Cloud-based Intranet vs On-Premise Intranet: Which is Best?

“Cloud” has been a tech buzzword for more than a decade now, and it is going to stay. It is no surprise that cloud-based applications come with a host of benefits and offer newfound flexibility for organizations.

Cloud technology has changed the way businesses work and made it possible for them to operate seamlessly without a central server or office infrastructure. This opens up a huge arena of possibilities to work remotely while being highly productive. On the other hand, on-premise solutions are installed on the company servers and serve the business needs.

Today, most of the organizations rely fully or partially on cloud services. Whether it is an operating system, application software, web servers, databased, virtual local area network, or IP addresses – the cloud seems to offer everything.

As both large and small businesses are racing to adopt modern and nimble cloud-based applications to solve a myriad of business issues, the intranet has evolved from a typical on-premise behemoth to a mobile-first cloud application.

Choosing between Cloud-based & On-premise intranet: which is better?

Is this decision a;

• Corporate trend – A decision to move along with everyone else to the cloud software?
• IT resource constraints – A matter of server management and maintenance?
• Accounting matter – A recurring operating expense over a capital investment?

Well, it is a combination of all of them as intranet works with all departments of the organization. Deploying an intranet software involves a lot of careful considerations. Every business is different and has unique requirements, and the intranet is one such big decision that can make or break your business. All successful intranets need a good home where everything can be hosted, whether it is on-premise or cloud. But the fact is, choosing between both options can be more difficult than you may realize as it can directly impact the bottom-line of your business.

There are valid arguments for both and there are considerable trade-offs to both the options. So, it is important to be fully informed before deciding on choosing the best intranet that suits your business needs. There are various elements that need to be considered and to narrow it down, let’s understand the key differences.

An intranet in the cloud

Hosting the intranet software in the cloud leads to many operational, financial, and technical benefits. From a financial point of view, paying for the cloud to host your intranet means no upfront costs and take the benefits from paying an affordable subscription cost. This minimal monthly cost covers everything, including server specifications, installation, storage space, maintenance, technical support, and the software itself. This option is especially preferable when you are not willing to dedicate technical resources to install and maintain the intranet, as it is completely taken care of by subscription cost. The operational side is also well managed if you choose a cloud-based intranet, where the intranet server and maintenance are all covered under the support and service. Moreover, the security and scalability factors are maintained without any additional cost.

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Top 5 benefits of a cloud-based intranet solution

There are a lot of technology trends that have taken a hold in the industry, but not all have been efficient. However, the cloud-based solutions have proved their effectiveness in improving internal communication, engaging employees, increasing work collaboration, allowing information and projects to be more accessible. Based on these factors, the cloud solution offers tremendous benefits to improve business operations. Here are the top benefits of a cloud-based intranet.

1. Easy to Setup and Highly Scalable

From photo collections to personal music libraries, to calendars, contact information stored on smartphones, and laptops. Our lives are becoming increasingly dependent on storing and accessing the information in the cloud. Considering the evolvement of cloud technology at a rapid pace, the turnkey intranet solutions are readily available for your business. While setting up an on-premise intranet takes a lot of time and effort, a cloud-based solution can be deployed easily, at speed. And scaling in the cloud is also easier without additional security, storage, and upgrades.

2. Accessible Anywhere, anytime

At first glance, the on-premise solution feels to be a good alternative because of enhanced security. But in today’s demanding and connected world where the workforce needs to access information dynamically, a cloud-based intranet solution serves the best. Choosing a cloud intranet allows you to access information, communicate seamlessly with team members, and collaborate for projects from any location. It simply translates to increased employee productivity.

3. Lower upfront investment

A cloud-based intranet has much lower upfront costs as compared to an on-premise intranet solution. This means that you need not delay the implementation of the intranet due to budget constraints. Instead, you can pay an affordable monthly subscription amount for the services. This subscription fee covers everything you need to run your digital workplace smoothly like servers, hosting, maintenance, security, version updates, and more.

4. Better Collaboration

If team members are not aware of what others are doing, if projects do not have any defined deadlines, it will be highly difficult to work efficiently or on time in the organization. Collaboration not only adds value for the employees but also helps the company to solve many challenging problems. The cloud-based intranet solution allows everyone to work on the information at the same time, help you log the ideas, track the progress on tasks, allocate resources, and much more. And it will ultimately lead to increased productivity at the workplace.

5. Increased employee engagement

A cloud intranet solution provides a central place where employees can find and access the information, people, and tools they need to get work done and be more productive. The employees can have easy access to corporate news and announcements, information updates, self-help, and self-service tools. In a nutshell, it helps your employees by making their working lives simple, connected, and more engaged.

Which option is best?

Deciding which hosting option is best for your intranet is a difficult task, and choosing the cloud over on-premise depends on the scope of your business. The best choice is to assess the needs of your company, review existing business strategies, and calculate costs to make a well-researched and informed decision. Schedule a DEMO  to learn more about how BizPortals 365 can take your business to the new heights.