Question 1

What is the difference between cloud hosting and keeping servers on-site?

Accepted Answer

On-premise servers are physical hardware you own, located in your office or a data center, that you are responsible for maintaining, patching, and replacing. Cloud hosting moves those workloads to a provider's infrastructure (such as Azure or AWS) where compute, storage, and networking are rented as a service. Cloud removes the capital expense of hardware and shifts IT infrastructure management to the provider, but still requires expertise to configure securely and cost-effectively.

Question 2

How much does migrating to the cloud cost for a small business?

Accepted Answer

Based on Keystone IT Connect's experience serving small and midsize businesses, these figures are useful planning estimates. Actual pricing depends on users, devices, locations, security requirements, support needs, licensing, and the condition of the existing environment. A straightforward migration of one or two file servers may be estimated at $3,000–$8,000 in professional services, plus ongoing cloud infrastructure costs that may be estimated at $200–$800 per month. More complex migrations with multiple servers, custom applications, or compliance requirements require a separate scope.

Question 3

Is the cloud more secure than keeping servers on-site?

Accepted Answer

Cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and AWS invest billions in physical and infrastructure security that no small business can match on-premise. However, cloud security is a shared responsibility: the provider secures the infrastructure, but you are responsible for configuring access controls, encryption, and monitoring correctly. Improperly configured cloud environments can actually be more exposed than a well-managed on-premise setup. Proper configuration and ongoing management are essential.

Question 4

Which cloud platform is best for small businesses — Azure or AWS?

Accepted Answer

For most small and midsize businesses in Eastern PA already using Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure is the natural fit — it integrates natively with your existing Microsoft identity infrastructure (Entra ID/Azure AD), and Microsoft has strong SMB licensing bundles. AWS has a larger overall ecosystem and is often favored for custom application development. For straightforward file server migration and hybrid work scenarios, Azure is typically the simpler choice.

Question 5

How long does a cloud migration take for a small business?

Accepted Answer

A typical cloud migration for a small business with 1–5 servers takes four to eight weeks from initial assessment to go-live. This includes the assessment and planning phase (1–2 weeks), environment setup and test migration (1–2 weeks), data synchronization and cutover window (1 week), and post-migration validation and optimization (1–2 weeks). More complex environments require more time.

Cloud Services

What cloud management actually looks like after the migration is done

Cloud migration for small businesses — frequently asked questions

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