Business storage in the modern world is dramatically different than it was just a couple short decades ago. Rather than needing to store countless file cabinets somewhere in the office, today’s businesses only need to store digital data, but that task can be just as challenging. In general, there are two choices when it comes to how to host all of your vital information – a server room, or a data center. As you will see from the content below, there are pros and cons to each of these options.
Handing It Off
If you are looking for a solution that will allow you to back away from the management of your data, you will definitely want to look into the possibility of using a data center. Taking the information off-site and turning over control to a contractor will allow you to focus on the management of your business without having to worry about server concerns. Of course, you do give up a measure of control when you take this approach, as it will likely take more time to make changes to your servers when necessary.
Control, Control, Control
That last point brings us to the topic of control. For the business that wants to have total control over their data and their servers, the obvious choice is to keep this system onsite. Yes, there is more work that has to be done in order to manage your server room, but that comes along with the benefit of having total control and keeping all of the knowledge regarding your data right there within your business. Having a contractor work on your server means that valuable information is going to be existing outside of your company – and not all businesses are going to be comfortable with that idea.
Cost Concerns
As always, you will need to think about the cost of this project when trying to decide which path to take. There isn’t necessarily one choice that will be more cost-effective than the other, although building out your own server room is almost certain to be more expensive in the short term. Also, if you don’t know how big your business may become, it can be hard to accurately size your server room right from the start. On the other hand, it is easy to upsize or downsize the amount of capacity that you have with a data center service, so that option will adapt with you as you move forward.
Freedom in IT
If you have an IT department in your business, you may think that it will be easy to have that department handle the server room. While that is true to a degree, having them spend time on that job will take away from other work that they could be doing to help drive your business forward. You only have so many resources on hand, so it is important to allocate those resources in the most efficient way possible.
You can have success with either of these options, but you will only be able to choose one in the end. Think about the needs of your business with reference to the points above and come to a conclusion that is going to suit your requirements.
