Advantages of On-Premise IT hardware over cloud solutions

With increasing discussions about migrating IT infrastructure to the cloud, it is important to understand that the On-Premise approach remains a sensible solution for many businesses. The decision to move away from hardware investments altogether needs to be carefully considered, taking into account both financial and operational aspects. 

One of the key benefits of having an On-Premise IT infrastructure is full control over your infrastructure. This allows companies to ensure data security and comply with legal and contractual regulations. Additionally, it offers the flexibility to manage resources and customize the infrastructure without relying on an external provider. 

Flexibility is also crucial for responding quickly to changes in system load or seasonal spikes in usage. The test environment can be better utilized, and different scenarios can be tested without restrictions. This is especially important if the IT On-Premise solution provider offers the possibility of quickly swapping components and platforms, as is the case with Hardware Direct. 

Improved performance and minimized data transfer risks are other notable advantages. 

The financial attractiveness of this model is also significant. Having an On-Premise IT infrastructure eliminates the need to pay monthly subscriptions, additional charges for exceeding resource limits, or data transfer costs. Moreover, a longer lifecycle of the hardware and minimized integration costs with existing systems are the added benefits of this solution. 

In summary, choosing an On-Premise IT infrastructure can be an attractive option for companies that value control, flexibility, and cost optimization. Despite the development of cloud technologies, the On-Premise approach remains relevant in the IT market, offering many benefits and customization options to suit individual business needs. 

Let us now analyze a specific example. 

Renting a 14th-generation Dell Power Edge virtualization server for a period of 36 months in Poland in 2024 with the following specifications: 32 vCore, 64GB RAM, network connections up to 10GbE, and 2TB of usable storage, running Windows Server, has an estimated cost of PLN 252.78 net/month. 

Monthly power consumption for a device equipped with a 750W power supply unit is assumed at PLN 376.91 net/month. 

The total monthly cost of this solution is PLN 629.69 net/month, amounting to PLN 22,668.84 net over 36 months. 

For a similar solution in the public cloud, we can opt for the AWS service: a 36-month rental with 32 vCore, 10Gb network speed, 64GB RAM, 2TB storage, and Windows Server, at USD 2015.12 net per month. 

Assuming an average exchange rate of 4.00 PLN/USD in the first half of July 2024, the use of the AWS cloud with the above specifications will cost PLN 8,060.48 net/month, resulting in a total cost of PLN 290,177.28 over 36 months. 

Considering these figures, the choice of an On-Premise rental solution appears to be more cost-effective in the long term. 

For cloud computing to be cost-effective, continuous optimization of resource consumption is required, such as reducing demand on weekends and increasing it on weekdays. However, this requires maintaining comparable human resources to manage On-Premise machines, where in-house hardware provides higher performance and full security. 

If resources need to be added in the short term, this can be done by supplementing the core infrastructure with On-Premise solutions and adding cloud resources, as they integrate easily with On-Premise servers and enable optimal cost management. 

A hybrid approach, especially when activated temporarily during peak loads or high data demand, allows for the same scalability as pure-cloud solutions while minimizing cloud infrastructure risks, such as the failure of Microsoft servers experienced globally on July 19, 2024. 

Therefore, if you are planning to develop or build IT infrastructure, it is worth considering the On-Premise model. However, when making this choice, it is crucial to select an experienced operator like Hardware Direct. With 15 years of experience, a professional LAB with a team of engineers, and one of the most modern infrastructures in this part of Europe, Hardware Direct can guarantee the creation of an effective and customized IT architecture at attractive prices or financing models. 
 
It is worth noting that, in addition to convenient equipment rental terms, Hardware Direct also offers customers the alternative of financing through leasing. This option allows customers to use the necessary equipment by paying in installments instead of a one-off payment, which can be beneficial for those who want to spread the costs over a longer period. Leasing also makes it easier to replace equipment with newer models without incurring significant expenses. 

At Hardware Direct, we work with a diverse range of clients. We know many cases of companies that initially embraced the cloud and abandoned their own infrastructure, only to return to it urgently due to insurmountable overall costs, inflexibility, and performance issues. There is also a sizable group of customers who have tested hybrid solutions, combining their own infrastructure with the cloud, and ended up with a minimal Cloud, maximum On-Premise model. 

Finally, dispersion should also be mentioned. The common argument has been that when services like Microsoft's or Amazon's AWS go down, the whole world stops, making individual service outages less significant. However, the Crowdstrike failure demonstrated the opposite. Operators with physical access to their servers could respond immediately, while companies relying entirely on external resources suffered significant losses. Future global failures are not out of the question; in fact, they are inevitable. Thus, the question of whether to base your entire business on external resources remains open.