Category Archives: Cloud Hosting Tips

5 Hidden Costs of Hosting Your Database On-Premise

Posted on January 24, 2017 by admin

When it comes to storing your critical business database, there are two basic optics – hosting your own database yourself or outsourcing the hosting to another company. Your initial thought is likely that on-premise hosting will help your business save money compared to paying others, and from the standpoint of hosting fees, that would seem logical. In addition, self-hosting gives you more control. However, hosting your database yourself has several hidden costs that you’ll want to consider before deciding on the best hosting solution.

Hardware and Maintenance Costs

One of the most obvious types of costs you’ll incur by self-hosting your database are hardware and maintenance costs. It will be up to your team to determine the specifications you’ll need on your server to support your database hosting needs – and then purchase the required hardware. The costs to maintain your hosting hardware will also be purely your responsibility, whether the maintenance work is done in-house or outsourced.

Electricity and Bandwidth

On-premise hosting means you will also be responsible for the cost of the electricity required to run your hosting hardware. This not only includes the amount of power you will consume for your data center, but also the electricity needed to properly cool your data storage system. Along with electricity, you will also have bandwidth expenses, which can vary based on the speed your hosting needs require.

Cost of IT Personnel

Finally, if you choose to use on-premise hosting for your business database needs, you will likely want to use in-house staff to oversee and provide maintenance for your hardware. This means salary costs, payroll tax and other costs for one or more IT personnel. While in some cases these IT team members may be able to work on other tasks as well, larger hosting requirements may require a dedicated staff member for this aspect of your business.

If you’re considering hosting your business database in-house, it’s important to weigh all of the advantage and disadvantages. Understanding the true costs of on-premise hosting will help you make the right decision for your organization. Remember that we offer a variety of 30 day free trials for hosting Access and SQL Databases.

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The 5 Pitfalls of Windows Azure Hosting

Posted on January 11, 2017 by admin

Windows Azure is one of the pillars in the cloud-hosting market, and ranks second only to Amazon’s AWS cloud-hosting services. The company even announced in Q3 of 2016 that full government compliance was finally in order. However, for the average user not looking for enterprise solutions, it’s often still considered damaged goods.

Despite this, the pitfalls of Windows Azure hosting aren’t always obvious. For instance, many issues are only discovered later on, although the damage may be irreparable by then. Since this could set you up for failure, it’s important to know the drawbacks you’re likely to face.

Take a look below at five of the biggest issues facing Windows Azure hosting subscribers today.

1. More Bugs

With Azure, you will find that bugs become more plentiful with time. Eventually there will be a devastating issue that requires major technical support. If you’re not paying for support with your plan, you will be in for a big headache. The workarounds that Windows Azure Hosting clients receive are sub-par to say the least. Some users are even instructed to do hours of PowerShell scripting to repair the problem.

2. PowerShell Pains

The scripting interface simply isn’t very good. In fact, a simple online search of PowerShell problems will make it clear that many users are frustrated with it. Similar to how many people get into web development, but despise learning how to code in PHP, the steep learning curve and limited functionality of PowerShell are a big barrier. This can increase the time you spend managing your product. This shouldn’t be something you have to worry about.

3. Support Costs

You have to pay to upgrade and get developer support. This is brutal, as 24/7 expert support should be mandatory in any premium cloud-hosting package. Paying $29 or more a month just to have the help is not logical. However, horrific problems have plagued users in the past, which has made support a necessary cost. You don’t want this reliance.

4. Recurring Outages

Somehow, Azure has managed to face a number of outages in recent years. For example, the whole Azure DNS was wiped out multiple times this year. This resulted in a couple hours of downtime. One customer even had a full nine days of downtime, which is beyond unacceptable by any standard. On top of all that, Azure was recognized as having worse downtime problems than any other major provider. You want reliability if you pay for a big name. Unfortunately, you’re sometimes just buying the logo.

5. High Cost

In all reality, you’re going to end up paying for the developer upgrade support package to make sure everything runs safe. This exposes you to a significant increase in service costs. You’re better off getting from any hosting provider that offers support as an included feature. Why pay more when you don’t have to?

As you can see, there are quite a few problems that Azure hosting users face. From the limited scripting help to many bugs, and much more, most are left wishing for a simpler solution.

With the services we offer, you don’t have to worry, since scripting help is always there for you. Sometimes a smaller hosting provider is a good thing — kind of like how banking with a credit union can work in your favor. If you’re looking for the A-B-C approach, nothing could be simpler than our hosting plans.

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Top 10 Reasons to Move Your Access Database to the Cloud

Posted on September 7, 2016 by admin

The cloud is a fast, convenient technology suitable for modern businesses and consumers. You simply get faster time to market. It’s not a surprise 90 percent of businesses already utilizing the cloud in some way.

If you haven’t already, consider moving your access database to the cloud. Here are the top 10 reasons why you should.  Remember that Access Hosting offers great web database hosting solutions for small businesses.

1. Unmatched Storage Flexibility

Most businesses have growing or changing needs, and they need data services with flexibility. Access Hosting’s Cloud capacity can easily be scaled up by drawing on other servers (or scaled down). With such capabilities, cloud computing has a distinct advantage. Perhaps that’s why IT experts rank “operational agility” as a top reason for increased cloud adoption.

