2 minute read
Cloud computing in orthodontics
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CLOUD COMPUTING IN ORTHODONTICS
Matthew Edward
Sensitive It Matthew Has worked in IT for nearly 30 years and specifically with Orthodontic Practices for over 20 years. He has crafted his business to be boutique offering highly customised and personal service to his clients Australia wide.
sensitiveit.com.au
Ioften get asked by practitioners ‘Should we move to the cloud? Everyone is talking about the cloud’. Fear of being left behind or missing out on new features is often the motivator. First let’s define ‘the cloud’. Network engineers use diagrams to show the flow of data through a network from one point of a computer to another. They faced a problem when data travelled over the internet as it could take multiple different paths and there was no way to determine exactly how your data would get from one side to the other. For simplicity when data enters the internet they would simply draw a cloud and the data would magically transit the cloud and get to its destination. Saying something is in the cloud simply means it is connected to and accessible via the internet. We may think of it as hosted by a separate company on their servers and you can access it when you are connected to the internet.
Should you move to the cloud and get rid of your own servers?
As a rule, if the program or application has to travel over the internet to work then it is often best to move it to the cloud. An example would be your website or email. They push data over the internet and cannot function without the internet so get a specialist to host them in the cloud. What about practice management software?
There are two myths about hosting practice management software in the cloud: Firstly, that it is more reliable. The moment you move anything to the cloud you lose control. You are dependent on a stable reliable internet connection to access your data. By moving practice management software to the cloud, you effectively add many extra potential points of failure compared to having your own servers. Secondly many wrongly assume that cloud is cheaper. Renting server space in the cloud (IaaS) is expensive, costing from hundreds to thousands every month. Some companies offer per user licensing of their cloud-based practice management software, usually priced above $100 per user per month. So, with 5 users this would be $6,000 per year, with 20 users it would be $24,000 per year. Whereas your own server would cost between $10,000 and $25,000 including ongoing maintenance and support and should last 5 years. As you consider moving to the cloud look at each application individually, remember that there are risks and count the cost.