Digitalization is a necessity for every company today. With the growing volume of data and demands for flexibility and security, companies are faced with a decision: should they build their own IT infrastructure or move to the cloud? The choice is influenced by a number of factors, in particular costs, IT department capacities, security requirements and the degree of automation required.
A tailor-made information system is an advantage in many ways. It perfectly copies the requirements of the company and can be expanded at any time. Managing your own servers allows you to keep valuable data secure and under control at all times. However, the development and operation of such a system is very financially demanding and the costs continue to grow with its complexity.
" However, the most common data leaks are caused by your own employees. For competitors or someone who is interested in your data, this is a much cheaper way. If we look at it from the perspective of attacks on companies and encryption of their data, in these scenarios, cloud services are the ones that are often not affected by these attacks ," points out Lubomír Veselý, CEO of GRiT.
However, the market offers a number of available alternatives, where the entire technology and necessary infrastructure are managed by the supplier. " The type of solution implemented is influenced by a number of factors. In addition to costs, both one-time and operational, it is certainly the size of the company and especially the strength of the IT department and its internal security regulations. These may conflict with the required degree of automation and connection to internal systems. As a result, it is a question of finding a balance between finances, IT department capabilities, security and the level of automation. Therefore, larger companies with a strong IT department tend to reach for on-premise solutions, while smaller companies more often choose the cloud ," explains Martin Beňo, senior consultant at GS1 Slovakia.
The choice between a tailor-made solution and a ready-made product out of the box, however, does not have to depend only on the size of the company. According to Lubomír Veselý, CEO of GRiT, it can also reflect the approach to building the company itself: “You will find companies that do not want to buy competences and cooperation, but want to keep everything in-house. Their primary goal is to purchase only the technology and operate it themselves. On the other hand, companies that are open to cooperation and buy a complete service are more likely to choose one-time investments and subsequent development, which they carefully measure against their own costs and capabilities. The second type is looking for a faster path to the goal through regular purchases that support their development. "
Own tools as a competitive advantage
Leading Slovak retailer of tools and accessories for leisure activities, Muziker, is somewhere on the borderline. It is developing its own internal systems that allow it to flexibly respond to the needs of a rapidly changing market while maintaining control over key processes.
The continuation of the article can be found in the latest issue of Logistics Systems magazine. on page 38 .
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