In the ever-evolving landscape of business operations, the cloud has emerged as a technology buzzword, touting unparalleled flexibility, scalability, and collaboration. With seemingly low barriers to entry and claims of heightened security, the question remains: at what cost?
While cloud storage seems like a simple and easy solution, it’s essential for businesses to understand the drawbacks, especially when it comes to security and compliance issues, hidden costs, and the risk of complete data loss. In this blog, we debunk some common myths surrounding the benefits of cloud storage so that you can make more informed decisions about your business’s document management.
Cloud Storage Myths Debunked
In today’s fast-paced business environment, the name of the game is quick and easy solutions to problems. One of the most common business needs in the digital age is the need for employees across departments, often working from various locations, to have access to the same digital documents. One of the most popular solutions for businesses to accomplish this goal is by utilizing cloud storage. Solutions such as Google Docs and Dropbox can be fairly affordable with low barriers to entry, touting many benefits. Below, we will debunk these 5 common myths about cloud storage.
Myth 1: Cloud Storage is More Cost Efficient- Cloud storage solutions claim that by eliminating the need for on-premise infrastructure (both technological and physical) and maintenance, cloud storage solutions offer cost savings for businesses.
Debunked- Cloud storage is subscription-based, meaning that the business is essentially “renting” the storage and will never own the solution. While it’s true that with an on-premise solution a physical infrastructure is needed and the start-up costs are higher, the costs associated are often recouped within a few years, and then the solution is owned by the business. Whereas with a cloud storage subscription service, you’ll keep paying the subscription fee for every month of use, and those costs will considerably add up in the long term.
Additionally, cloud storage costs can be variable based on the needs of your business. The cost depends on several factors, such as the amount of data you need to store and how often you access it, the type of storage service you choose, the level of redundancy, availability, and durability you require for your data, the location of the data center where your data is stored, and the network bandwidth you use. Every cloud provider has its own pricing model, and it’s important to understand how these additional factors can increase your overall cost.
Myth 2: Cloud Storage is Scalable- Cloud storage services claim to be able to scale up or down based on the evolving needs of the business, allowing for seamless expansion without the constraints of physical storage limitations.
Debunked- As a company grows and accumulates more and more documents, a traditional cloud storage solution often only offers folders as a means of document organization. With more employees having access to these folders, storage can quickly become messy and specific documents harder to find. Cloud storage solutions such as Google Drive and Dropbox lack the more sophisticated features of a document management system, such as indexing, to make files searchable through metadata.
Myth 3: Cloud Storage Offers Excellent Collaboration- Cloud storage touts easy sharing and real-time collaboration on documents among team members, clients, and partners, fostering productivity.
Debunked- While many businesses see multiple employees having real-time access to documents as a positive, there are many drawbacks and issues associated with this type of document collaboration. For example, with several people working in one document at once, individuals could be making changes to work that is actively being worked on by another employee, making the process frustrating and ultimately more time-consuming. Additionally, while many cloud storage services offer tracked changes, you have to know where to look for them to restore previous versions, and you have to know that changes were ever made in the first place. With employees frequently making changes, it becomes unclear what version if any are the correct and final version to use.
Document management solutions such as Optix ensure revision integrity by allowing only one user to revise a document at any given point in time; other users get a read-only version of the file. Additionally, through access control and automated review and approval processes, businesses can ensure that their documents have a true, approved final version for company use that cannot be unknowingly edited.
Myth 4: Cloud Storage Includes Disaster Recovery- Cloud storage solutions claim that with data being stored in the cloud, businesses are better prepared to recover from unexpected disasters such as hardware failure or natural disasters, ensuring business continuity and data integrity.
Debunked- Yes, many cloud storage solutions offer disaster recovery, but it isn’t included. After you move your data to the cloud, the cloud storage provider is now in charge of it. This means your business relies on the provider to maintain your services in a safe, stable, and fully functional manner. This not only limits your influence on data safety, but all data accessibility is reliant on the cloud storage provider. If your business hasn’t added disaster recovery to your cloud storage service, your data is not guaranteed and you risk total data loss.
Additionally, be aware of the differences between data backup and disaster recovery. Backups refer to copying existing software and data (database records and document files) to a second location, ideally one that is physically separated from the source. This ensures that if the original software and data is lost due to a disaster event, the backup is not lost with it. Disaster recovery refers to a plan to get your data and system back to an operational condition. If the cloud servers on which your system was running are destroyed due to a flood, fire, or other disaster (natural or otherwise) the software must be re-installed on a new server, and the data backups are used to restore the data to as recent a point as possible. These are charged as separate services by cloud storage solutions, and depending on the scope of your backup services, without a full disaster recovery plan in place, you could lose some if not all of your data in a disaster event.
Myth 5: Cloud Storage Allows Access to Work Anywhere at Any Time- Cloud storage services claim that access can easily be had on any mobile device, desktop or laptop, and it’s convenient to access data for users anytime anywhere.
Debunked- This claim relies entirely not only on reliable internet access but also no network outages. In the case of a network outage, documents will be completely inaccessible for anyone in the zone of that outage, oftentimes completely halting business operations. Additionally, as remote work becomes more popular, businesses are reliant on the internet service of their individual employees to access the cloud, and have little to no control over their accessibility.
Unlike cloud solutions, an on-premise environment is not dependent on the availability of external service providers or internet connectivity, meaning that work can continue during outages. Additionally, a virtual private network (VPN) can also be used to accomplish the same type of remote access businesses may be seeking from the cloud, but through a private and more secure connection to a corporate server.
The Alternative? On-Premise Infrastructure.
After reviewing these common myths associated with cloud storage, you may be rethinking this type of solution for your business, but what is the alternative? For organizations prioritizing the total control of their business documents, an on-premise solution provides the necessary tools and features to mitigate risks while optimizing document workflows and enhancing collaboration.
The difference between on-premise and cloud software lies in their location and who ultimately has control over the stored data. On-premise software is installed and operated in a company’s data center, residing locally and 100% controlled by the business. For companies in highly-regulated industries with extra privacy concerns, this choice is the clear winner. Some industries may even face large fines for storing certain types of documents in the cloud. Conversely, cloud software is stored and administered on the provider’s servers, accessible via a web browser or similar interface, and access relies on the cloud service provider, reliable internet access, and no system outages.
Like Cloud Services, on-premise software also requires a license or a copy of the software to use it. Where on-premise differs from cloud storage is that on-premise only offers perpetual licensing, whereas Cloud solutions mostly offer SaaS/subscription-based options. A perpetual license is sold to the user for a one-time fee, and not only gives you the security of owning the license, but also you can use it for as long as you want, with no further expense unless you add maintenance, support, or updates. The perpetual model allows your business to save money in the long run. Under both the perpetual licensing model and the Saas/subscription-based model, you can then choose between named user or concurrent user licenses. These licensing types are based on the number of users who can use the software at a time either based on the number of individual users or “seats” purchased or the maximum number of people who can access the software simultaneously. Ultimately, no matter which license option your business chooses, if the software resides on-premise, there is generally greater protection than the cloud can offer.
If you’re ready to get started with an on-premise document management solutions, Optix by Mindwrap can help. Contact us to learn more. Mindwrap, Inc. is a software development company with decades of experience in providing solutions that harness more than 70% of a company’s information. Our products are engineered for quick implementation and rapid ROI, giving our customers the tools they need to strengthen overall efficiency. Optix, our document management system, supports the widest range of operating systems, including Macintosh, Windows, UNIX, and Linux, and integrates seamlessly with Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, or Informix.
