I'm paying 20,000 baht per mo for our IT services. Will Google drive work instead?

[Nepal4me]

We have a small company. Only 5 people need to access our stored data on our server. We have nothing more than product data sheets, various accounting stuff and little else. We have an IT company here in Bangkok that charges us 20,000 baht per month and we have virtually no interaction with them. They installed a switch, router and server and we get something like 250GB of storage, which is more than enough.

I've just been reading about Microsoft 365 and the even cheaper Google Drive.

Can these cloud based programs completely obselete our current service? We just need company email, web access and remote access to forms in the cloud.

[muratremix]

20,000 baht / month for 250Gb cloud?

[RichCor]

Google Apps for Business

DropBox

... and someone to keep it all backed up (on or offline) when it all goes fubar

How FAST do need access to the materials. Hang a secure Linux Server on your Internet connection.

Edited January 9, 2015 by RichCor

[phazey]

Google Drive won't fix your computers or perform regular maintenance ............

I don't know the market rate, but for 20k a month, I'd expect weekly visits performing malware sweeps and AV update/de fragging etc etc.

[Tywais]

Might want to look into a VPS server account for a fraction of that cost.

[Mr Somtam]

I got curious and looked for comparable product back home, Netherlands that is:

KPN (former national telephone company, reliable and safe) offer "Workspace 365 Premium" (cloud storage plus office 365 and a lot of " handy " applications) for 17 euros per licence per month. So in your case 85 euros = 3300 baht.

Thailand is not europe but I think 20000 is a bit overpriced. There must be other companies offering better value for money.

There are also a lot of open source solutions (linux) but then you would have to know something about computers to get stuff working.

[Nepal4me]

I got curious and looked for comparable product back home, Netherlands that is:

KPN (former national telephone company, reliable and safe) offer "Workspace 365 Premium" (cloud storage plus office 365 and a lot of " handy " applications) for 17 euros per licence per month. So in your case 85 euros = 3300 baht.

Thailand is not europe but I think 20000 is a bit overpriced. There must be other companies offering better value for money.

There are also a lot of open source solutions (linux) but then you would have to know something about computers to get stuff working.

Nobody in the office is particularily computer savvy. If we went with a cloud based service like Google Drive and we have a problem, what can we do? Does Google have an on-site service here in Bangkok? Or should we talk to an IT company that does trouble shooting? Everything that I've read in the last day or 2 on this subject suggestst that we could do everything we need to do for a very small subscription to google, like $40/month.

[RichCor]

If you're looking for on-site support in Bangkok, then prepare to pay for it.

You definitely won't get on-site support from the likes of Google. They'll refer you to FAQs and user-support groups.

I'd suggest compiling a list of all the services, features, access, you need and then see who provides packages that fill those needs. Compile the list first.

What is it you actually need?

Internet Service via DSL/Cable/Fiber?
3G/LTE Internet?

Storage Space (Administered, Monitored and Backed Up)
email, cloud storage, database, forms, presentations

Equipment repair/replacement. Equipment maintenance.

On-site Technical Support for hardware and software?

Training.

We have an IT company here in Bangkok that charges us 20,000 baht per month and we have virtually no interaction with them.

Did you pay outright for the equipment? What ongoing service are they offering/providing?

What type of interaction do you want from them if there are no current issues?

[muratremix]

Perhaps invest in a SOHO NAS device and buy google drive as an off-site backup in case your NAS fails.

A 4 disk Raid6 setup would serve you well. Google drive is very very fast in Thailand and you can backup your files automatically from your NAS.

Buy a Synology DS414J and 4x 1TB WD RED Drives and choose raid6 for data protection.

[Nepal4me]

If you're looking for on-site support in Bangkok, then prepare to pay for it.

You definitely won't get on-site support from the likes of Google. They'll refer you to FAQs and user-support groups.

I'd suggest compiling a list of all the services, features, access, you need and then see who provides packages that fill those needs. Compile the list first.

What is it you actually need?

Internet Service via DSL/Cable/Fiber?

3G/LTE Internet?

