I just got a client’s new server financing quote back.  I’m frankly amazed at what they will get in features, security, management and speed compared to all the people I talk to who want to remove their server and put their files in the cloud.  Dropbox, Office 365 (SharePoint/One Drive), Google Drive.

There are many micro businesses were this makes great sense.  Gone are the days when a 2 user business will buy a Domain Controller and use it for File and Print.  Maybe even businesses up to 3-9 people.  And there are many businesses that can run large amounts of people off Google Drive or others.  Primarily ones with remote users and low management/security needs.

But a business with an existing server, set up as a domain controller, with even the smallest fraction of  automation and security  used, I’m not sure makes the most sense.  Yet.

I will be diving into the features of a Domain Controller and why it cannot be equaled by anything else, today.  Not even Azure Active Directory.  I will cover other benefits.  I will spend time on security.  Spend time on time savings and network consistency.  And most of all total cost of ownership.

To leave you with something in this first post, I will share the numbers that inspired me to write this.

$10,000 worth of server hardware and software + $5,000 of installation labor.  Both of which are sufficient for most all small to medium businesses and much more than needed for many.  At 3.2%, which is what Dell is doing to win deals.  Over 6 years, because that’s how long most people keep servers.  Dell warranties to 6 and sometimes 7+ years.

$215 a month!

As the title implies, it’s not the price that surprised me, as much as what you get for it.  I will dive into that in part 2.

Bret Erickson
Passkey
http://www.passkeyinc.com