What would an RB8 Cloud system really cost?

[NOTE December 2018: This product has been replaced by RB9.]

Want to move to RB8 Cloud to take advantage of things like zero server hardware, better disaster recovery and included repository storage, but aren’t sure how it pencils out for your business? We’ve put together some numbers to help you understand what you get for your RB8 Cloud subscription.

Why RB8 Cloud subscriptions cost more than RB8 Subscribe

RB8 Cloud moves your RB8 system to the cloud, eliminating the need for your own server hardware, software and IT staff. It includes clustered servers (a better-than-backup process for disaster recovery) and a tiered repository storage solution. It is more secure than an in-house system and provides a whole host of other benefits listed here.

To create this improved system requires more than leasing some space on remote servers and installing RB8 there. Instead, we set up redundant systems on Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform and infrastructure using the latest software.

We are making this investment because we see the future of applications, and they have to be fast, flexible, convenient and secure. Cloud-based is the way to get there.

So the base price for an RB8 Cloud subscription is higher than RB8 Subscribe due to our costs for providing the infrastructure, but you will no longer have the associated costs for servers, back-ups, IT staff or repository storage. And clients who are already using a cloud-based solution for their repositories tell us that an RB8 Cloud subscription is cheaper than what they are paying for their repository alone.

Do-it-yourself RB8 Cloud in your office

If the prospect of never having to schedule a server move again and being able to drop your monthly IT contract are not enough to entice you to switch to RB8 Cloud, consider what it would cost to set up your RB8 system like RB8 Cloud:

You would need 2 servers set up to mirror your RB8 system and data. With mirroring, an exact replica of your data exists in 2 places, so if something happens to one server, the other is accessible so you can keep working with no loss of data. This is better than a back-up system, which only saves data up to a specific point in time, so any data entered since the last back-up is lost if something happens to the primary server.

You would need the latest Windows server operating system for both servers. RB8 Cloud uses Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter Edition.

And you would need the latest server software for 2 machines: SQL Server 2014 Enterprise Edition.

Add to these hardware and software expenses, other one-time and on-going expenses such as:

• Set-up fees
• Repository storage solution — either in-house or from a cloud-based service
• T1 or T3 high-speed Internet access
• Regular IT support — either in-house staff or contract service

To get an in-house system with the same level of speed, security and technology as RB8 Cloud, you would have to pay tens of thousands of dollars— we estimate between $70,000 and $100,000 to get up and running.

What is it worth to you?

As you can see the expense to set up your own cloud-based RB8 system is substantial. In addition to the initial purchase and set-up expenses, some of these expenses, such as storage, transmission, and support are on-going. And there are regular upgrade expenses of software and hardware to budget for too.

We don’t think our clients would make this kind of investment on their own, but the alternative to moving RB to the cloud — trying to maintain the status quo — will result in an RB system that is slower, less secure and lacking features that will only be available by incorporating new technologies. As more time goes by, existing supporting technologies will become obsolete, and older RB systems will become less reliable.

We see moving to the cloud as the best way to keep developing and improving RB as we have for the last 30 years. It will allow us to incorporate more 3rd-party features that would be cost-prohibitive to license for everyone’s individual servers, it will streamline updates, and eliminate many support issues.

So once you add it all up, we think you will agree with us that RB8 Cloud is right for your business.