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SharePoint 2013 On-Site vs Office 365 Cloud

SharePoint 2013 On-Site vs Office 365 Cloud

So you have been tasked with choosing between in on-site vs cloud versions of SharePoint.
You have another choice and that is to do both also known as hybrid.

SharePoint 2013 features are the same on-site and in the cloud.

A Forrester Research Inc. survey of IT decision makers shows:

  • 62% (82% in 2010) plan to deploy SharePoint 2013 on-premises
  • 8% (4% in 2010) will do so in a Microsoft datacenter
  • 26% (5% in 2010) will deploy SharePoint in a hybrid mode, both on-premises and cloud

While that shows a clear majority plan to run SharePoint in-house, that number is down from 2010.

Metalogix Software Corporate Survey had similar findings, showing

  • 55% intend to continue running SharePoint entirely in-house
  • 10% plan to run it purely in the cloud.
  • 35% are planning hybrid SharePoint implementations.

Let us look at some business rules that would slant you one way or the other.

Business Rule On-Site Cloud
Company does not want information outside the premises X
Company has users over across multiple continent X
Company is involved in a lot of legal battles X
Company needs to interact with external clients X
Company wants to be use SharePoint as Order Entry System X
Company does not have IT Operational department personal to support SharePoint long term X
Need to connect SharePoint to on-site systems X
Company is moving everything to the “Cloud” X
Company does not have financial resources to take on yearly cloud membership fees X
Company want to increase their mobile access X

Security issues have caused a lot of companies to avoid the cloud. With all the security breaches in the news a lot these days, it easy to see why companies IT Security officers do want anything to do with any cloud based system.

The promise of reduced cost have a lot of company thinking about moving to the cloud, doing research on cloud benefits, or taking the plunge and moving to the cloud.

Comfort level with what you know has caused a lot to go with on-site implementation.

Areas which I have seen that influence the direction are: Comfort, Cost & Legal.
– If a company already has SharePoint on-site and they are upgrading to 2013, they tend to keep it on-site.
– If a company is looking to reduce infrastructure cost, they tend to go with a cloud based solution.
– If a company’s legal department want to control their intellectual properties and assets, they tend to keep it on-site