Initial Cost

Physical server at your office: An entry level physical server starts at $3000-$4000. Add to that your cost of paying qualified IT labor to configure this server, customize it to your environment, and then configure your software. Now add the cost of a backup system. This can be as simple as a few external hard drives for daily copies of your data and maybe an online service to add another layer of off site backups. Here too, you will have to bear the cost of IT labor to configure your backup routine. Either you or your IT staff will have to maintain drive rotations and routinely verify that the backup is running correctly.

Cloud software service: You pay for your software setup only. At that time we will create your own isolated and secured space within our software infrastructure. Since our software infrastructure already exists, your setup cost is greatly reduced compared with a physical server. You pay only for what you really need, your software environment. Nothing else.

Ongoing Expenses

Physical server at your office: With a physical server there are certain “hidden costs”. These are costs that you incur but do not directly associate with your server. The most obvious example is the added cost built into your power bill for running your server, your backup system, and added burden on your air conditioning system as it combats the excess heat that is typically generated by a business class server. Another example is the dedicated physical office space storing your server which requires adequate power and data cabling to support your server. If the server space is not already wired, you will have to pay for it to be wired properly.
One more example is not hidden at all but is easily forgotten. That is the cost of IT labor to resolve problems with your server hardware, operating system or your software. This may not happen on a regular basis but when it does, some of these issues can be very time consuming resulting in high IT service bills.

Cloud software service: Your on-going expense is limited to a fixed monthly cost. It is a known and predictable amount making it easy to plan and budget.
• No extra power costs.
• No wasted office space and construction work.
• No extra IT service bills.

More Cost Saving – Extended Service Life of Older Computers

A physical server at your office: A physical server is more dependant on the computing power of your local workstations. Therefore, workstations must be kept up to date on hardware and operating systems in order to provide adequate computing power and compatibility.

Cloud software service: A cloud server is the exact opposite. The cloud environment is providing all the necessary computing power to do your work. The duty of your workstation is limited to accessing this environment over the Internet using remote desktop client. This kind of remote interaction requires very little computing power on the part of a user’s workstation which allows for the use of older computers or low power computers.

Performance and Long-term Performance Consistency

Physical server at your office: The first day your new server operates at your office is the best performance it will ever achieve. It will never improve but it will get decline. This is the same effect you have seen time and again on any standard workstation computer. A single computer's performance will degrade over time for a number of reasons related to weaknesses in its operating system, and its hardware and the interaction between the two. An aging slow server in your office will cause user frustration resulting in a cumulative waste of time and loss of productivity.

Cloud software service: The performance you experience with our software environment will remain constant and not degrade over time. Here is why: unlike a single physical server, a cloud software environment is not running on a single computer that degrades from day to day. It is running within a computing environment which is formed by numerous computing units, all funneling their computing power to a management system that in turn allocates exact measurements of computing resources to each unit of software environment. The level of computing power assigned to any given software environment can be adjusted and fine-tuned to match its load requirements. At any given time we can easily allocate more computing power to our environment to handle load increase.
In addition, our software environment is starting fresh everyday so it does not suffer the time related degradation which is typical of a physical server. The result is a time-consistent performance curve that can be controlled and improved with no added cost or burden to you.

Reliability

The comparison between a server in your office and a cloud software service with regard to potential downtime and additional expenses, is leaning heavily in favor of cloud software service.

Physical server at your office: The nature of physical server outages is such that they usually last from several hours to a day or even more in severe cases. In some instances you could suffer data loss. In addition, you will have to pay for qualified IT labor which is required to amend the situation. A server at your office can provide you with a solid year or two of uninterrupted service. However, unrelated factors such as lightning strikes, power surges, or power outages can cause severe damage to your server at any time regardless of server age. Beyond the two year mark, a server becomes increasingly susceptible to hardware and operating system related issues. In the event that your server becomes disabled, you will suffer productivity loss as a result of the extended downtime plus the cost paid for qualified IT repairs.

Cloud software service: A cloud software service is not completely free from service outages, but the nature of such outages is that they are limited in the order of minutes to an hour or less. Data loss as a result of a cloud software failure or outage is extremely rare. Also, since it is not related to anything you own, you do not bear any expense for fixing the server. However, cloud software services are dependent on your office Internet connectivity. In the event of an Internet service outage at your office, you will not be able to access your software environment for the time of the outage. This is of course, a scary notion for some business owners. In most cases, Internet services outages are rare and occur for short periods of time. Overall, between your office Internet connection and the cloud software service itself, service outages are rare, short, and they bear no repair expense to you.

Security

Securing data is always a concern for consumers and businesses. Everyone wants their data easily available for use, but protected against un authorized users. When we read about security breaches at major organizations we might relate that data loss to a cloud based system and immediately feel comforted that “our data” is stored safely on “our office server”. The idea that your data is safer in-house is simply a myth.

Physical server at your office: In many cases the security protocols found in small businesses are weak, inconsistently applied or non-existent. Control of data at a small business at best puts the responsibility in the hands of the IT department who often wear too many hats. Most small businesses cannot dedicate the time and money necessary to defend against all potential threats. However, data breaches occur most often due to the individual user who has authorized access, but fails to follow best practices to avoid a data breach.

Cloud software service: Top cloud vendors live and die by their security and ability to provide access to data. They invest far more in physical and digital security infrastructure than most corporations because of their economies of scale. Unless your company is willing to secure your datacenter with biometric scanning, advanced surveillance systems, encryption methods, third-party certifications, and regular testing against attacks, you cannot provide the security that top cloud providers offer. In many cases, companies who move to the cloud get the security they didn’t have and never knew they needed.

Scalability

Physical server at your office: As your company changes, your computing needs will change. Adding new employees, opening a new location, amassing years of relevant data, all impact your server requirements. The choice is simple, but often not cost effective. When upgrading a physical server, expanding memory, adding storage capacity or adding a 2nd or 3rd physical server, the cost is not always proportional to the need. Your growth may require a 10% increase in server capacity; however your server options require a 50% increase in server investment. Scaling is a step function as opposed to an incremental function due to the limitations of physical single-server equipment.

Cloud software service: With cloud computing your server architecture is a specification we create at launch and the resulting mass of computing power is delivered and available to your office. When growth happens, we just adjust our launch specifications for increased computing power that's available often as quickly as the next day. Builder Incubator provides cost effective server capacity changes implemented quickly.

Mobility

Physical server at your office: Depending on the specific design of your IT office environment, it may not be accessible from outside of the office. If your environment is designed with heavy reliance on workstation computing power, you will not be able to access it remotely unless you use a remote access utility to access your own workstation. For the most part, working at your office will provide you with the only convenient and complete access to all your work resources.

Cloud software service: Location is not a factor for cloud software services. You need only two things to access your software environment, a computer and an Internet connection, nothing else is required. Cloud software service gives you the same full work experience regardless of location.

Minimalistic IT Infrastructure and Responsibility

Physical server at your office: In addition to workstations and an Internet connection you own a physical server or multiple servers, racking-cooling-server room, a backup system, and IT support requirements for each. It is another whole “department” of overhead expense.

Cloud software service: You own your workstations and Internet connection equipment. No other concerns or expenses.