Cloud vs On-Premise

Not always. Cloud is cheaper for variable workloads and small teams. On-premise can be cheaper at scale with predictable workloads, but requires infrastructure staff.

Most cloud providers offer compliance certifications (SOC2, ISO 27001, GDPR). On-premise gives you direct control but you bear full responsibility for compliance.

Choose cloud when you need scalability, have variable workloads, lack dedicated IT staff, or need to deploy globally. 94% of enterprises use cloud services. On-premise is better for strict data sovereignty, ultra-low latency requirements, or when you have existing hardware investments.

Cloud costs 500-5,000/month for typical business workloads with zero upfront investment. On-premise requires 20-100K upfront for hardware plus 5-15K/year in maintenance, power, and IT staff. Over 5 years, cloud is cheaper for most workloads under 50 servers.

Main risks are vendor lock-in (30-40% switching cost), data security concerns (though cloud providers invest far more in security than SMEs), unexpected cost spikes from autoscaling, and dependency on internet connectivity.

Data sensitivity and compliance requirements, workload variability (variable = cloud), team capability (no IT team = cloud), total cost of ownership over 5 years, and latency requirements for your specific use case.

For most workloads under 50 servers cloud is 30-40% cheaper over 5 years according to Flexera data. Cloud costs $500-5,000 per month with zero upfront investment. On-premise requires $20,000-100,000 upfront for hardware plus $5,000-15,000 per year in maintenance, power, and IT staff. Cloud wins on variable workloads while on-premise can be cheaper at scale with predictable loads.

Build when your requirements are highly unique, you have a strong engineering team, and the software is a competitive differentiator.

A provider handles server management, security patches, backups, and monitoring.

Most successful SaaS companies offer both, with a 15-25% discount for annual.

18+ months is ideal.

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