Author: Kieron Doyle
If you are thinking of committing to Office 365, there are a number of considerations to take into account so we have compiled some key questions to ask yourself, before making the decision.
If you have then there is more impetus for you to stay with an on-premise solution rather than moving over to Office 365 and losing out on the investment you have already made.
If you still need to manage some other applications on-premise there is a logic to retaining Exchange on-premise as well so that you can continue to keep everything in one place – meaning Office 365 won’t be your best option.
Office 365 needs a strong and reliable broadband service to work efficiently so if your broadband service is weak or cuts out regularly then you might be better with an on-premise service instead.
If your current version of Office has had its day and will need replacing sooner rather than later, then why not consider Office 365 – you won’t lose out on any investment you made initially if the system is going to cost you soon anyway.
This will depend a lot on your infrastructure, size and licence options, however Office 365 often works out more expensive over 5 years and the subscription prices are subject to increases.
If this is the case then you might want to consider Office 365 as they offer a range of variable licence types with economical and flexible offers.#
If you haven’t started out with IT systems already and have limited internal IT management resources then a Cloud-based system may work better for you, with no IT maintenance requirements or additional hardware required to run it.
Office 365 offers great flexibility for remote workers or those on the move as it can work anywhere and on any device, as long as they have access to the internet. If they are all office-based then an on-premise solution will work well.
Both on-premise or cloud solutions can help in this situation as long as you have proper planning and investment. It depends on how your company works and the kind of information you might need to recover.
There are still a lot of concerns among organisations about storing confidential and sensitive data within the Cloud so you may need to take your customers into account before you make a decision.
With on-premise solutions you will often be able to allow a degree of work to carry on effectively even without using internet connection. This won’t be an option for Office 365.
If this is important to you then it is worth knowing that Office 365 offers this without disruption or extra cost.
Whether you are a new business deciding which IT solution to go for, or an existing business thinking about upgrading your system, there are a lot of things to think about when deciding to stay with an on-premise system or moving to a Cloud-based option.
Hopefully this list of questions will help you to consider all of the variables before making your choice but if you would like to get expert advice then why not give our team at Hampshire Business Computers a call? We will come up with exactly the right solution for your individual business needs.
If you're unsure of your IT requirements, or how to upgrade your existing system, book in for a free IT health check. We'll assess all of your systems and plans and come up with a solution for your individual IT needs.