HIPAA Tip: Physical Servers Versus Cloud Servers
The million-dollar question?! Well, not that much thank goodness.
Physical servers offer the benefit of dedicated resources providing consistent performance for organizations with stable workloads.
Cloud servers provide businesses with greater flexibility and generally less upfront cost. They can be quickly provisioned and deployed allowing businesses to scale resources as needed.
Consider the following factors when making a decision on a physical server versus a cloud server:
Security – cloud providers offer robust security features (encryption, firewalls, identity and access management), which need to be confirmed before deciding on the organization’s solution. There is more work involved to set up a physical server and your IT team will need to put in place security monitoring tools. Be aware that both cloud and physical servers have an equal chance of being attacked/hacked.
Maintenance – minimal maintenance is required for cloud servers as the providers handle most (or all) updates of hardware and software. Physical servers require regular maintenance and updates to ensure optimal performance and security.
Cost – cloud servers have a cheaper upfront cost but may end up costing more for subscriptions, contracts or high data transfers. Physical servers cost more to purchase initially but may be cheaper in the long run.
Cloud servers require access to an internet connection. In the event of an internet outage, access may be limited. On-premise servers do not require an internet connection; they can be more reliable than cloud servers.
Consult with your IT experts on what is the best fit for your organization: physical server or cloud server.
HIPAA compliance isn’t a one-time checklist. It’s ongoing, programmatic in nature, and requires demonstrated reasonable diligence to stay in good standing with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Anatomy IT can provide you peace of mind with our expert HIPAA compliance services. To learn more, contact us here.
Author:
Dawn Meglino
HIPAA Compliance Specialist, CHPSE, CCSA, CCAP
