As with all technology used to support business operations, your IT servers will need to be replaced or upgraded at some point. The older the server, the harder they become to maintain, and even if you have strong small business tech support, eventually you’ll need to make some decisions. When your servers become less effective at dealing with the demands of your business, it’s time to think about what other options might exist. Ignoring the need to upgrade your servers can result in costly downtime as well as missing out on new IT features that could help grow your bottom line.
So, what are some options worth considering? Investing in managed IT services can help you assess the right option for your businesses but know that SharePoint is becoming an increasingly popular option that replaces on-premise servers. If you aren’t familiar with SharePoint, it is a web-based collaborative platform that integrates with Microsoft Office. Offering document management and storage, SharePoint is highly configurable and flexible meaning that the usage varies substantially depending on the needs of the business using it.
Is SharePoint The Right Option To Support Your Business?
When it comes to small business tech support, companies want options that meet their specific needs, are a good use of resources, and provide limited downtime. Currently, most small businesses tend to have a single physical on premise server that comes with a warranty and is maintained by a managed IT service.
When it’s time to replace an old and out of warranty server, businesses are faced with a few options:
- Purchase a new physical on-premise server to replace the aging one. Businesses will need to budget for the new hardware, as well as licenses and warranty. A typical organization of 10 employees can expect to pay between $5,000 and $7,500 all-in for a new server.
- Migrate to a cloud-based server. This choice involves moving your data from your physical server to the cloud. There are no hardware costs, but instead monthly costs of approximately $500 to $800 for a typical organization of 10 employees. Furthermore, you’ll require a fast and reliable internet connection to access your files from the cloud without delays.
- Migrate to SharePoint. If you have a Microsoft Office 365 business account, you likely have one terabyte of storage already available to you in the cloud. This solution offers the best of both worlds as you’ll incur no upfront hardware or licensing costs and no monthly fees either. It also includes file recovery for up to three months, even if you delete it from your recycling bin. Files can be accessed from any device, even your phone, to allow for remote working. This solution would require a one-time setup fee from a managed IT service provider of approximately $2,000 to $3,000 for a typical organization of 10 employees.
As you can see, SharePoint can be a cost-effective and powerful alternative to on-premise servers that also provides other features outshining the functionality of a traditional server. Migration to SharePoint will require some adjustment for users, however, businesses can feel confident in the platform’s easy-to-understand interface, powerful admin center, and mobile access that make the adoption process relatively seamless.
Choose The Right IT Option For Your Business With EMKAL
Working with an IT partner, like EMKAL, will help you make smart IT decisions so that your business is always operating at the highest level of efficiency. Our small business tech support will enable your company to move forward so that you can better serve your customers and increase your sales. We’d be happy to help you determine if SharePoint is right for you. Contact us to learn more about how we can help.