Storage Space (Administered, Monitored and Backed Up)

email, cloud storage, database, forms, presentations

Equipment repair/replacement. Equipment maintenance.

On-site Technical Support for hardware and software?

Training.

We have an IT company here in Bangkok that charges us 20,000 baht per month and we have virtually no interaction with them.

Did you pay outright for the equipment? What ongoing service are they offering/providing?

What type of interaction do you want from them if there are no current issues?

Really, I think we have a very low requirement. I'm new with this company and can see we have a big monthly expense. We have an accountant, an engineer, the owner/sales man, an admin and me. Really it's 5 people that need access but really we have a very low requirement for any service. We do need to be able to access documents etc that are backed up but it's minimal, data sheets, quotes, invoices etc. We don't even need much space, 250GB is more than enough.

It seems we could have something as simple as the free version of Google Drive and that would suffice (as long as 5 people can access it). The problem is I don't know what would happen if something goes wrong. Google isn't going to send anybody to our office, they'll point us at their FAQ's if there is a problem. That's why I thought we should have some agreement with an IT service that could solve any problem should it arise.

Are there IT companies out there that offer this kind of on-site support if required and don't charge an arm and a leg? I'm looking to save as much money as possible without jeopardizing our operations.

[KittenKong]

It seems we could have something as simple as the free version of Google Drive and that would suffice (as long as 5 people can access it). The problem is I don't know what would happen if something goes wrong. Google isn't going to send anybody to our office, they'll point us at their FAQ's if there is a problem. That's why I thought we should have some agreement with an IT service that could solve any problem should it arise.

Never rely on anyone, especially here.

Make your own backups every day or every week (depending on how often your files and data change). Then make a second backup. Consider making a third backup. Keep several old backups. Ensure that all of them are stored off-site each in different locations, which could include virtual online locations.

That way if Google Drive (or your local NAS storage or whatever you are using) goes pear-shaped all you need to do is copy your data from a backup back onto your main storage. It may take an hour or a day but you wont lose anything, except perhaps your most recent work.

Backups can be automated using tools like Cobian Backup.

For email, use a proper specialised email provider (I like PolarisMail) and ensure that all your devices use IMAP. Also ensure that you backup the local IMAP folders to some remote or local storage regularly, and keep several old backups. Google, Hotmail and Yahoo etc are not proper email providers, and web hosting services often do a poor job of handling email also.

[Goldie09]

My Company changed from a dedicated server to Google drive and it is great. No more remote access issues and extremely easy to use. Backup regularly with a external hard drive. Perfect for a small operation.

Had it for about 6 months now and very pleased.

[kkearney]

Unless your current provider knows something I don't, for 20,000 THB Per Annum, you can get unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email accounts, FTP, virtual drive, automatic backups in a safe, reliable and secure server farm. You are being fleeced for your current service.

[oneday]

"...We just need company email, web access and remote access to forms in the cloud..."

Let's see. Email accounts are free all over the internet. Get a GMAIL account for your business. Just do a search on, "email address with company name". Internet is internet; nothing complicated here....3BB or TOT provides this for about 500 a month for your office or get data packages for your smartphones. Now this will cost a bit more if you do a lot of heavy downloading, but still cheaper than 20,000 a month. And as you have discovered, Google Drive can supply all your storage needs for very little so why are you paying 20,000 a month. That is one hell of a lot of money for so little.

[torpedo1970]

OMG

Yes, you are being ripped off big time.....

You should use google apps with drive for storage.... Gmail for mail etc...

so cost effective

not going to go into all the techie talk here, but if you need any assistance PM me and i will tell you......

FOR FREE!!

[StefanBBK]

To answer your question, either Google drive or Dropbox or One drive are very suitable. Office 365 or Google are suitable and good with low annual subscription cost for businesses. Email accounts are about $5-10 per month with your own domain name from either Google or Microsoft.

I use a private subscription of office 365 which cost $99 year and gives 5 licenses.

