On-Premises vs. Off-Premises

When establishing a new organisation, or evaluating infrastructure provision for an existing one, the decision between On-Premises and Off-Premises deployment is a major decision to consider. On-premises deployment entails the ownership and maintenance of physical hardware within an organization’s premises, offering control and significant customization. In contrast, Off-Premises, often associated with cloud computing, involves entrusting services to external providers, in return, befitting from huge scalability and ease of management. In this article, we’ll look into the advantages, disadvantages, and regulatory considerations of both deployment models.

Defining On-Premises and Off-Premises

Before we go any further, let’s get some definitions cleared up in case these terms are new to you:

On-Premises

On-premises deployment (often called on-prem) refers to the traditional approach of hosting and managing your IT infrastructure within your organization’s physical premises. This involves procuring and maintaining servers, networking equipment, and software on-site. For instance, a company might operate its email servers within its own data centre, giving them direct control over hardware, software configurations, and security protocols. Companies have always needed on-site networking equipment such as routers and switches – these are also a critical part of an on-premises deployment, however in most instances they’re still essential even if a company moves much of it’s operations to the cloud – ultimately, we always need switchports!

Off-Premises (Cloud-Based)

Off-Premises deployment (often referred to as cloud-based deployment or off-prem) involves leveraging services provided by third-party cloud providers. These services are hosted remotely on the provider’s infrastructure. For example, a business might utilize cloud-based services to store files, run applications, or manage databases. Popular cloud providers include AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, where you can access resources on-demand without the need for maintaining physical hardware. Cloud-based deployments are often able to replace many of the functions provided by the on-premises data center.

Advantages and Disadvantages of On-Premises and Off-Premises

While cloud-based off-premises deployments are a hot topic at the moment, both approaches have advantages and disadvantages which are important to consider.

On-Premises Advantages

On-Premises hardware gives organizations full control over their infrastructure, enabling tailored configurations and data management. It’s particularly suited for industries with strict compliance requirements that demand data to be physically managed in-house. On-Premises hardware is also fully under the physical control of an organisation, who may feel that having an actual copy of their data they can “touch” is still highly valuable.

On-Premises Disadvantages

On-Premises deployment requires significant upfront investment in hardware, maintenance, and skilled personnel. Scaling can be challenging, requiring additional resources and time. With an On-Premises deployment, it’s common for resources to go unused – and for many businesses, it’s essential to have additional (often unused) resources in place to handle periods of high demand.

Off-Premises Advantages

Off-Premises (Cloud based) deployment offers scalability, flexibility, and (usually) cost savings since you pay only for what you use. Cloud providers handle infrastructure maintenance, updates, and security for you reducing the burden on your IT team. It’s especially well-suited for startups and businesses looking to rapidly deploy applications. Cloud based solutions also make it very easy and fast to spin up test servers or whole virtual infrastructures, greatly improving the ability of developers and operations professionals to test configurations before deployment.

Off-Premises Disadvantages

Perhaps the most fundamental issue is that cloud-based solutions rely on internet connectivity to function – while the incredibly high resilience of cloud service providers mean that it’s reasonable to expect that your cloud infrastructure will be “always up”, any disruption to the connection between the company, it’s users and the cloud can prevent access. Another common problem with cloud deployment is that many sensitive industries have compliance concerns regarding data stored off-premises – and it’s sometimes easier, or mandatory to keep some data on site.

Regulatory Requirements and On-Premises vs. Off-Premises Deployment

Regulatory issues can be one of the major factor influencing the choice between a cloud or in premises deployment As we mentioned above, certain industries, such as healthcare and finance, often have strict regulatory requirements that necessitate direct control over data storage and processing. On-Premises deployments allow organizations to comply with industry-specific regulations while maintaining oversight of their infrastructure and data which may be the deciding factor.

By contrast, we need to remember that cloud providers invest heavily in meeting regulatory compliance standards and certifications – indeed, for some organisations (especially newer startups) utilising cloud products designed with compliance in mind may actually be a more cost-effective way of meeting compliance requirements.

Hybrid Infrastructure - The Best of Both Worlds

As we have seen there are advantages and disadvantages to either deployment model – there are also some types of data for which regulators may make the decision for us! Does this mean organisations simply need to choose one model and accept the issues that come with it? The good news is that no, they don’t! Most modern organisations actually deploy a mix of cloud and on-prem infrastructure. Called a “Hybrid” deployment, this model seeks to bridge the gap between the control and customization of traditional On-Premises setups and the scalability and flexibility inherent in cloud-based Off-Premises solutions. A hybrid approach brings many benefits, and helps to mitigate may disadvantages of both on-prem and off-prem deployments:

Flexibility and Scalability

Hybrid infrastructure allows organizations to dynamically scale their resources as needed. For instance, a company can run day-to-day operations on its On-Premises servers while leveraging the cloud for seasonal spikes in demand. Alternatively, it might be easier to move public-facing services (such as a website) to the cloud, whilst keeping internal services (such as business file shares) on premises. Services such as websites benefit hugely from the scalability of the cloud, and while fileshares certainly can too, a hybrid approach allows an organisation to benefit from flexibility for the webservers whilst opting for greater control over sensitive files kept on-prem.

Cost Efficiency

Hybrid environments offer cost optimization by allowing organizations to utilize cloud resources for non-critical or non-sensitive workloads, reducing the need for excessive On-Premises hardware investments. For example, an organisation may choose to use the cloud for creating development environments, representing a huge saving over investing in physical hardware. Similarly, an organisation with large amounts of data (for example, video files) which are not subject to any regulatory constraints and a small amount of sensitive data (for example, financial records) can choose to store the large files in inexpensive cloud storage, and keep the small number of sensitive files on-prem. In this way a business can achieve significant savings without losing direct control of specific resources.

Data Security and Compliance

As mentioned above, sensitive data can be retained on-premises to comply with regulatory requirements, while less sensitive functions can utilize cloud services. This segregation enables companies to maintain control over critical data while harnessing the cloud’s efficiencies for less-sensitive operations. Organisations can also benefit from utilising specialist services within cloud providers designed to hold data long term (eg. Amazon Glacier) where the data itself may not be sensitive, but regulations may require it to be retained - the low cost but extremely high reliability of cloud storage can be a significant win here.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Hybrid setups bolster disaster recovery strategies. Critical applications can run on-premises while backup and recovery solutions leverage cloud resources. This combination enhances resilience and minimizes downtime during unforeseen disruptions. Opting to situate public-facing resources, such as web servers, in the cloud can also help to ensure that the most visible aspects of a company remain up and running, even during a possible disaster recovery event.

Hybrid Implementation Challenges

While there are mainly advantages to adopting a hybrid infrastructure, it does come with its own set of challenges. Integrating On-Premises and Off-Premises components demands a well-thought-out strategy, robust networking, and seamless data synchronization. Managing the complexity of this hybrid environment requires skilled IT professionals who can navigate the intricacies of both deployment models – arguably, this approach is more complex than either on-prem or off-prem deployment alone.

Final words

The choice between On-Premises and Off-Premises deployment usually depends on factors like control, scalability, cost, and regulatory requirements. While On-Premises offers control and compliance, Off-Premises provides agility and scalability. Striking the right balance between these factors is essential in determining the most suitable deployment strategy for your organization – Hybrid approaches are very often the best of both worlds, although they do come with slightly greater complexity than either on-prem or off-prem utilised in isolation.