Cloud vs.

Hybrid:
Why Cloud is Best for your Business
History clearly shows
that betting on bridge Todays workers expect their office productivity tools to mirror what they
solutions is the fastest use in their personal lives. And, while your IT department wants to make
way to slow down your this happen, you likely have concerns about how to provide these tools in
efforts and build the most secure and cost effective way possible.
technical debt that
reduces ROI in both the There are two competing models that can address this need: hybrid and
short- and long-term. pure cloud solutions. On the surface, hybrid looks like a feasible option for
bridging existing investments in on-premises infrastructure. But in
Steven Sinofsky practice, this is rarely the case. Many cloud solutions provide limited
Board Partner, advantages in one or two areas, while suffering from significant limitations
Andreessen Horowitz around control and governance. But there is a different class of cloud
solutions that is designed for todays enterprise and offers numerous
material advantages, including security, total cost of ownership, adoption,
and innovation. This whitepaper will discuss those four key considerations
in more detail and why cloud, and not hybrid, is the best choice for many
We trust Box to provide businesses.
information around key
indicators, performance
and security.
Security
Justin Burleigh
Many oranizations attribute more risk with putting sensitive information in
Manager, Vendor
the cloud, but secure enterprise providers of cloud services are often the
Management Office,
Bechtel safer choice.
In hybrid models, content is either duplicated in the cloud or partitioned,
with some files in the cloud and some remaining on-premises. In either
scenario, IT is often forced to manage around the limitations of content
sprawl, diminished visibility, and having to audit multiple systems.
Content sprawl happens when an organization stores content across
multiple silos, making it extremely difficult to monitor, secure and govern.
By managing all content in a central location, and using this one source to
extend to an organization's other applications and systems, content
sprawl is controlled.

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Heres how:
Simplicity is security. Centralized content results in fewer copies
on endpoints (servers, PCs and mobile), leading to more secure
and manageable content. A centralized management console also
The ease of ensures content and users comply with global security settings.
administration, low
training overhead and Full transparency. Centralizing content in the cloud allows admins
ability to customise it to to track every event, user action, and administrative change. With
fit our needs such proper reporting and control mechanisms, IT knows who has
as the integration with accessed which content and when. This makes monitoring and
NetSuite sold us securing content much easier than a distributed hybrid model.
on Box.
Mitigating threats. On premise solutions require frequent patching
Brian Enos to remain secure against the latest security threats. And often,
Owner, Reliant organizations only have capacity to implement critical security
Behavioral Health measures in reaction to threats rather than proactively. Cloud
platforms update proactively, often in daily intervals.

Total Cost of Ownership

"Box has been the There's no room for wasted expenses when deploying software. The cloud
best and easiest reduces total cost of ownership in all major cost categories. In general, we
implementation I've ever see companies saving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually by
done in my 20+ years in
moving collaboration into the cloud.
the industry.

Wilkin Ho
Senior Art Director, Major Cost Categories:
McAfee
Infrastructure. Cloud platforms eliminate the need to purchase
traditional IT components such as server hardware, server
software, data backups, and remote access solutions.
Implementation and deployment. In addition to infastructure
costs, customers spend up to two times as much on long
deployments. Cloud applications, with their simple and famillar
user experiences, deploy in a fraction of the time.
Maintenance and support costs. Hybrid requires an established IT
support team to maintain the deployment. With cloud applications,
the vendor covers all costs required in maintaining the
datacenters, including disaster recovery, and network connectivity.
OPEX, not CAPEX. Subscription models mean IT departments
don't need to allocate a large amount of capital upfront. This frees
up cash for other investments and projects that drive revenue and
growth. The subscription model also provides predictability,
helping to accurately forecast expenses.

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User Experience and Adoption

Employees have come to expect easy-to-use applications in the
workplace. If employees encounter friction with a solution, they often
abandon the IT governed services, opting instead for insecure (but
seemingly more flexible) consumer ones. This eliminates any return on the
Box is an enterprise- sanctioned investment and creates significant security risks. Cloud
ready, secure way to deployments offer the usability that encourages adoption, while hybrid
collaborate beyond the deployments carry the friction of legacy systems that employees are
enterpriseand to do it eager to leave behind.
seamlessly on mobile
devices.
How the cloud drives adopton:
Brian Lillie
CIO, Equinix Intuitive user interface. With more intuitive interfaces and design
teams focused on delivering a user-friendly experience, cloud
platforms are often more engaging and more flexible for
accustomed to consumer-focused applications.
Anywhere access. On-premise and hybrid solutions require client
"Moving to a cloud servers for local workers or terminal services for remote
technology like Box that employees. Employees want services that make them more
provides more efficiency, productive without the need for a VPN. Accessing the cloud simply
security, and simplicity requires an internet browser or mobile device.
for our employees was a
natural choice." Return on investment. Adoption also means that customers get
the full value out of what they're paying for. Network effects from
Herv Coureil adoption increase employee productivity, resulting in top-line and
CIO, Schneider Electric bottom-line growth.

Customer service. Unlike hybrid models that operate more like a

traditional software license vendor, the subscription model of
cloud-based software perfectly aligns the incentives of both the
vendor and the customer. Box customers, for example, receive a
dedicated Customer Success Manager (CSM) to maximize
adoption. From change management to implementation to
adoption, leading cloud providers invest in making customers
successful for the long run.

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Innovation
Today, we're in the middle of a technology renaissance that's spurring
unprecedented innovation and productivity. When an IT department
empowers their employees with cutting-edge and effective tools that
users want, they become a linchpin for the companys success. Cloud
You have to continually deployments allow IT to play the role of innovation center, turning their
innovate and innovate in time, budgets, and brainpower away from projects that simply maintain
a very rapid way, and the business, into projects that actually grow it.
Box allows us to do that.
How does the cloud drive innovation?:
Mark Tonnesen
Scalability and power. The reason the cloud is so attractive as a
CIO, Electronic Arts
platform is simple: it offers nearly infinite scalability compared to a
traditional server architecture.
More dynamic processes. Open APIs allow for the automation of
business processes across multiple applications. For example,
We view Box as the when a customer signs a contract stored in Box with DocuSign,
platform that we want automations can move it from Salesforce into NetSuite for
to build on. If we can accounts receivable.
automate process, we
want to, using Box as Data intelligence. Cloud applications allow companies to
the glue. consolidate events on solutions like Splunk, HP ArcSight, and
SumoLogic, providing real time analysis of trends.
Joshua Brewster
IT Project Manager, Powering an open enterprise. With an open platform, IT can build
Broadview Mortgage a best-of-breed technology stack. This gives each department
access to the best possible tools to do their job effectively, making
them more productive and successful.

Best-of-breed stack, Box as the content layer

Conclusion
In todays rapidly evolving environment, employees will find ways around
sanctioned tools if they dont live up to expectations. IT must choose
applications that provide the security, engagement and ROI required to
address todays dynamic business environment. Fortunately, cloud
deployments can enhance your companys security posture while
reducing setup and maintenance costs, deliver a larger ROI, and drive a
renewed adoption and innovation throughout your organization.
To read more about how Box can help you make this cloud
transformation, visit www.box.com/business
Learn More
877-729-4269
box.com
Box, Inc. 4440 El Camino Real. Los Altos, CA 94022 USA box.com sales@box.com 877-729-4269