Servers: on-premises, cloud or hybrid? The five-year maths

• There is no absolute winner Each model wins in a different context.
• Figures from the example On-premises and hybrid come to around €15,000 over five years; the same capacity rented in the cloud exceeds €34,000.
• Cloud wins When the company grows fast, changes a lot or has dispersed teams.
• On-premises wins With lots of data, installed sector-specific software and predictable usage.
• There is a deadline 12 January 2027, the end of Microsoft support for Windows Server 2016.

• On-premises A physical machine in the technical room, usually virtualised, that stores files and runs the company's applications.
• Cloud Two variants: renting a server in a data centre (for example, Microsoft Azure) on a monthly fee, or doing away with the server, moving files to SharePoint and applications to sector-specific software by subscription.
• Hybrid Only what needs proximity stays in the office; the rest moves to the cloud, with backups on both sides.

Virtualisation, in one sentence: a single physical machine hosts several servers isolated from each other. Instead of one box for files, another for billing and another for the domain, there is just one, easier to copy, move and recover. If the hardware fails, the virtual server starts on another machine or in the cloud.

Reference scenario: 30 workstations, around 2 TB of files and one sector-specific management application. Rounded, illustrative figures, excluding VAT. Electricity at €0.20/kWh; the on-premises server draws an average of 250 W and the smaller hybrid one 150 W. We have left out technical management, which is the same in all three options, and Microsoft 365 licences, which the company already has. These figures are not DataRoad prices or proposals; they simply show which items go into the calculation.

Three takeaways from the table

1. Copying the server to the cloud is the most expensive option: you pay month after month for capacity used continuously.
2. The cloud bill does not stop at the rental: data egress, backups, extra services and a redundant internet connection, without which work stops.
3. Hybrid and on-premises are almost level: but hybrid takes out of the office what does not need to be there and brings a backup line that protects the whole operation.

Different assumptions give different totals. The right calculation is the one made with your company's data.

Waiting for the server to fail is the worst possible timetable. According to Microsoft, Windows Server 2016 loses extended support on 12 January 2027; Windows Server 2019 loses it on 9 January 2029. Without security updates, the risk grows every day and, for companies subject to NIS2, becomes hard to defend.

Anyone still running 2016 has only a few months to choose between replacing, virtualising or migrating. Include that decision in your 2027 IT budget.

Velv by OnRising develops software on a nearshore basis from Porto, Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro. Its roughly 200 workstations are under a DataRoad IT Unlimited contract covering servers, connectivity, firewall, printers and wireless network, including support for critical connections, the cloud and servers.

Each piece sits where it delivers most. A single team answers for all of them.

1. Secure the connection: without a second independent line, no step to the cloud is safe. More detail in our guide to fast, redundant business internet.
2. Move in stages: email first, then files, applications last.
3. Test with real people: a two-week pilot before moving the entire company.
4. Have a fallback plan: be able to roll back and validate backups before and after each stage.

With teams mostly outside the office, even the PCs themselves can move to the cloud. We ran the numbers in Windows 365 and the cloud PC for businesses.

We design, install and manage servers and virtualisation platforms in the office, in the cloud or hybrid, always backed by managed backup with restore tests. With IT Unlimited Premium on-site support is unlimited: hardware replacements, work in the technical room and migrations, with travel included. A one-year contract that renews automatically, with no lock-in.

In 10 working days we inventory your servers, data and applications, calculate the five-year cost of each option and deliver our recommendation in writing, with a migration plan where justified. Request a no-commitment proposal.

More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and phone support. Call +351 211 459 950 * or write to sales@dataroad.pt.

*Call to a Portuguese landline.

• Microsoft Learn: Windows Server 2016 lifecycle
• Microsoft Learn: Windows Server 2019 lifecycle