Established in 1979 and employing 74 staff, Nottingham-based technology company Trisoft has worked with Clayton & Brewill's Neil South since 2012, and is growing quickly, with four regional offices across the UK.
For this month's client profile, we spoke to the team at Trisoft to find out about one of the most pressing IT challenges faced by small and growing businesses.
Trisoft works with lots of owner-managed businesses, providing advice and best practice to help them take control of their technology challenges. One of the decisions that growing businesses wrestle with is what to do with all the data: do you have a server on site; move it 'to the cloud'; or perhaps look at a combination of the two?
The small business server problem
At some point in the near future you will need to renew your Small Business Server and now that Microsoft no longer offers a direct replacement you will have to make a decision: to move over to a Windows Server coupled with a separate Exchange Server or deploy Office 365 in the Cloud.
Rest assured you're not alone, it's the same question that thousands of businesses face too, and presented with all the facts we can help you make the right decision for your business. Unlike most IT companies, we don't ever promote a one-size-fits-all package because each business has different demands for their IT and both options offer different benefits.
The advantages of moving to the Cloud..
Cloud has been gaining momentum for quite a while now and many of the advantages to business are well known, such as your business doesn't need to come up with a huge, upfront cost, there are no hidden electricity or maintenance costs and you don't need a dedicated server room with cooling systems.
Cloud infrastructures best suit a business that demands flexibility, which could mean a need for fluctuating resources or multi-location access. If your organisation's revenue is concentrated over a specific periods of the year Cloud can help keep costs low during the quiet months and so you only pay for extra processing power when you need it.
If your business has a number of teleworkers or multiple offices, Cloud offers a simpler solution to keep all your employees connected, secure and with access to all the programmes and files they need. Plus, once you're on the Cloud, setting up new offices or remote locations is easy and only requires a device connected to the internet and an account log in.
…and the benefits of having a server on your premises
An on-premise solution, often the less preferable choice, still has its advantages. For a business that only operates from a single, static location or is based in a remote area with unreliable broadband a physical hardware solution could provide better value for money and the peace of mind of an internal system that won't go down even if the connection does.
Another reason that businesses may choose to stay on-premise is if they work with highly sensitive data on a daily basis. Although all Cloud suppliers will offer security and data protection measures, if your organisation depends on the assurance of keeping information safe, you may prefer to keep this responsibility to be held in-house with dedicated IT staff. Although this is a more costly option, it means that you stay in complete control.
Best practice technology advice
But choosing between Cloud and on-premise isn't an either-or scenario. Businesses migrating to the Cloud rarely move 100% of their systems and few companies in today's technological era will still operate completely on-premise.
In such a rapidly moving market we find that businesses no longer want a simple IT supplier, but a technology partner that will support and advise on best practices. Trisoft helps small and growing businesses to develop their technology roadmap and anticipate future changes and hurdles.
