Should you move your practice management system to the cloud, or stay with your server-based software (sometimes called “on-premises” or “on-prem” software)? Many practices today are wrestling with this important decision. Any software transition is a significant undertaking. Let’s take a look at the three things we think are most important to consider: cost, security, and innovation.
Any software transition will take some amount of time. Both Covetrus and IDEXX (as well as others) have cloud-based practice management systems (PIMS), Covetrus Pulse, IDEXX ezyVet, and Neo, as well as large support teams to help you make the switch. [Disclosure: Astro does not receive any promotional or in-kind support from any company mentioned in this article].
Cost
When thinking about cost, it’s important to think about the long-term vs. short-term bills. If your practice uses a server, you have hardware costs as well as IT-related bills for things like maintenance, upgrades, and security support. All computer hardware has a lifespan, as the internal components degrade over time. A server will typically last three-to-five years. After five years, a typical server will only be about 40% as efficient as a new one. So if you’re noticing things getting slow out there – this is probably why.
We have also heard concerns about internet reliability – with a cloud-based practice management system, what happens when it goes out? Fortunately, this is a rare occurrence and most outages that do occur are brief. Most cell phone companies offer hotspots at a reasonable price (with some carriers, like mine, it’s free) that are capable of running a workstation during an outage.
When you transition to the cloud, you can cancel your IT contract since updates and security patches are downloaded to your machine automatically. There is also no physical server to maintain. Because cloud-based PIMS software isn’t running on a server in your office, workstation PCs should be able to run it for longer. So, a short-term outlay of budget today should repay itself over time (and then some).
Practice management system security
Security is probably the most overlooked and also the most important consideration when thinking about moving to the cloud. The Windows software running a server needs to be upgraded every three years. If you’re not on at least Windows 10 you need to upgrade immediately (and note that most Windows 10 versions will reach end-of-life in 2022 or 2023). Security patches are downloaded to cloud-based practice management system automatically, and your data is protected by the security features that come with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure (and others). You can say goodbye to failed or forgotten backups and worrying about backups destroyed by fire, flooding, etc.
Innovation and convenience
Finally, there’s innovation and convenience. Because of the above, most enterprise software is moving to a cloud-based model. You can do documentation from home without having to sign into a virtual terminal. If you want to stay ahead of what’s next and take advantage of new features that will make you more efficient and save you money, cloud-based software is the way to go.