How flexible do you want to be? Your license also plays a role.

In the past, everything within an organization was installed on one local server, but since a few years, there is an explosive growth in the use of the cloud. The internet is therefore full of it: cloud vs. on-premise. Many organizations have yet to make the decision, are switching, or hesitating. Naturally, the final decision has great consequences for your organization. In an earlier blog, we already shared the advantages of the cloud. Where lies your preference, and what do you consider when making the decision? We notice many organisations often look at, for example, the costs over a specific period, the difference in responsibilities, and Capex vs. Opex.

Choose flexibility

As far as I am concerned, there is another possible angle to look at: flexibility in terms of license. How did I come to this conclusion? December is peak season at Boltrics. During this period, many customers ask for an extension or reduction of their licenses. Or they want to exchange full-user for limited-user – or vice versa. A more specific example concerns one of our implementations: it turned out to be more efficient to set up a specific process in Dynamics. From the on-premise license, this would result in an unexpected investment. The cloud solution would have been a better alternative, as it provides more flexibility and would prevent unexpected costs.

With regard to licensing structure, a cloud solution offers more flexibility than on-premise, because:

• A fixed, monthly amount.
  With on-premise, as a customer, you receive the software in “ownership”, where you decide the software on beforehand and pay in advance. With both options, it is difficult to determine on beforehand how many licenses you need. But does is appear to be you have taken too many? With the cloud, you have the flexibility to reduce the number of licenses and thus avoid the risk of unnecessary costs.
• Adjusting the license monthly.
  A license extension is possible for both cloud and on-premise. A license reduction is possible with cloud and can be implemented monthly, as well as with a license extension. A reduction is more difficult with on-premise, as Microsoft does not credit investments. Annual maintenance will be lower, but a divestment is also awaiting you.
• Spread your investment.
  Recently, we heard a customer say: “I don’t pay my employees 3 years in advance. Why should I do so with my software?”. When you choose for the cloud, you are in control of what you buy and when. And that offers the possibility to use the money, that you would normally have spent with an on-premise solution, for other purposes.

In short: cloud offers flexibility. Adding or removing users for a certain period of time is no problem at all. Just like converting limited-user to full-user, or vice versa. This flexibility is an important advantage for logistics service providers in choosing for cloud.

Keep an eye on Boltrics

Our software is available as on-premise, cloud or a combination of both. The choice is yours. That is one of our promises. Became curious? In the near feature will we share the technical advantages the cloud can offer in another blog.