ security measures beyond the affordability of most businesses, therefore your data is often safer in the cloud than on a server in your offices. In addition, you don’t need to worry about the maintenance of your software or the hardware it resides on, compatibility and upgrades are taken care of by the cloud service provider.
Scalable – Cloud technologies provide greater flexibility as you only pay for what you use and can quickly scale to meet demand, for example adding and scaling back licences.
Lower energy costs – When you move to the cloud, you no longer have to pay to power on-premise servers or to maintain their environment. This significantly reduces the amount you pay for your energy bills.
Drawbacks:
Connectivity – Cloud solutions require reliable internet access for you to remain productive.
Long-term costs – Although requiring a lower upfront investment, cloud applications can be more costly over the course of the system’s life cycle, increasing the total cost of ownership (TCO).
Less customizable – Cloud software is typically configurable but depending on how it is hosted a cloud solution may not be able to cope with complex development.
Advantages:
Total Cost of Ownership – Since you are only paying for your user licenses once, an on-premise solution can have a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) than a cloud system.
Complete control – Your data, hardware, and software platforms are all yours. You decide on the configuration, the upgrades, and the system changes.
Uptime – With on-premise systems, you do not rely on internet connectivity or external factors to access your software.
Drawbacks:
Large capital expenditure – On-premise systems usually require large upfront purchases which means capital expenditure (CapEx) is often required. On top, you need to include maintenance costs to ensure support and functionality upgrades.
Responsibility for maintenance – With an on-premise system, you are responsible for maintaining server hardware and software, data backups, storage, and disaster recovery. This can be an issue for smaller companies that have limited budgets and technical resources.
Longer implementation times – On-premise implementations take longer due to the time needed to complete installations on servers and each individual computer/laptop.
Digitalsoft solutions
Digitalsoft, which welcomed and followed the advent of the Cloud at an early stage, now offers both solutions. Because there is no right or wrong, but there is a specific need of the customer. This, combined with the experience gained in the industrial sector, has led us to know how to identify together with our customers and to advise them on what can be the best solution for each one.
We design and engineer our d-one software to be easily used in different models and ways:
CLOUD – Digitalsoft provides d-one platform and virtual infrastructure, creating private and secret instances for each customer on the cloud.
ON-PREMISE – Customer requests to install the software on its proprietary hardware infrastructure. In this way, you can be sure that you will not have a stop in case of problems with the internet. This is typically the solution we recommend when d-one manages the execution and control of the operations in the production environment.
HYBRID – This third option requires that d-one platform is installed on the internal hardware infrastructure and is also available as a working copy on the cloud. This approach requires some additional setup and maintenance effort and tries to maximize the prons of the other two solutions.