Since the turn of the century, the field service management industry has made great strides, and the latest technologies have helped companies conduct their operations more efficiently.
Field service companies often turn to specialized software designed to automate their day-to-day processes, such as billing, invoicing, order generation, scheduling, routing, and several others. Field service software can be installed on the company premises or on the cloud. Let’s compare the pros and cons of both On-Premise and cloud-based field service software to help you better determine which course of action is right for your company.
On-Premise Field Service Software
What is it?
On-Premise field service software is the physical installation of the application onto your company’s physical servers or computers. You can use it to optimize your employees’ daily operations and make them more efficient.
PROS
- You only have to pay once to obtain the licensed software – providing you with a lower cost of ownership. Plus, the software won’t have any recurring fees or renewal costs, which benefits your company financially.
- Complete control over the software – you own the hardware, software, and data when you install it onto your servers. You can continue to upgrade your systems without requiring any approval or worrying about compatibility.
- On-Premise field service software is completely dependent on your company – you can conduct most of the operations without continuous internet connectivity. You have 24/7 access to the software. If your system fails, your system administrators can get it back up and running.
CONS
- On-Premise software can be more expensive compared to subscribing to it for a year or two – There is a larger upfront purchase for on-premise software. Maintenance and upgrade services for the software can cost extra.
- Long installation and implementation time – The software, including updates and upgrades, will need to be installed on every server and system separately, which could take a few days or weeks. Valuable time is wasted for your company and your staff.
- On-Premise software is restricted to the office only – you and your technicians can’t access it from everywhere outside the office. If your offices have migrated to remote work and working from home, this option may not be optimal.
- Your IT department is responsible for maintaining the field service software – this can be costly.
- You are responsible for backing up your data regularly – setting up a backup server off-site can be costly. If you don’t do this and the server fails, you may lose all of your valuable data, especially information about your clients and external vendors.
Cloud-Based Field Service Software
What is it?
Today is the age of the cloud where almost everything has moved to virtual servers that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Similarly, cloud-based field service software allows users access to software applications that run on shared servers (processing power, memory, and disk storage) via the Internet.
PROS
- Accessible from anywhere – the software provider doesn’t need to be physically present to install it. You simply register for an account with your contact details and pay the subscription amount. The software provider gives you a link to the software, which you can access from any device at any time.
- Frequently updated with new versions and builds – these are remotely installed to the cloud without taking your software offline within a matter of minutes.
- Flexible – Cloud-based field service software can be easily customized according to your requirements. You can scale it up or down without any delays or extra costs. Moreover, the software provider is responsible for maintenance and bug fixing, so you won’t need to hire an IT expert.
- Updated and advanced security protocols – this safeguards the data from theft, accidental deletions, etc. Plus, the data is regularly backed up automatically.
- Wide range of compatible devices – there is no restriction of operating systems, device manufacturers, or even hardware requirements. This is a major advantage for companies with technicians out in the field on a daily basis. You can also give your office employees the opportunity to work from home.
- Lower upfront cost – you won’t have any trouble in setting up your company operations or shifting from paperwork to cloud-based operations. Plus, you will save money that would be otherwise spent on physical servers and energy costs to keep them online around the clock.
CONS
- Software provider controls the application – your entire application will be controlled and stored by the software provider on their cloud servers. If you aren’t comfortable with a third-party handling your data, you wouldn’t want to get a cloud-based field service software.
- Round-the-clock and seamless internet connectivity – you will have to ensure that your company has round-the-clock and seamless internet connectivity since your operations will be entirely dependent on the internet working. If your employees work remotely, you will need to ensure that they have high-speed internet. This may increase internet costs for your company.
- You might not be able to immediately migrate data to your own physical or cloud-based servers or an external storage drive – you might have to get in touch with your software provider and request them to give you a copy of the data.
- Regular subscription fees – usually charged monthly, bi-annually, or even annually. This means that the software may cost you more in the long run, as compared to the one-time cost you have to pay to get a field service software physically installed.
Which Option is Best?
When it comes to on-premise and cloud-based field service software, it all depends on your software requirements, your budget, company structure, and the size of your workforce. If you have a small business, you may not be able to quickly adapt to a cloud-based field service software. Therefore, you can ask the software provider to install the software physically on the premises.
If your company is in a good position to incorporate innovation, cloud-based field service software can help you save money. It will open the door to giving your employees the opportunity to work from anywhere with much more ease. Plus, you won’t have to worry about installing the software on extra computers when you scale up your company in the near future.
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