So it's been almost 4 years since I have posted an entry. The Creative Circus has been keeping me busy all these years. But for now let's talk about the cloud and why you need it.
In medium to large sized companies, the server footprints are getting smaller for a reason. Servers cost money, new licenses cost money. You know what else cost a ton of money, the consultants that will migrate all your data.
So let's talk about how much money you just spent if you wanted to update all the hardware and software in your office. Let's start on a smaller scale. Let's say a person makes $250K a year but will not buy a new laptop for $1200 every three years and they want to buy something CHEAPER. Seriously, your life depends on this and you won't invest a measly $400 or 0.16% of your total income? Well this goes for bigger business as well at a much bigger scale.
Let's say you had a legacy system that host a Database, another server that does Authentication and another server that hosts emails and you had to update all the hardware and software. That is a lot of money for small company to come out of pocket. After you depreciate it over three years, how much were you paying per month? Then you have to do it all over again 3 to 4 year later and 16 versions behind. Ok so the 16 versions was a little over exaggerated... 14.
Why not just pay monthly and stay ahead of the curve and have less issues. Those guys running those applications in the cloud are constantly updating hardware and software for you. All you have to do is have a good Internet connection and good workstations. Thats the gist of the cloud. You know that company called Google? That's cloud computing, you share your files you want to share, collaborate, email. There are also phones that work over the Internet and if your Internet goes out at your work, guess what, everything is routed to your mobile device. Why would you keep anything in house besides an authentication server?
Yes you pay every month for the cloud but it's worth it. Here's the math for a 30 person company.
Internet Connection $1000 per month
30 users on email and file sharing $150 per month ($1800 per year, that's wayyyyy less than upgrading your server every 3 years.)
Phone system $450 per month ($5400 per year, This is at a premium with every feature you can think of. It will cost about 5K more every three years but well worth it because you will always have the newest hardware)
Database $9000 per year ( over three years, thats about how much you have paid and you will have the newest software plus support from the developers)
Let's say your 30 people company makes $8.5 million dollars a year. That's only a 00.33% of money invested in the cloud. 1/3 of a percent folks and you have robust system that is always the latest and greatest!
note: this does not include the workstation investment within the 30 users or wifi infrastructure.
Next: Let's talk about the person that can manage this for you.
