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The Cloud Vs Onsite Servers

The cloud’s role in business life has grown enormously in a very short space of time. But how does it shape up to onsite servers? When it comes to storage, 80% of businesses use cloud services. Meanwhile, both startups and established businesses running their whole operation with this technology.

Written by Adam Bovan

October 2018

Benefits of the Cloud Vs Benefits of Onsite Servers.

Amazon, Google and Microsoft are the big names when it comes to cloud service providers, offering an appealing package for companies of all sizes. However, what if we told you that full cloud adoption isn’t always the best option for all businesses? What works for you depends on what kind of business you run.

Whether you have been going for years and use on-site servers for everything, or are just setting up, it pays to find out which option is best for you. Today, we’re comparing them both.

IT Glue: The Cloud Vs Onsite Servers
IT Glue highlights just some of the benefits of the cloud.

The benefits of the cloud.

Ease of use.

The cloud doesn’t have a physical presence onsite, so there’s no need to worry about maintenance. With public cloud services, the hardware exists somewhere else – probably in the middle of nowhere with Amazon minions tending to their every need. But, in all seriousness, this is good news for you, as it reduces the costs associated with housing and maintaining your onsite servers.

More space in your office.

For the same reason, the lack of physical servers means they won’t be taking up precious space in your office. These cumbersome machines can take up so much floor real estate. And, trust us, having the extra room to stretch your legs makes a huge difference.

Pay for what you need.

Instead of buying expensive physical assets for your company each time you expand, the cloud offers more bespoke, accessible packages. Tiered plans mean you can get the size of storage and servers you need and, if your company grows or is particularly busy, then you can always scale up and get instant access to a more extensive service.

Accessible.

You can access the cloud anywhere with an internet connection and on any device. This is great for remote workers who still require access to important data and files. Whether you use a smartphone, laptop or tablet there are very few restrictions on how you can use the cloud.

Regular backups.

With a lot of cloud packages, there’s a backup option. This minimizes the risk of data loss in disaster situations. You never know when this could happen, so it’s always good to be prepared.

The advantages of onsite servers.

Full control.

With physical servers onsite, you can have direct access to them. There’s no denying that being able to directly access your hardware and manually back up your data affords a degree of comfort. Although, if you’re not confident in doing maintenance yourself, we recommend getting a dedicated IT support team to do the fiddling.

Tailored to you.

You can tailor the kit to suit your needs. Businesses have the option of splashing out on a high-end machine or – alternatively – save money by only getting the functionality you need. This way, you aren’t relying on Amazon or Microsoft who are naturally going to offer something more suited to a wider audience.

Keep the important stuff close.

All the critical data and sensitive information you have will be stored onsite. In some specific cases, this can be more secure, as you have full control of your office and there’s no need to store sensitive data on the internet.

Not reliant on internet access.

Storing data onsite means there is less risk of low latency due to an unreliable internet connection; your data is available offline and will be accessible regardless of what is happening on the service providers end.


Another option is to go for a hybrid cloud solution, which we have previously spoken about on this blog. For many, it can be quite daunting to make the leap to the cloud and some companies simply aren’t ready to take that step. However, the transition to using more cloud-based services can save you time, worry, space and money.

If you’d like some more information about cloud-based technology, please get in touch with us today.

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