As technology develops rapidly, more traditional businesses need to start digital transformation to keep up with the digital era. Traditional on-premise servers may face constraints, especially under pandemic conditions, so moving to cloud servers has become a major trend. This article explains why cloud servers are widely used.
Why cloud servers?
Cloud servers can be used by businesses of different types, sizes and industries. They provide services for data backup, disaster recovery, email, virtual desktops, software development and testing, big data analytics, and customer-facing web applications.
A cloud server is a powerful and mature system. Its system design is favorable for innovative software development, and it provides high flexibility with a variety of hardware options. This can reduce hardware research, price comparison and proof-of-concept testing time. Cloud servers are highly scalable and can adjust quickly according to actual workload and traffic, reducing time cost. They can also help companies lower costs through subscription and pay-by-usage models, and can notify system administrators automatically when problems are detected.
Traditional server vs. cloud server
Payment terms - A traditional server is usually a one-off cost, while a cloud server is more flexible, subscription-based and charged by usage.
Reference cost - A traditional server may require around HKD 150,000 plus data center cost, while a cloud server may cost around HKD 4,000 per month depending on configuration.
Server lifetime - A traditional server has a limited lifetime, often estimated at around five years. Hardware wears out and becomes outdated over time. Cloud servers do not have the same fixed lifetime limitation and allow flexible hardware changes and upgrades.
Features and upgrades - Traditional servers are dedicated but limited, and upgrades depend on whether the manufacturer provides parts. Cloud servers are robust, offer many options, and upgrades are always available.
Maintenance time and cost - Traditional servers require additional cost for 24/7 in-house IT support, hardware repairs and upgrades. Maintenance may take days or weeks. Cloud servers reduce time and upgrade costs, require less manpower, are supported by ready-to-use features, and can be maintained anytime and anywhere.
Backup and recovery - Traditional server backup and recovery are less stable because they depend on the IT team. Manual backup may only be partial, disaster recovery can take days or weeks, and system operations may need to stop. Cloud servers are monitored 24/7, support safe automatic backup, and can recover quickly with little or no effect on system operation.
Customer stories: the actual difference
technine has worked with different companies across various platforms and has seen the difference between traditional servers and cloud servers in real projects. In a corporate platform with around 1,000 concurrent users, camera features consumed high server resources and the platform once ran on a traditional server. When the client needed changes or maintenance, the process required more time and coordination. Cloud infrastructure could provide more flexible scaling and monitoring.
In another project, cloud servers helped the team adjust resources according to real usage, support backup and recovery, and reduce the burden of hardware maintenance. For companies running business-critical systems, this flexibility can directly affect operation continuity.
Cloud servers support digital transformation
Cloud servers are not only a technical infrastructure choice. They help businesses reduce hardware constraints, improve scalability, simplify maintenance, and prepare for future application development. For companies planning digital transformation, cloud servers provide a practical foundation for more flexible and resilient systems.
Translation supported by AI.