The choice between on-premises and hybrid infrastructures should align with your business’s needs for control, flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, while considering factors like security, compliance, and IT capabilities.

In particular security scenarios, such as highly regulated industries (e.g., finance, healthcare), it may be necessary for a business to operate its data systems on its own premises. For others, keeping some systems ‘on-premises’ and using some cloud services for other parts of their operations, thereby creating a ‘hybrid’ system can prove more cost effective. We explore the options in more detail here.

On-premises IT infrastructure

This is where all the IT infrastructure and software are physically located within your organisation’s premises or data center. All hardware, servers, and software applications are owned, maintained, and operated by your business on-site, including:

• On-Premises Software: Applications are installed and run directly on the organisation’s local servers or computers
• Data Storage: All data is stored on company-managed servers or NAS devices
• Networking Infrastructure: Local networks, routers, firewalls, and security systems are controlled by the business

How does an on-premises IT infrastructure impact an organisation?

• Control and security – You will have full control over your data, applications, and infrastructure. This may be crucial if you handle sensitive data, intellectual property / patented designs or have strict compliance requirements. During internet downtime, access to data is still possible.
• On-premises setups often come with high upfront costs for hardware, software, and installation, although these level out over time.
• Maintenance and support for the setup will require dedicated IT staff or external IT expertise to manage the infrastructure. For example, all ongoing updates, patches, and troubleshooting. This can increase operational costs.
• Scaling on-premises systems can be complex and costly, requiring additional hardware, storage, and network investment.

Hybrid IT infrastructures

Hybrid services combine both on-premises and cloud-based infrastructure and solutions. This model allows businesses to leverage the strengths of both environments. For example, you might keep sensitive or critical data on-premises while using the cloud for less sensitive data or to run specific applications.

How does a hybrid IT infrastructure impact an organisation?

• Flexibility: Hybrid systems allow you to choose where to host different workloads to balance cost, performance, or security considerations.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Hybrid services can help reduce costs by utilising the cloud for scalable, on-demand services, while maintaining on-premises infrastructure for core functions or sensitive data.
• Data Security and Compliance: Sensitive data can stay on-premises to meet regulatory requirements, while other data can be processed or stored in the cloud. This helps achieve a balance between security and flexibility.
• Complexity: Hybrid models require careful management and integration between on-premises and cloud systems, which can add complexity to IT operations.
• Scalability: By combining on-premises resources with the cloud, your business can scale more easily, tapping into the cloud’s on-demand capabilities without being limited by local hardware.

Our approach is to provide you with the most effective IT infrastructure for your business.