When it comes to running your business efficiently, there are many factors to consider. Everything from your physical office space to your payroll and benefits to your IT infrastructure is worth close examination. As you look forward to the coming fiscal year and begin preparing your budget, you will want to pay particular attention to your IT needs.
The great thing about today’s IT is that you can essentially custom-craft an environment that is unique to your business’ needs. Your options can include a mix of physical and virtual infrastructure solutions, including subscribing to a hosted application (as opposed to purchasing outright) as well as on-site and off-site options. Business IT can now be flexible and scalable in a way that would have been nearly impossible just a few short years ago.
Efficient business practices can save you money, time, and frustration. Nowhere is this truer than in your IT environment. Fortunately, concepts such as standardization and virtualization can make your business more effective while also keeping your IT investment manageable as well as reliable.
One of the top trends over the past several years has been the adoption of serverless networks for business.
What are Serverless Networks?
The term “serverless” can be misleading, as it might suggest there are no servers involved at all. Operating a true network without the use of a server, however, would be something close to magic. Instead, a serverless network is operated by a cloud-based service provider that runs an offsite server and manages the distribution of computing resources.
Popular cloud computing platforms include Microsoft Azure or Amazon AWS. This solution isn’t for every organization—applications, data, and connectivity required in these environments can impact productivity, security, business continuity, and so on.
Is a Serverless Network Right for Your Business?
There’s no question that technology has transformed the way companies do business. Most companies view technology as a tool, and the right combination of tools is critical to help your business run more efficiently and securely.
If you are considering using serverless networks as part of your IT toolkit, you will want to examine both the benefits and drawbacks:
Benefits
- Lower long-term cost – instead of investing in hardware and maintenance, you shift your investment into a monthly fee to a provider that assumes that responsibility
- Secure mobility – allow your employees to access applications securely when working remotely
- Economy – pay for what you use
- Scalability – flexibility for the natural expansion and retraction of business
Drawbacks
- Loss of control – using a vendor can mean that your data lives with them, and you must request access to that data if you decide to switch vendors
- Data protection – hacking incidents can expose your data
- Connectivity – if the vendor server goes down, you may not be able to access your data
- Legacy apps – you may need an internal server to operate business-critical legacy software
How Do You Assess Your Needs?
Without guidance from a knowledgeable IT service provider, it can be a challenge to build a technology toolkit that best serves your business. Lieberman Technologies can help you assess your environment and determine if serverless networking is right for you. We can help you to examine costs, efficiencies, hardware, software, and maintenance needs. The results of this assessment can help you to decide what type of server environment is right for your business.
Contact us for more information!