- Virtual CIO
IT Governance for Small Businesses: A Practical Guide
11 Mar, 2026
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Cloud ROI Calculator
Compare the 3-year total cost of ownership between on-premise servers and Microsoft Azure. Factor in hardware, energy, staff time, licensing, and depreciation to see your true return on investment.
Your Current Infrastructure
Include warranties, spare parts, repair contracts
Server power + cooling costs (estimate £500–800/server/year)
Hours spent on patching, monitoring, backups, hardware issues
Fully loaded cost (salary + NI + pension + benefits ÷ hours)
Windows Server, SQL Server, antivirus, backup software
Leave blank to auto-estimate from server count (~£150/server/mo)
Typical On-Premise vs Cloud Costs by Business Size
| Business Size | Servers | On-Prem Annual | Azure Annual | Typical Saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small (10–25 staff) | 2–3 | £15,000–25,000 | £8,000–15,000 | 25–40% |
| Medium (25–50 staff) | 4–8 | £30,000–60,000 | £18,000–40,000 | 30–45% |
| Mid-Market (50–100 staff) | 8–15 | £60,000–120,000 | £35,000–75,000 | 30–40% |
| Large (100–250 staff) | 15–30 | £120,000–250,000 | £70,000–160,000 | 35–45% |
| Enterprise (250+ staff) | 30+ | £250,000+ | £140,000+ | 35–50% |
On-premise costs include hardware depreciation, maintenance, energy, cooling, software licensing, and estimated staff time. Azure costs are based on typical workload profiles with pay-as-you-go pricing. Reserved instances provide additional savings. All figures exclude VAT. View our Azure solutions
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