We’ve helped businesses recover from server failures, and it’s always expensive. A server dies, and by the time you get a replacement and restore from backups, you’ve lost days of work. The server costs thousands, plus setup time, plus downtime. Total cost can easily exceed £8,000.
We’ve helped businesses move to cloud services like Microsoft 365, and the difference is remarkable. Now, if a computer dies, they just log into another one and keep working. Monthly costs are predictable, and they haven’t had the same downtime issues.
This is why we’re such big advocates for cloud migration for small businesses. We’ve seen it transform how businesses operate, and honestly, we wish more small business owners understood what’s possible these days.
The Real Cost of Staying On-Premises
Let’s talk about money first, because that’s usually what stops people from making the move. We get it, you see a monthly subscription fee and think “that’s expensive.” But let’s do the maths properly.
That server we mentioned? It cost £3,000 to buy. Then there’s the electricity to run it 24/7 (about £300-400 a year). You need a backup system (£500-1,000). You need someone to maintain it (that’s us, or someone like us, call it £500-1,000 a year for basic maintenance). And servers don’t last forever. You’re replacing it every 4-5 years.
Compare that to cloud services. Microsoft 365 Business Premium is about £20 per user per month. For six people, that’s £120 a month, or £1,440 a year. That includes email, file storage, Office applications, security features, and automatic updates. No server to buy, no electricity costs, no maintenance headaches.
The real savings come from what you don’t lose. No downtime when hardware fails. No scrambling to restore backups. No emergency IT calls at 9pm on a Friday. That’s worth more than the subscription fee.
Growing Without the Headache
We’ve worked with businesses that have busy seasons where they hire temporary staff, but their old servers couldn’t handle the extra load. The system would slow to a crawl, and productivity would tank.
After moving to the cloud, adding new users takes about five minutes. Need more storage? Click a button. Seasonal staff? Add them for a month, remove them when you’re done. You only pay for what you use, when you use it.
This flexibility is huge for small businesses. You’re not locked into hardware that’s either too small (and slows you down) or too big (and wastes money). The cloud grows and shrinks with your business.
Working From Anywhere (Really)
Remember when we all thought remote work was temporary? Yeah, that didn’t last. Many businesses we work with now have hybrid setups: some people in the office, some working from home, some working from coffee shops between client meetings.
With cloud services, this actually works. Your files are in OneDrive, accessible from any device. Your email is in the cloud. Your applications run in the cloud. As long as you have internet, you can work.
We had a client whose office flooded last winter. Water damage destroyed their computers and server. But because they’d moved to the cloud six months earlier, everyone just worked from home for a week while they sorted out the office. Zero business disruption. That wouldn’t have been possible with an on-premises server.
Security You Couldn’t Afford Otherwise
This is the one that surprises people. “But isn’t the cloud less secure?” Actually, no. For small businesses, it’s usually more secure.
Think about it. Microsoft spends billions on security. They have teams of security experts, 24/7 monitoring, automatic threat detection, and compliance certifications that would cost you a fortune to get independently.
Your on-premises server? It’s probably sitting in a cupboard, maybe with a basic firewall, maybe with automatic updates enabled (if you’re lucky). It’s not getting the same level of protection that cloud providers offer.
Now, this doesn’t mean the cloud is automatically secure. You still need to configure it properly, use strong passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, and train your team. But the foundation is much stronger than what most small businesses can build themselves.
Automatic Backups and Disaster Recovery
One of our favourite things about cloud services? The backups are built-in. Microsoft 365 keeps versions of your files for 30 days (longer with certain plans). If someone accidentally deletes a file, or a file gets corrupted, you can restore it with a few clicks.
And because your data is stored in multiple data centres (usually in different countries), you’re protected against local disasters. Fire in your office? Your data is safe. Flood? Your data is safe. Theft? Your data is safe.
We’ve helped businesses recover from disasters, and we can tell you having your data in the cloud makes recovery so much easier. You’re not waiting for new hardware, you’re not trying to restore from physical backups that might be damaged. You just log in and keep working.
What About Internet Dependency?
This is the concern we hear most often. “What if the internet goes down?” Fair question. But let’s be honest, if your internet goes down, you’re probably not getting much work done anyway these days. Most businesses rely on internet for email, customer management systems, banking, everything.
And modern cloud services have offline capabilities. Microsoft 365 lets you sync files to your computer so you can work offline. When you’re back online, it syncs everything up.
Plus, internet connections are more reliable than they used to be. Most businesses have backup internet options available (like 4G/5G routers) if their main connection fails.
Making the Move
If you’re thinking about cloud migration, don’t try to do it all at once. Start with one thing, maybe email or file storage. Get comfortable with that, then move the next thing.
And get help. A proper migration needs planning. You need to think about data migration, user training, security configuration, and making sure everything works together. We’ve seen too many businesses try to do it themselves and end up with a mess.
The good news? Once you’re set up, it’s usually easier to manage than what you had before. Less maintenance, fewer problems, more flexibility.
If you want to explore whether cloud migration makes sense for your business, let’s have a chat. We can assess your current setup, explain your options, and help you plan a migration that works for your business. No pressure, no sales pitch, just honest advice about what might work for you.