[68and]

Have a look at Cubby, https://www.cubby.com/ I use the free tier to sync and backup, can share also

[spambot]

If you are using server technology for document access and retrieval than you will get served well with Google drive - Its exactly right for that application

see the video - They are showing mobile applications of drive, butits just the same and even simpler on desktop

-

You have no given a lot of detail about exact needs and so its difficult to identify if there is something that the current spend of 20K is giving you other than retrieval and storage.

Simply go to and login (if you have a Google account already - just requires a click - By going to home page on chrome browser and click on funny square box top right of browser and see all services as short cut apps - select google drive.

Now - Go to this document - On my personal Google drive - I am sharing this with you to show you how docs can be shared with anyone you wish - employees and customers

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MT5YUcXUGsvp6uckAlyZJ3AidGdpT5hbI-UZ3cvksnM/edit?usp=sharing

The issue to consider is if you can get away with a personal account or a business (Googl calls these business App) account - either way the cost is marginal to get access for your staff i.e business account $5 per employee per month - Only for those that needs access.

https://www.google.com/intx/en_sg/work/apps/business/products/drive/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=japac-smb-apps-bkws-th-en&utm_content=gafb&utm_term=google%20drive&gclid=CLiBsOmwiMMCFQW0jgodpHoACw&gclsrc=ds

Google do have a call centre (for business) see the link - and they will talk you through your needs and show you how to use drive and if its going to do the job.

Good luck

Edited January 10, 2015 by spambot

[MJKT2014]

>Can these cloud based programs completely obselete our current service?

Too me I would guess yes? If you already have read up on such free services, why not try them out yourself running a paralleled system until you are happy they do what you want. Stuff like Google Drive and Dropbox are easy to understand. If you really do struggle just call IT on spot charter if really needed.

20k a month is high price to pay each month. I bought my own WD NAS storage cloud drive for 13kTHB all in and that gives me 6TB of data space just for the wife and kids.

[howsthat]

Nepal4me, In the interests of full disclosure I am in IT based in Thailand and have been doing IT in Thailand for 22 years.

For 5 users 20K sounds a lot, but it depends exactly what they are giving you for that, Even a small server costs 3 or 4 times the price of a decent PC. So if the server is included and all the other equipment and the Internet than that makes the price more reasonable.

Google Docs Professional costs $5 a month per person for ever. Thats the basic service if you have the better service, more functionality then its double. So you are paying close to 1,000 or 2,000 baht a month for your 5 users, add 1 more person and up the price goes, same with Office 365. There are issues with who actually owns the data, what happens to your data if you don't pay or cant pay?

The Cloud is useful for a backup, but in Thailand I don't feel that the internet is strong enough to allow you to use 100% cloud services, when the Internet is down so are you. No mail in or out, no access to your documents. So I would recommend On Premises and a cloud backup and cloud share. This can be had for zero cost or minimal cost. Just remember that anything in the cloud the payments never stop. There are plenty of e-mail options available to you from cloud based free to paid, you can have your own server or a Hybrid solution with your own server backed up to the cloud. That way you ensure that you are fully protected. There are also plenty of other issues to consider, do you have a firewall, do you have full Threat Protection etc.?

Another thing to understand, is that a business internet connection is much more expensive than home based Internet. Home internet is from around 590 Baht a month. Business Internet costs generally depending upon speed 4,000 a month. There is a reason for this. Home internet is throttled and you get usually, only 25% international bandwidth. Business Internet 100%. There are other issues as well with a home based service.

In order to make a full and proper recommendation that is suitable for your company it would be helpful to know a lot more. Please free to contact me and we can discuss your requirements.

[attrayant]

20,000 baht / month for 250Gb cloud?

There's a good chance that comes with a service level agreement. Switching to iCloud or Google Drive (both of which I use) will certainly lower the cost, but then you'll have no SLA unless you pay for a corporate account. The OP needs to decide how fault tolerant his company is. If Google's cloud storage goes offline for a few hours, will that be acceptable for his business?

[2fishin2]

Nepal4me, In the interests of full disclosure I am in IT based in Thailand and have been doing IT in Thailand for 22 years.

For 5 users 20K sounds a lot, but it depends exactly what they are giving you for that, Even a small server costs 3 or 4 times the price of a decent PC. So if the server is included and all the other equipment and the Internet than that makes the price more reasonable.

