Starting with SharePoint 2013, there are now three main hosting options for SharePoint. Which one you choose depends on a number of factors.
What to consider:
Positives:
Good for:
This article will provide statistics and evaluations of 3 SharePoint hosting options available: Public cloud hosting, On Premises hosting, Office 365 hosting.
Public Cloud Hosting
Public cloud hosting is the traditional method used for hosting SharePoint. This option requires you to sign up for SharePoint hosting with a specialist hosting company. They manage the core SharePoint system (infrastructure and applications), leaving you to configure / customise SharePoint as required. It’s the platform to choose when you still want good control over your SharePoint environment but don’t want the responsibility of managing the infrastructure (hardware / software / backups etc.).What to consider:
- Ongoing costs: What are the monthly costs?
- Storage space: How much storage space will you need?
- Support options: What are the service level agreements and technical support options?
- Ending the contract: How easy is it to cancel the contract?
- Ease of migration: Will the provider help migration to another server or hosting provider if needed?
- Low maintenance: Server maintenance is carried out by the hosting company.
- No upfront costs: No equipment needs to be purchased; this is provided by the hosting company.
- Good uptimes: Uptime is generally very good with 99.999% being typical.
- Automatic backups: Disaster recovery is covered with automatic backups etc.
- Access speed: Access speed is generally good.
- Scalable storage: Storage can normally be scaled as required, but for additional cost.
- Good security: Security is typically not an issue as you will have remote access to the server.
- High ongoing costs: Dedicated hosting is generally more expensive than a shared environment (Office 365).
- Technical resource required: You will need technical resource to manage the supplied SharePoint server environment.
On Premises hosting
On premises hosting is traditional methods used for hosting SharePoint since it was first released in 2001 (the other being ‘Public Cloud Hosting’). This option requires you to host the SharePoint server(s) on your own premises, and be responsible for the day to day operation of the system. It’s the platform to choose if you want total control over your environment.Positives:
- Good speed: Assuming you have a good internet connection speed.
- Scalable storage: Storage can be added to the server as required.
- Good security: You have full control over security.
- Fully configurable: You have full control over configuration of the system.
- Full server access: You own and host the server so have complete control over it.
- Unrestricted site collections: Site collections can be larger than 100GB.
- Requires technical resource: Day to day management of the system requires you have access to a good technical resource This is typically in house or outsourced.
- Up-front costs: Hardware and software will need to be purchased at significant cost.
- No ‘guaranteed’ uptime: Up time will depend on the quality and resilience of the implementation. Do you have good technical resource / redundant servers / backup power generation etc?
- No automatic backups: You’ll need to create your own disaster recovery plan.
- High maintenance costs: Overall there will be higher maintenance costs than the other two options.
- Need to be self-reliant: You will need to be responsible for all aspects of the system.
Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is a relatively new hosting option (launched 2011) that is hosted on Microsoft’s own servers. This option requires you to sign up for one of three payment plans:- Office 365 Small Business.
- Office 365 Small Business Premium.
- Office 365 Midsize Business.
Good for:
- Fast setup: It’s fast to setup a new system.
- Hosted with Microsoft: Your sites are hosted within Microsoft’s own data centre (MDC).
- Latest updates & patches: The server and SharePoint are kept up to date with the latest updates & patches.
- Automated backups: There’s built in disaster recovery.
- Low site creation costs: It’s easy and low cost to get a site provisioned.
- Low maintenance: Doesn’t require any server maintenance.
- No upfront costs: Pay as you go model, so no up-front costs.
- Very scalable platform: Though there is a 100GB limit on the size of site collections.
- Free bundled services: Comes supplied with a number of bundled services (not Office 365 Small Business).
- Good compliance: Built in standards compliance (ISO 27001, HIPAA BAA, FISMA etc.).
- No server access: No direct access to server, other than PowerShell, so customisation can be difficult to implement
- Shared environment: As the environment is shared with other customers, customisation options are restricted to ensure a reliable service for all.
- Limited backup: It’s not easy to backup the content database. Some third party tools may help you achieve this.
- Limited customisation: Client side customisation is possible but server side customisation options are limited.
- Limited database connectivity: It’s difficult to connect to external databases.
- Limited migration options: Migration can be challenging depending on where you’re upgrading from. Some third party tools may help you achieve this
- Limited business information tools: Some business information tools are not available, such as ‘Performance Point’
- Security issues: Some CIO’s may be nervous about security on a platform that they don’t directly manage.
- Pre-configured features: Some features come pre-configured and may not be exactly what is required.
- Size restrictions: Site collections are restricted to a maximum size of 100GB
With so many hosting options for SharePoint, it’s important to know the pros and cons of each of the options. Hopefully this article has helped you get a better understanding of these options and will help you to choose the SharePoint hosting option that’s best for you.
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