2. Collaboration Capabilities

As companies move increasingly online, it’s vital for employees to still be able to collaborate on projects. Access Hosting’s private cloud provides users the ability to access, edit and share files from virtually anywhere — which helps increase productivity. For instance, if you choose to build an MS Access Web Database that integrates with Excel, you can secure and manage access to data, and choose what to share within the organization with our Windows Terminal Servers.

3. Lower Costs

Cloud computing takes out the cost of hardware, and most employ a pay-as-you-go or subscription-based model. While spending on cloud services is projected to reach $240 billion in 2017, services are getting cheaper and more efficient. That’s why large-scale adoption is taking place. Access Hosting has plans starting at only $19/month to get your database in the cloud.

4. Constant Worldwide Access

Think about this: Lost laptops cost companies tons of money, with estimates in the billions of dollars. If an employee is storing work just on his computer, that work is lost if something happens to the computer. If the work had been stored in the cloud, it would still  be accessible from another device – our RDP hosting plans even let you access and run your MS Access Database from iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.

5. Competitiveness

Moving your database to the cloud does many things to make you more competitive, from increasing team communication and productivity to reducing expenses. Furthermore, having all that data in one place gives decision-makers a comprehensive view of what’s happening, making it easier to dig through and choose directions that will benefit the business.

6. Strong Security

The cloud helps prepare businesses for disaster, as it is a timely data backup built to consistently ward off the latest cyber-security threats. If something like a server crash happens with your MS Access database, a dedicated IT team from your hosting service is already there to deal with the issue, and you’ll be running your business again in no time.

7. Instant Publication

The cloud is popular because of its ability to show changes and updates instantaneously. For example, if you are using MS Access and have chosen an efficient MS Access hosting service, you can publish data to SharePoint within minutes. This boosts team productivity and makes it easier to get new products and updates to your customers.

8. Automatic Updates

There are two main advantages to automatic updates from cloud computing providers: One, you save time, which saves your company money; and two, you don’t need to bring in an IT expert to install the update, which again saves you time and money. With most services, installing updates is very straightforward. If you use Quickbooks to handle accounting, for instance, updating is just a support ticket away.

9. Environmentally Friendly

Companies have a responsibility to reduce their carbon footprint. Cloud computing does use its fair share of energy, but it leaves less waste. According to a Scientific American report, consolidating documents on remote servers is more energy efficient than saving them on personal computers.

10. Easy Integration

Many employees may have trouble understanding the cloud, but most reliable providers do one thing well: They make it very user-friendly. Hence, moving your database to the cloud is usually a seamless process that doesn’t waste resources.

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Consider These 5 Key Factors Before Your Next SaaS Product Purchase

Posted on August 9, 2016 by admin

Investing in Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, products can help grow your business through efficiency. However, you may want to consider several factors before making a commitment. Learn five key factors to consider before buying SaaS products, including business needs, cost, service terms, the ability to negotiate and security.

Business Needs

One of the first factors to think of when buying SaaS products is whether the item fits the needs of your business. You can achieve this by making sure your IT strategy and the goals for your enterprise are aligned. Defining your business needs will serve as a guide to determining what features and functionalities you need. This can be a dashboard that shows reports clearly at the top of your web browser or features, such as templates and notifications, that automate to improve enterprise operations. The features you ultimately choose should simplify work rather than make it complicated.

Cost

Cost is a pain point for small businesses. SaaS products offer a lower-cost option that on-premise data centers. Using Access Hosting to host your Windows Server, Web Database Application, or Collaborate using Microsoft Office 365 is way more affordable than purchasing your own hardware. However, you don’t want to be blinded by price baits only to be faced with any surprise expenses, such as rising monthly subscription fees – that is why Access Hosting plans are month to month and let you cancel at any time. Get a clear picture of what to expect when it comes to the price of the SaaS product you are considering. If you are offered a trial subscription, find out when it ends and the set roll-to price. Inquire about add-on fees and pricing structure, such as per-user fees, license fees and subscription fees.

Service Terms

When you are considering your next SaaS purchase, you want to make sure that the service terms are agreeable. You also want to ensure the product will be available when you need it the most. The service terms can discuss service level agreement to determine availability as well. Make sure the terms of service, including the vendor’s security policy, are also well-documented.

Flexibility in Negotiation

If you like the support a SaaS vendor brings but can’t seem to find the product that’s right for you, then you may want to consider if terms or the actual product is negotiable. Discuss customization options with a sales representative to see if there is a package or service they can offer you that aligns with your business needs. You also want to make sure your vendor has flexibility with negotiating terms regarding service level so that you can get reliable service that takes hours rather than days to fix should a problem arise.

Security

Any information that is personally identifiable can be at risk if a data breach occurs. Hackers can use their social engineering and doxing skills to find pertinent information, such as phone numbers and emails, and pose as an employee. That is why you want to consider a SaaS product’s security. Take care to assess the safety of your data with any SaaS vendor you are considering before purchasing its products.

Have a checklist of questions prepared to make sure you’re asking the right questions. You can even create a ranking system by using a standardized information-gathering or SIG questionnaire to determine if one security feature is more important than another. Consider SaaS products that routinely back up data and have encryption options available. Get to know the procedure for disaster recovery and information security control coverage.

Final Thoughts

Investing your company’s hard-earned profits in SaaS products should not be taken lightly. By considering the needs of the business, the price of the product, its service terms, security and whether you can negotiate any of these factors, you can buy the right SaaS for your business with confidence. Access Hosting is confident that we can build a cloud solution perfect for your business and database application.

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