Google Docs Professional costs $5 a month per person for ever. Thats the basic service if you have the better service, more functionality then its double. So you are paying close to 1,000 or 2,000 baht a month for your 5 users, add 1 more person and up the price goes, same with Office 365. There are issues with who actually owns the data, what happens to your data if you don't pay or cant pay?

The Cloud is useful for a backup, but in Thailand I don't feel that the internet is strong enough to allow you to use 100% cloud services, when the Internet is down so are you. No mail in or out, no access to your documents. So I would recommend On Premises and a cloud backup and cloud share. This can be had for zero cost or minimal cost. Just remember that anything in the cloud the payments never stop. There are plenty of e-mail options available to you from cloud based free to paid, you can have your own server or a Hybrid solution with your own server backed up to the cloud. That way you ensure that you are fully protected. There are also plenty of other issues to consider, do you have a firewall, do you have full Threat Protection etc.?

Another thing to understand, is that a business internet connection is much more expensive than home based Internet. Home internet is from around 590 Baht a month. Business Internet costs generally depending upon speed 4,000 a month. There is a reason for this. Home internet is throttled and you get usually, only 25% international bandwidth. Business Internet 100%. There are other issues as well with a home based service.

In order to make a full and proper recommendation that is suitable for your company it would be helpful to know a lot more. Please free to contact me and we can discuss your requirements.

It IS a lot. They are being ripped off period. Its unfortunate that this happens to uneducated small business owners. Since they are in a single location, just sharing out each other's hard drives would cost ZERO. They could have all the access they ever wanted doing that simple technique. They dont need a server just a cheap stand alone computer on the network could hold a terabyte of data which all they could ever use. Cloud's from all the companies work just fine. Ive been using the basic microsoft one since it was introduced and shared thousands of files without ever a single problem.

For the amount of money they are paying a year, they could replace each computer every year and all the IT "service" they could ever need. I hate rippoffs.

[mike324]

I use Google's Email service for business, costs us around 1000 baht per month per email. 30GB per User and you can use the included Google Drive to Share files. Looks like you just need a simple storage that is easily accessible, cloud is the way to go. You can contact google Thailand to get more info and get set up.

If 30GB is not enough you can pay $10 additional per user to get unlimited storage.

So in your case the very minimum is around 5000-6000 baht per month. This is pretty much maintenance free and 99.9% up time given that you have a reliable internet connection.

Like other users have said 20,000 per month is a over paying especially if they don't even go in to maintain your computer, for that price expect weekly computer maintenance and unlimited storage.

If you don't have your own website or use your own company domain name for your email, you can just use the Gmail free service and pay nothing.

Edited January 10, 2015 by mike324

[recycler]

You are being taken for a ride!

There are 2 solutions I can recommend:

1. Do it yourself, buy a NAS (Network Attached Storage) I use a Synology at home and at the company, will set you back not more than 25,000 Baht and you'll have redundant 2 Tb or more. Easy to manage and it works as a VPN too, so you can access it safe from anywhere. It offers many other services that you may or may not use.

2. Hire a VPN service at a hosting provider and do it online, problem is only that that it's less flexible and when your internet is down you don't have anything.

3. Google is an option, but I personally don't like to hand over all services to one company and prefer a bit more control.

[khunPer]

A VPS (Virtual Private Server) may be a solution, you can find one for about 32 Euro/month (1,300 baht) – 2-core, 6 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, 2 IP address, HWM/cPanel admin control panel, 50 GB backup, DataCenter in Munich/Germany – look at contabo.com; additional backup in steps of 50 GB can be added.

You will need to supervise yourself, or buy optional monitoring and service.

Many plain web-hotels with cPanel normally include a Virtual Disc (private cloud storage).

SSL certificate for HTTPS secured line is an extra, however fairly affordable option.

There are plenty of Data Centers offering VPS or dedicated servers, with or without full monitoring, at reasonable prices, and kind 24/7 support.

