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Hi,

I have a client that is starting his new company (kind of a small one), but he thinks it is some sort of expensive to buy software (server licensing) and hardware (Server, VPN), and long term maintenance, so I was thinking about a cloud service like “rackspace” where he can access his files where ever he is, without using a VPN or having the servers physically stored in his office, so, What do you think guys?, Any suggestions?

Thanks.

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I suppose it is based on what he does. If all he needs is workgroup based file sharing, a NAS in the office would probably do the trick, and there are a number of services that could back this up to a cloud archive for little cost.

If they needs to host software/DB/CRM etc, you may want to look to the software vendor for a hosted solution. I have seen a number of providers that give you either a terminal server or Citrix session to their hosted software. The pricing varies a lot on these services, so it is best to do a good ROI for the difference.

For a new business I would use hosted exchange. I think that is the way most businesses are going to go anyways, so why invest in an email server when hosted can be bought for $10/user a month from the get go.

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Depends on answering certain questions like:

Cost

What can the client expect to save with the cloud model as against the on-premise solution?

Security

Where are the hosting facilities and backup date centers located?

What’s the disaster recovery plan?

What’s the up-time percentage?

CONS

Reliance on Internet

Possible cost being higher than on-premise (would depend)

Data could be compromised possibly due to exposure to WAN

PROS

Flexible payment options

Reduced IT costs

Better compatibility in terms of devices, browsers and OS

Less to No Maintenance of data (storage)

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Hi,

Thanks for the answer, since he is planing to have several small locations in different areas, all of them with a stable internet connection, and he is only tending to use the server for email accounts as well as a file storage and share server, I think that the online solution fits his needs, but I am not sure whats the best option, I have only heard about “rackspace” but I don’t know if there is a better cost-effective solution, Could you give me any advices?.

Thanks.

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Other options to consider:

Amazon (I think its called Amazon Web Services (AWS))

Windows Azure

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Your key players here are Microsoft’s Office 365, Google Apps and Rackspace. I’ll shoot you a PM.

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AVG CloudCare is cloud based, pay as you go monthly services for RMM, ESS, AV, and CF. This gives your guy total flexibility. Also there is no recommended pricing so he can bundle it, add it to other offerings, etc. Avast Business Hub | Layered IT Security Platform

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Sounds like a great candidate for Google Apps … PM me if you want more info.

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I’m glad I’m not the only one who tho’t of Google Apps … but then what 1st came to mind was FreeNAS and NAS4Free … and OpenCloud.

What’s kewl about Google Apps for Business is that Google can host your website as well as your company-wide email … and it’s like 5 bucks a month per person or $50 a year per person.

Google offers tons of “share space” … check out Google Drive, Google Web Services and Google Apps ( including word processing, spreadsheets, etc ).

Tho’ Google Apps for Biz is “inexpensive”, it is not the least expensive or necessarily the “best” way to go. As suggested above, check out FreeNAS / NAS4Free and OpenCloud.

( While your at it, consider LibreOffice 4.1’s pending union with FireBird SQL … tho it’s not “directly” related to your question … )

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Did I mention that your company could set up as many servers as they wish, without concerns about licensing … VPN-accessible … SSH accessible … for file-sharing, email … etc, etc … using Ubuntu Server 13.04 ?

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One of our vendors offers Google Apps, and if you register the deal with your client, you get a commission from it. If you want to talk more about that option, we can discuss.

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Becky, please tell us more.

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Sounds like all you’d need is a single Google Apps account. We can also offer backup & recovery for it. Total investment: $40 for the year. Affordable!

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I read through this, and saw the mention of Office 365. That would be a good fit for pretty much everything except ERP and CRM. Do the users prefer to work with local copies of Excel, Outlook, etc.? If so, certain plans of Office 365 offer not only email, storage, and collaboration, but also a subscription for a local copy of Office.

Setting up a local server infrastructure for a couple of average users is stupidly expensive, and far less agile than a new business needs to be. A hosted platform will allow them to scale larger and smaller as needed. When they get larger and are ready to have their infrastructure in-house, they can can migrate to the in-house versions of the programs.

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