What Benefit Does Managed Hosting Offer Over In-House Management?

The answer to this question will differ between companies. It will depend on the project that you are working on. Effective planning can be the difference between success and failure for your business. I learned from past experience that a Business Continuity Plan is a time and money saver. According to cio.com, a Business Continuity Plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood or cyber attack.

No matter the size of the company, when it comes to managing your infrastructure, you value time and money.

There are three large categories of costs that you must consider.

Infrastructure Costs

The first set of costs that you will need to consider will be the starting infrastructure costs. You will need to determine the correct server hardware for the project.

Here is a list of questions to consider:

• What size server(s) do you need?
• How many servers does the project call for?
• What is the processor that would best work for your environment?
• What resources are necessary to function while at the same time allowing for growth?
• What software will you need?
• Are there be any licensing costs associated with acquiring the software?

These and many more questions will need answers before making any of your purchases. To answer them and also get the right equipment you may need to hire a Systems Administrator. They or your developer will need to determine what resources will run your project. This may not be known at the onset, but effective planning and monitoring of your environment will help.

If the person building your site or application is unsure you can seek professional help from an IT firm. It also helps to know the software you plan to use and what typical server requirements accompany it. You can always start small and upgrade infrastructure along the way.

This leads us to consider the second group of costs, your operating costs.

Operating Costs

Operating costs of your environment can include many factors. Consider hardware and software support, power and network infrastructure support, storage, and facilities.

Once you have gotten the environment in place you will need to hire staff to maintain it. If you are a company that does not already have an IT staff this is a considerable factor to think about. You will need to deal with IT staffing and labor, as well as training and staffing turnover.
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