Should You Purchase Cloud Contact Management Software or Not

Unsure whether to purchase a cloud or private (client-server) contact management software? To help you decide, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of cloud.

Cloud Contact Management Software:
A cloud solution has many great benefits. The first and most important one is the simplicity in installation and configuration. Unlike a client-server solution, organizations do not need to purchase a server computer, setup their network or even download software. Organizations are only required to visit a website, type in their credentials and begin using the software. Since most cloud solutions are in fact web-based, organizations can be anywhere in the world and access their information from any wireless device, such as smartphones and tablets.

However, a clould contact manager software also has its negatives. First off, the whole idea of a cloud infrastructure essentially means that the server running the software is being hosted by the cloud software provider. This means that organizations never actually own their own data and are placing all of their private and confidential information on someone else’s server (the cloud company’s), which is remotely connected to the internet. If the software provider hosting your information goes belly up, you could loose all of your information over night. Many organizations don’t feel comfortable with that as they want to be in control of their information and know that it’s privately stored at their locations. In fact, for this reason, many lawyers and accountants don’t purchase a cloud solution for exactly this reason. Legally, they are not allowed to place sensitive client information on someone else’s server. As well, all cloud solutions are a monthly cost, so if your organization stops paying the monthly service cost for the cloud contact management software, you could technically loose all of your information as someone else owns it. A simple example would be if Gmail, which is a free cloud solution that people can use for emails, pictures and documents, suddenly decided to charge for the service. The only way you could retrieve your information is if you now forwarded all of your emails to a different account (hopefully one that downloads the emails to your computer) and transfer all the documents.

In conclusion, a cloud solution is simple to setup and includes great mobility and remote connectivity options, which are great reasons to purchase it. However, an organization needs to understand that they never own their own data and are therefore always depending on the hosted contact management software provider they choose. Also, in the long run, as cloud solutions charge a monthly fee, they are far more expensive than traditional private (client-server) solutions which typically have expensive upfront costs, but minimal long term costs (Be careful though some private contact management software solutions are more expensive than cloud solutions as they charge expensive annual maintenance costs and are expensive to upgrade!!).

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