Designing the IT infrastructure of your small business should be disciplined. Minimizing CAPEX should be a priority. Select solutions that are cost-effective, easy to maintain, and provide scalability. This will allow your startup’s IT infrastructure to handle its growth and evolution with new technology well.

On-Premises vs. The Cloud

On-premises infrastructure will have your facility or a leased space housing hardware and other equipment to perform your computing and storage. This will require sufficient area, cooling & ventilation, security, cabling, and electrical wiring. On-premises infrastructure requires a significant investment upfront (CAPEX). This approach will also need funding for technicians, maintenance, repairs, expansions, and upgrades. It would be best if you took the initiative to be future-proofed to handle growth.

On the other hand, cloud infrastructure will migrate your data and applications to a cloud environment. Hardware that your company would have purchased and maintained is the cloud provider’s responsibility. Your costs will mostly involve a pay-as-you-go arrangement based on usage or a monthly subscription fee. Scaling will be on demand as determined by business conditions. Your company will be capable of becoming global quickly by expanding through your cloud provider’s worldwide network of data centers and edge locations.

Cloud Economic Benefits

Instead of buying hardware upfront as determined by business and technical requirements projections, your organization can access a platform of tools based in the cloud.

In contrast to on-premises infrastructure, the need for purchasing hardware is minimized. This option will allow your company to choose services as needed and pay for what is used, resulting in an affordable monthly operating expense. This flexibility will enable you to scale as needed. Thus, costs are manageable and predictable.

Part 2 will discuss other benefits of cloud-based IT infrastructure.

Alpha Business Support

Choosing an expert computer technology support provider is important for your business. Alpha has been a trusted partner of many companies in the Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis areas since 1990 and offers:

• 24/7 Managed Services for Business Computing Systems

• Network and Mobile Computing Support

• Disaster Recovery Planning

• Software Development

For affordable client-focused network consulting services and solutions, please call Alpha today at (410) 295-9500.