Hosted vs. On Premise Software

_SMBs are often faced with the dilemma whether they should go for a hosted or an on-premise solution. There is really no right or wrong answer but companies need to assess their business needs and infrastructure before taking a decision. The fundamental point is that not all solutions work best in the Cloud or on-premise and the choice often requires a trade between features, security and costs to optimize returns.  There are advantages and disadvantages with both platforms and these are subject to the type of software/service under consideration. The table below outlines the advantages and disadvantages of the hosted and on-premise delivery model.

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On-Premise

• Control over all systems/data
• Corporate data is stored/handled internally
• IT staff for maintenance/support
• Initial investment is high but pays off over time

Hosted

• No large up-front purchase cost
• No new infrastructure requirements; eg. servers
• Low cost for services
• Third parties are doing hard work