Are There More Cost-effective Solutions For SMBs Than File Servers?

摘要

In this time of economic uncertainty, small and medium businesses (SMBs) have been asked to do more with less, and the pressure, in what is increasingly looking to be a double-dip recession, is mounting. Yet, 57 percent of IT managers at small and medium businesses (SMBs) underestimate the cost of owning a traditional file server, according to a study. Additionally, 41 percent of U.S. information workers were using various unapproved online file storage and data services for work purposes. When estimating annual file server costs, over one-half of the respondents initially reported costs of under $5,000 per year, while 12 percent reported over $20,000 per year. But when asked to think about the costs again in a more itemized fashion, including costs like software, administration, file server OS and licenses, the majority of SMBs, 57 percent, increased their total cost estimate. Nineteen percent did so by more than $25,000, with the number of companies estimating costs at more than $20,000 a year almost tripling. These findings suggest that it won't be long before the true value and cost savings of a pure cloud or hybrid cloud approach will lead to the demise of the traditional file server.