So, the question of the day: Does your business need a server on-site?
Short answer is probably not. There are specific use cases where a server on site makes sense for a business. This article is about the cases where a server may not be necessary.
First: What are the main use cases for having a server onsite in 2019?
Domain Controller – tying all machines into a domain to make IT administration easier and secure.
File Server – centrally storing important files that can be accessed by some or all users on the network.
File Server – centrally storing important files that can be accessed by some or all users on the network.
Application Server – hosting a specific line of business application on site for all users to access; think Quickbooks or an ERP system.
The great thing about 2019 is the availability of cloud based applications. These are software services hosted at a datacenter off site that can be accessed via the internet from nearly any location.
So let’s remove the on-site server from your business. Now, how do we accomplish the services it provided?
Domain Controller – Microsoft has a few cloud services (Azure AD, Intune) that let users connect to a cloud domain that allows for easy and secure IT administration.
Application Server – most software companies are moving to a cloud based, subscription model. One benefit of this is always having real time updates and bug fixes so software never becomes outdated. Another main benefit is the ability to access the application from anywhere, greatly increasing the productivity of remote workers.
The Fun Part:
So as a business owner, you are probably thinking: “Great! No server, no need for an IT company to manage things!”
You are absolutely correct in that the server being gone definitely simplifies a lot of the IT infrastructure on site at your business.
HOWEVER, there are a laundry list of other services that IT Companies *cough* 574 Technologies *cough* provide that keep your business secure and running as efficiently as possible:
Network Security– having a firewall device on site is HIGHLY recommend as the first line of defense against security threats to your business.
Web Threat Monitoring – when your users are accessing the public internet for the majority of the work day, it’s imperative to have another layer of protection from potentially malicious websites.
Windows Security Updates – 574 Technologies can proactively monitor all computers at your business to ensure security updates are being installed at regular intervals. The same goes for 3rd party software applications.
Next Gen Antivirus – actually, we use 2 different types of antivirus softwares simultaneously to constantly monitor all systems in real time to ensure that if a cyber threat does make it all the way to your computers, that it can be caught, quarantined, and removed.
Some other services that we provide and are super important to keeping a business online and safe include: email security, email backup, file and image based backup, and disaster recovery plans.
Without sounding like a broken record, the goal here is to ensure that your business is operating at full capacity, keeping cyber threats away, and minimizing downtime.
THE BEST PART
Now that you’ve spent the last 5 minutes getting to this point, take a moment to think how cool it would be if you could have all of those services I listed above for as little as $16.34 per computer per month.
IT doesn’t have to break the bank. We try to make IT as secure as possible, while keeping IT as affordable as possible.
No more IT puns, I promise.
Does it make sense for us to continue this conversation and schedule a meeting? Let me know - I’ll be waiting patiently. Contact us today!