Is it possible to manage the small business server on your own?

Nowadays business can’t function well without the right technology. Entrepreneurs want to work effectively, keep their employees productive and organized. For this purpose, they use all the tools available. Among different business technology trends, dedicated server takes an important place in the development of the company.

Every small and medium-size business stores data that includes metrics, audit trail, market research, customer and reference data. The business server helps keep everything centralized. These days it is a must in the world of business. Saving all the information on different devices, in turn, may negatively affect the company.

How can a server benefit your company?

The first and most important is that the server can protect your business data by delivering reliable infrastructure. It means that entrepreneurs and authorized employees can have remote access to all the necessary information. Also, it enables multiple users to access data at the same time and retrieve deleted files if it’s needed.

Installing a server enables employees to share resources such as fax machines and printers. Also, it allows providing high-speed internet across the network. It is important even if your company consists of ten people only.

Another great thing is that the server can keep all personal computers updated which is crucial in terms of cybersecurity. You can easily add new users to your network and deploy new applications.

Despite all the positive aspects of the business server, managing it on your own can be pretty tricky.

The costs of business server

The cost of a server for a small business will mostly depend on the type. There are VPS, cloud, and dedicated servers. The price can range from $3.000 to $5.000. The initial set up cost is between $100 and $200. Once again, the cost will depend on work complexity. There is no line to maintenance costs because different technical problems may occur on the way. For instance, operating system configuration or hardware problems. Let’s not forget about unplanned downtime. Most mishaps are caused by human error. If you want to manage the server on your own, you need to be really good at it or hire professionals. In case you plan to get the business server, calculate salaries for IT staff members and system administrators in the first place.

There are also other things to consider: bills for electricity, storage room, and hardware on-premise.

Other risks

If you don’t have any server management package and you try to manage the business server on your own, you should be aware of other risks as well. For instance, all computers including your server are vulnerable to cyber attacks. In some cases, it can also lead to data leakage. According to the latest statistics, small businesses are more likely to get hacked. It is done because cybercriminals are aware that some companies don’t have enough recourses to protect themselves.

Installing server is essential for every small and medium-size business. It can help make work more efficient, enhance data and keep all the systems updated. Entrepreneurs need to come up with a strategy on how to maintain your server since it requires a lot of attention.

Check out this infographic below to learn even more about self-managed servers, according to ServerMania: