Do I need a server?

Let us say you are a small business let’s say between 2 and 10 staff some of whom are on the road.

The toughest challenges are sharing files with each other, sharing printers with each other and being able to share and see each other’s calendars whilst also protecting your data.

The traditional solution would have been to use a server and there are some great solutions out there with the likes of Microsoft Small Business Server 2011.  But with a capital investment typically in excess of £3000 to set up even a small server with this type of functionality this can be less than attractive for the small business owner.

With the ever increasing growth of internet based or Cloud solutions it is now possible using products like Trend Micro’s SafeSync, to have a basic “file server in the cloud” for an incredible 10p per GB per month*.  This becomes even more incredible when you consider that this can also act as a backup for local files on your PC or laptop.  And if that was not enough, you can even access the files from your Apple iPhone, iPad or Android device.

We have all had e-mail for years – there are hundreds of providers some of which are free.  The crunch always comes when you want to share calendars for holidays or meeting rooms or even just view each other’s appointments.  Once again the Cloud now offers us solutions at hard to believe prices.  Microsoft Office 365 for professionals and small businesses offers the kind of e-mail and calendar functionality we just discussed from only £4 per user per month including e-mail anti-virus scanning and anti spam filter.

Printers like Hewlett Packard ePrint printers allow you to print from any e-mail enabled device – from laptops to mobile phones, you don’t even need to be in the same country to share a printer, let alone the same office.

So what does this all really mean?

It means that you could come in buy a laptop for each user a couple of web enabled printers, register for the cloud services your business needs and as long as you all have internet access, you could be up and running in a matter of hours.  So as the title suggests – do I really need a server?

Follow this link for more information on Trend Micro SafeSync

Follow this link for more information on Microsoft Office 365

If anything else here interested you then feel free to contact us for a chat – we will be happy to point you in the right direction with some expert advice.

Email us here with your details and someone will call you back.

About Micro Plus Computers

Micro Plus Computers is a well established IT company based in Oswestry, Shropshire and Wrexham, North Wales and operating throughout the UK. We supply complete IT systems and a wide array of technical services to businesses and educational establishments, providing excellent levels of service and reliability in all areas.

Established since 1991 and with 25 full time staff and a multi-million pound turnover we have the stability, depth of skills and experience to give our customers the best possible service, and support.

* Based on a SafeSync for Business single user 50GB 12 month minimum subscription of £56.00

Follow this link for a list of Hewlett Packard ePrint enabled printers

Follow this link to find all Hewlett Packard multifunction inkjet printers on our webstore (these printers are not all ePrint enabled please cross reference using the link above if you need ePrint)