Why Would You Consider Cloud Hosting?

Before 2019, the RFMS program and database would typically be installed on a local server at the business premises. Occasionally, a client’s IT provider might host RFMS on a remote server, however, most clients would invest in a local server.

Previously, cloud-based services were not widely trusted, and business owners wanted the comfort of having their data on premises. Additionally, cloud-based computing was often prohibitively expensive and required tedious configuration and management by a local IT provider. Therefore, frequently the best or only option available to our clients was to incur the capital and maintenance costs of a local server as well as the risks associated with managing data backups and software updates.

Since then, though, things have changed. Mostly, people have become comfortable with the concept of having their data off-site. With that has come the realisation that owning and maintaining a server comes with cost and risk. Let’s face it, for most of us, our expertise lies in flooring and not in technology.

Since 2019, all new RFMS clients have been hosted in our cloud server environment, and many long-time clients have transitioned to our hosting service as well.

In addition to being more comfortable with having data in the cloud, we see another factor driving interest in hosting solutions: cost. The cost of cloud hosting has progressively fallen to the point where the annual cost of hosting is often less than that of investing in and maintaining a local server. Where we had previously seen hosting used predominately by smaller businesses, we now regularly see medium and large businesses transition to cloud hosting.

In fact, hosting provides a unique benefit to clients that have multiple store locations or business entities. Instead of having separate server hardware at each location or trying to connect to the server of one location from another, cloud hosting allows all users, regardless of physical location, to access the same cloud server from a simple desktop icon without hassle. This same principle allows you to easily work within RFMS on a laptop at home.

Hosting removes the need to think about server hardware; As long as a user has access to the internet, they can access their data from any location on any device.

Business owners are more conscious than ever of the importance of protecting their data. Yet, their processes for backing up data and performing regular integrity tests are generally poor, even if they use a local IT provider. A professional and reputable hosting service will have several backup processes to ensure that your data is as safe as possible; Certainly, safer than most businesses can make their data on their own. This is another major benefit that hosting can provide.

Another consideration is malware and viruses. More often than ever, we are asked to help clients whose data has been corrupted by malware or has been subjected to a ransomware attack. Invariably, some data will be lost in these situations. Again, a good hosting service can provide levels of security and redundancy that few of us could otherwise possess in our business.

In addition to the general benefits of hosting, our hosting service has the additional benefits of managing your RFMS updates and providing quicker solutions when support is required. Instead of having to liaise with your local IT provider, we are able to assist with queries and issues related to RFMS and your hosted environment. Further, our technicians are uniquely familiar with the intricacies of the SQL engine and the RFMS database and application files.

If hosting is something that you would like to explore, contact us, and we will be happy to provide more information.