What the cloud offers compared to a regular server
On a regular server, everything lives together: the website, the database, files, background jobs. If the server is overloaded or fails, everything suffers at once. In the cloud, these parts can be separated, with a dedicated managed service for each.
- Flexible resources. Add capacity for a sale or ad campaign, then scale back down afterward.
- Managed services. The provider handles part of the database, backup, and update work, so there's less manual effort.
- Reliability. Data and applications can run across multiple zones, so a single hardware failure doesn't take you offline.
- Pay as you go. No need to buy a server "to grow into" — resources grow with your project.
The honest downsides
The cloud isn't right for everyone, and we say so upfront.
- Costs are harder to predict. The bill has dozens of line items, and without oversight it can end up much higher than renting a server with the same capabilities.
- More complex setup. Networking, permissions, security — the cloud has a lot of settings, and a mistake can expose data to outsiders.
- Vendor lock-in. The more provider-specific services your project uses, the harder it is to move later.
For a site with steady traffic, a rented server with good administration is often the better deal. The cloud wins when traffic fluctuates heavily, high availability is required, or the project is growing fast.
Who the cloud is for
The cloud delivers the most value for projects like these:
- online services and apps whose user base is growing quickly or fluctuates a lot;
- ecommerce stores with sharp seasonal peaks, where running a powerful server all year doesn't pay off;
- companies with several connected systems that need separate staging environments and clear access controls;
- projects with high availability requirements, where hardware downtime must not stop operations;
- teams that want to spend less time maintaining servers and more time building the product.
If you run a corporate website or a small store with steady traffic, the cloud will most likely just make your infrastructure more complex and more expensive.
Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud
The major cloud platforms offer a similar set of core capabilities: virtual machines, managed databases, file storage, containers. They differ in how well they fit specific tasks, pricing, and ecosystem.
Microsoft Azure is usually the most convenient choice if your company already uses Microsoft products and single sign-on corporate accounts, and your applications are written in C#. It's easy to tie together employee sign-in, databases like Azure SQL, and internal services.
AWS and Google Cloud are often chosen when the team already has experience with them, specific services are needed (for example, analytics on BigQuery), or there are attractive startup programs. We help you choose a platform based on your needs, not our own preferences.
How cloud migration works
We migrate in stages so your business doesn't notice any disruption on the site.
- We inventory what currently runs on your servers and how the parts connect.
- We build the new cloud infrastructure alongside the existing one.
- We migrate a copy of the data and test the application on it.
- We schedule the cutover for the lowest-traffic window, move the latest data, and update DNS settings.
- We keep the old system on standby until we're sure everything runs reliably.
Sometimes it makes sense not to move everything at once, but to start with individual pieces — for example, file storage or backups.
How to keep costs under control
The most common unpleasant surprise in the cloud is the bill. To avoid it, we:
- set up budgets and alerts when spending approaches the limit;
- tag resources by project and environment so you can see what costs what;
- regularly hunt down forgotten test servers, disks, and snapshots you're still paying for;
- size resources for actual, not imagined, load;
- shut down staging environments at night and on weekends when they aren't needed.
Cloud security
The provider is responsible for the physical security of the hardware, but configuring access, networking, and data is the project owner's responsibility. We apply least-privilege access, enable two-factor authentication, block direct internet access to databases and storage, and set up encryption and backups.
What to prepare on your side
- access to your current servers and, if you have one, your cloud account;
- traffic details: how many visitors, when the peak periods are, how fast the project is growing;
- data residency requirements, if your industry has any;
- a rough infrastructure budget so we can propose a realistic solution.
What affects the cost
- Project complexity: one website or many services, databases, and integrations.
- The volume of data to migrate and cutover time requirements.
- Reliability requirements: one zone or several, database redundancy, separate staging environments.
- Engagement model: one-time design and migration or ongoing infrastructure management.
You pay the cloud provider directly for cloud resources, and we break down our own work separately.
FAQ
Is the cloud always more expensive? Not always. For projects with uneven traffic, the cloud is often cheaper. For steady traffic, a rented server may cost less. We'll run the numbers on both options.
Can we combine the cloud with a regular server? Yes. For example, the website runs on a rented server, while backups, files, or individual services live in the cloud.
Will we remain the owners of the infrastructure? Yes. We recommend registering the cloud account to your company and granting us limited-permission access that you can revoke at any time.
Do we need to rewrite the application for the cloud? In most cases, no. Most websites migrate without code changes. Some rework is needed if you want to take full advantage of the cloud, such as autoscaling.
Why Promodex
We've been building websites and online services since 2015, so we design infrastructure not in the abstract but with a clear understanding of what the application actually needs: where it will slow down, what matters most in it, and how it will grow. Your project is handled by our in-house team, with no outsourcing. Everything is transparent: you see both the provider's bill and a breakdown of our work, and you make the spending decisions.
