The choice of infrastructure is a crucial decision for many companies. One of the familiar terms then often thrown around is “on premise”. At Cloud360, we are happy to explain what this means, what its benefits are and whether this makes it a suitable solution.
What does on premise mean?
On premise, also sometimes called on site, is a form of IT infrastructure where all hardware, software and other infrastructure components are present (physically) within an enterprise’s own facilities. Think of servers, network equipment, storage and simply all computers. It is the traditional form of IT infrastructure and, before the rise of the cloud, effectively the only form. This is still often chosen because of certain advantages. However, it certainly has drawbacks.
Also read: Cloud vs On Premise
Advantages on premise
- Monitoring and security: Usually, an on premise structure is chosen by larger companies that want to have full control over their IT themselves. As a company, this makes you less dependent on external factors and allows you to take your own security measures and responsibilities. In doing so, there is direct access to the hardware, which may also lead to better performance and easier maintenance.
- Tailor-made: An on premise solution can be made to perfection as your company’s requirements and wishes are. A lot of customisation is required, so it always fits perfectly.
- Compliancy: In the modern era, companies need to increasingly adhere to rules around compliancy and managing (personal) data. With an on premise solution, there is full control to employee, partner and customer data and it is not stored elsewhere.
These benefits can be of great importance for, especially, larger companies or specific business purposes. These benefits can be of great importance for, especially, larger companies or specific business purposes.
Disadvantages on premise
- Relatively expensive: Setting up an on premise infrastructure requires significant investment in hardware, software and supplies. In addition, in-house specialists are needed to set up and maintain. These specialists should, of course, also be paid a salary. This is a complex process that takes a long time. Therefore, an on premise infrastructure is often not a good option for smaller companies and SMEs purely on cost alone. Indeed, that money is often more useful for actual operations.
- Responsibility: With on premise, you as a company are responsible for maintenance and security, among other things, but also for resolving any technical problems. This also makes the company dependent on in-house expertise in this area to minimise business continuity at all times.
- Scalability: An on premise system is not a very flexible solution. When the company wishes to scale up or down, it is not always done quickly and easily. Additional investments are often needed and investments made that are no longer needed are subject to devaluation.
- Prone to incidents: An on premise solution is prone to highly localised problems, as the infrastructure is located in one location. Thus, on premise is poorly accessible or unavailable in case of a fire, power failure or larger disaster. Moreover, since the corona period, it has become clear that it is not optimal for working from home.
Despite these drawbacks, it is important to realise that some of these challenges can be addressed with the right strategies and support. A combination of on premise and the cloud is also possible. On Premise remains a viable option for, especially, large companies where issues such as control and security are very important. However, it is advised to work with an experienced IT partner.
Cloud360 as IT partner for infrastructure solutions
At Cloud360, we have extensive experience with both cloud and on premise IT infrastructure solutions. We are therefore happy to assist your company with tailor-made advice when considering an on premise structure. By working with a reliable and experienced IT partner, you can perfectly address both the advantages and disadvantages of on premise. In doing so, we are also happy to look at alternative ones that might suit your organisation better.
Cloud360 is a specialist in the field of IT migrations, where we like to enter into the conversation to carry out a thorough analysis based on an organisation’s needs and goals. On this basis, we advise on the ideal IT infrastructure solutions. We can also be of service in the implementation and integration of a new IT infrastructure. In doing so, we like to look at the efficiency of IT within the organisation, for which we also look at whether saving on IT costs is possible.