Choosing the right IT computing model for your day-to-day operations is one of the most important business decisions you will ever make.

Every organisation needs an efficient and secure IT infrastructure that comes with low operation costs and flexibility. These days, you have to choose from the traditional, cloud and hybrid computing models, depending on your business requirements.

How are traditional IT and cloud computing solutions different from one another?

Traditional IT infrastructure
Traditional IT infrastructure commonly relies on data centres consisting of various servers and other pieces of hardware, all of which are connected to a network with the help of a remote server, typically installed on the office premises. It provides access to store business data and applications to the organisation’s employees.

Cloud computing
With cloud computing, all the servers and hardware are located off-premises and the resources are accessible from any location in the world. When using this model of business computing you don’t need to purchase physical servers or hardware and get to store your business data and applications on the cloud.

Scalability
In the case of traditional IT infrastructure, you can use only the hardware that’s installed on your premises. When you begin running out of processing power or storage space, the only solution is to rent or purchase another server. Additionally, if you decide to expand your team, you will need to purchase more computers and also software licences to go with them. Not to mention, your IT department will need to manually carry out the changes.

On the other hand, cloud-based hosting offer potentially unlimited storage space and computing resources, which can provide much-needed flexibility for businesses, especially those who are in the early stages of their growth or currently expanding their operations. If more resources are required, they will be assigned automatically without the need for manual intervention.

Costs
When it comes to traditional IT infrastructure, you will need to purchase additional server space and hardware upfront, in order to let your business expand. Needless to say, hardware can be pretty costly, even more so if you end up getting more resources than you will actually need. Apart from this, the value of hardware you own will significantly decrease over time and it may need replacement too, so it may not be a worthwhile asset to own for the long term.

However, cloud-based service will be hosted and maintained end-to-end by the third-party service provider you’ve chosen as your partner. This means you won’t need to hire an in-house IT team in order to manage your cloud-based operations. Secondly, you will only pay for the resources (processing power, storage space, etc.) that you actually use, nothing more and nothing less.

Security
Your IT infrastructure is one of the most valuable assets of your business. This is why it’s important to ensure that your business data and information is stored safely. Otherwise, there is always a risk of losing your valuable data and crucial business information getting into the wrong hands.

Since your data is stored on-site if you have traditional IT infrastructure, its security and protection lie in the hands of you and your team entirely. Whereas, if you are working with a cloud hosting provider ensuring a high level of security is their responsibility and data loss is not a concern since all your data will be backed up across various servers in their network.

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