Another possibility can be a dedicated Linux/Apache server with 2 HDD, where your cPanel setting backup from one disc to another; or you can use RAID, where all data are written on two discs simultaneously. The physical discs are often NAS (Network Attached Storage) that is the providers internal cloud storage, you can ask the provider to give you two physically separated discs to improve data security; one with LVM (Logical Volume Manager) and one without. A potential provider to check can be homepageuniverse.com, they charge from around 50 $/month (1,700 baht) for 2-core, 2 GB RAM, 2 x 100 GB HDD, 2-IP, WHM/cPanel, fully monitored. Anything can be increased to fulfill your needs.

Hope this may give you inspiration for a solution...

[watcharacters]

I got curious and looked for comparable product back home, Netherlands that is:

KPN (former national telephone company, reliable and safe) offer "Workspace 365 Premium" (cloud storage plus office 365 and a lot of " handy " applications) for 17 euros per licence per month. So in your case 85 euros = 3300 baht.

Thailand is not europe but I think 20000 is a bit overpriced. There must be other companies offering better value for money.

There are also a lot of open source solutions (linux) but then you would have to know something about computers to get stuff working.

Nobody in the office is particularily computer savvy. If we went with a cloud based service like Google Drive and we have a problem, what can we do? Does Google have an on-site service here in Bangkok? Or should we talk to an IT company that does trouble shooting? Everything that I've read in the last day or 2 on this subject suggestst that we could do

everything we need to do for a very small subscription to google, like $40/month.

Brilliant!

[timewilltell]

Perhaps invest in a SOHO NAS device and buy google drive as an off-site backup in case your NAS fails.

A 4 disk Raid6 setup would serve you well. Google drive is very very fast in Thailand and you can backup your files automatically from your NAS.

Buy a Synology DS414J and 4x 1TB WD RED Drives and choose raid6 for data protection.

I use a synology DS1512+ with RAiD setup too. Super reliable data storage with 5 drive bay for data redundancy and automatically rebuilds if a drive fails. That is data storage sorted out. You could use Googke Drive for a backup but I think risky for a compkete solution. Can also auto backup to Amazon storage for peanuts.

However you need software and computers to access and Thai is where the trouble starts for you. You definitely need Antivirus. Use gmail for email and you can forward from Gmail if you want to use an offline programme like Outlook for integration with calendar etc. Google Dics and apps excellent for collaboration and can sync for offline too.

As for other programs what do you use? I would not go the 365 route because they update the software often which has a learning curve. So if your staff a bit computer dim you will be training as much as using. You can buy office which is a waste if Open Office which is free will serve your needs which it almost certainly will. You do not need a server just a data repository and networked computers.

Antivirus be careful because some like Norton are a resource hog. I use Advancepd System care Pro which does the job and. pretty cheap with other features which are very useful but others work too.

You certainly don't need 20k for what you are getting. Get a local who you can call in if a computer gets into trouble on a case by case basis.

[thundercatbob]

My company similar size using Google for business. 4 euros per user per month gives us full access to Drive (cloud storage, as much as we can handle) email accounts, docs and everything else we need.

You could get set up a local NAS server with dynamic dns set up through your router for remote access to onsite secure storage, or you could just keep everything on Google Cloud and back that up locally to a couple of portable hard drives once a week.

Google Cloud (Drive) however, you can put pretty good faith in, without going into lots of detail - I'd pretty much stake my whole reputation on the fact your data is not going to go anywhere or get lost in there. Whenever and wherever you have Internet, you will be able to access the data. Where you do NOT have Internet, it is synchronised locally to your PC anyway.

PM me and I'd be happy to talk with you further, i can point you in the direction of someone that specialises in helping SMBs like yours to implement cloud solutions at minimum monthly costs.

[A1Str8]

Yes it will work. Stop paying 20k that's nonsense.

[Nepal4me]

My Company changed from a dedicated server to Google drive and it is great. No more remote access issues and extremely easy to use. Backup regularly with a external hard drive. Perfect for a small operation.

Had it for about 6 months now and very pleased.

Can you tell me what your monthly costs are and the cost to set it all up?

Edited January 10, 2015 by Nepal4me