Own server or cloud — what suits which business?

The decision does not depend on company size but on three things: whether an application requires a central installation, how large the files are that several people work on at once, and how good your internet connection is. If no application needs a server and there are no large files, the cloud is nearly always cheaper and lower-maintenance. As soon as a business application has to run centrally, you need a server — on site or rented in a data centre. A managed server costs from €89 per month with us.

„Cloud or own server" is often argued as a matter of belief and is in truth a question of applications. The infrastructure follows the software, not the other way round — and the third option, a rented server in a data centre, is regularly forgotten in this discussion although it is the right answer for many businesses.

Side by side

Criterion	Server on site	Cloud
Business software with a central installation	Runs — that is what a server is for	Only if the vendor offers a cloud edition
Large files in shared use	Fast, because it is on your own network	Depends entirely on the connection
Dependence on the internet line	Only for access from outside	Complete — without the line the business stops
Cost shape	Purchase plus ongoing support	Monthly per user, no purchase
Hardware failure	Your problem — hence monitoring and spares	The provider's problem, usually solved unnoticed
Access from outside	Needs VPN or a terminal server	From anywhere, with a second factor
Backups	Must be set up and verified	Must be set up too — the cloud is not a backup

The table scrolls sideways.

When an own server is right

An ERP, industry or CAD package requires a central installation.
Several people work simultaneously on large files — CAD, video, image archives.
The internet connection at the site is weak or unreliable.
A requirement demands that data be held on your own premises.

When the cloud is the better choice

Work is done with mail, office documents and files — with no centrally installed application.
People work from several locations or from home.
There is nobody in house who wants to look after hardware.
The business grows and shrinks in steps and the costs should follow.

The third route almost everybody overlooks

Between the two lies a rented server in a data centre: your business software still runs centrally, but without hardware on site, without power supply, without cooling and without worry about a failed drive. For businesses with an industry package that has to run centrally this is frequently the most sensible option. The condition is a reliable internet connection — from then on everything stands or falls with it, and that check belongs at the start of the deliberation, not at the end.

Guide prices, net plus VAT. As of: September 2026 · All prices at a glance

Run it with your own figures In the cost calculator you enter workstations, servers and backups and see the monthly and annual totals — calculated from the same price list as here.

Frequently asked questions

Is the cloud safer than an own server?

Different, not categorically safer. Large providers run their data centres with an effort no small business can match — but a cloud account is reachable from anywhere and hangs on a password. A server on site is not reachable from outside at all unless you make it so, but it stands in a room nobody monitors. The decisive point is the same in both cases: two-factor sign-in and a separately kept, verified backup.

Do we need backups in the cloud too?

Yes. Cloud services protect against hardware failure, not against deletion, overwriting or encryption by malware. Deleted files and mailboxes sit in the recycle bin only for a limited time depending on the settings. Anyone holding records subject to retention there needs either matching retention rules or a backup of their own — from €49 per month with us.

What does moving from an old server to the cloud cost?

That depends on the data volume and on what has to come along. The effort rarely lies in the copying but in the tidying beforehand: which archives the business still needs, which are subject to retention, which can go. We bill such migrations by effort at €95 per hour and give an estimate in advance.

Can the two be combined?

That is in fact the normal case. Mail, files and collaboration in the cloud, the business application on a server. The only requirement is that the same data is not maintained in two places — duplicate filing is the most expensive item in any mixed environment, and it appears whenever nobody decides what belongs where.