Most 25-person construction firms can run all-cloud, and the honest answer depends on one thing: whether you open large Revit models or linked CAD files across the network all day. Over five years, the three paths - replacing the server, going all-cloud, or a hybrid - land close enough together that cost should not decide it. Your workload should: if you run central models or keep something local.
This post gives you the six questions that actually settle it, the one workload that keeps something local, and an honest list of what gets better and what gets harder in each direction. We're not going to pretend cloud wins every time, because for design-heavy firms that isn't always the case.
The Six Questions That Decide It for Your Firm
- How large are your working files, and do people open them over the network?
Not how much data you store. How large is the file somebody double-clicks and works in for six hours. If your largest daily-use files are documents, spreadsheets, and smaller PDFs, cloud is straightforward.
- Do field staff need the same files as the office?
If superintendents, PMs, and foremen need current drawings from a trailer or a truck, every hour you spend making the office server reachable from outside is an hour spent rebuilding what cloud file services already do.
- Do you run an application that requires a Windows server?
Some estimating packages, construction accounting systems, and document control tools still ship a server-based database component, or license by a server-installed component. Ask each vendor directly whether they support a cloud-hosted or SaaS deployment for the version you own.
- What is your internet redundancy at the office right now?
Is it one circuit from one provider? This is fixable and it's cheap relative to everything else on the table, but it has to be fixed first, not later.
- How old is the current server, and what happens the day it fails?
Write down the purchase year, whether it's still under warranty, and how long a full bare-metal restore would take. If you can't answer the third part, that's the real finding.
- What do your GCs and insurers require?
Prequalification questionnaires and cyber insurance applications ask where project data lives, how it's backed up, and who has access. Both paths can satisfy them. Neither satisfies them automatically. Confirm the specifics with your broker and with the GC's risk manager.
The One Workload That Keeps Something Local
Large Revit models and linked CAD files are latency-sensitive. It isn't mainly about bandwidth. Opening and synchronizing a model involves many small operations, and every one of them pays the round-trip time between the workstation and wherever the file lives. This is the one workload that most often justifies keeping something local.
If Your Server Is Seven Years Old, You're Not Deciding.. You're On a Countdown
Here's the part firms don't want to hear. A 25-person firm running a seven-year-old server is not weighing a strategic option. It's running a clock, and the clock is going to expire during a project. Out-of-warranty hardware means no fast replacement parts and limited support, and unlike other computer equipment, server parts are not readily available at your local store.
Replacement timing is the actual decision point. The right time to run this comparison is 6 to 12 months before the current server is due for retirement, while you still have the option of choosing. If your server is already past that point, the honest advice is to shorten the analysis, confirm your backup and recovery position first, and give yourself a recovery time objective you can actually live with while you plan the move.
And a note on both directions, because neither is all upside:
What gets better when you go cloud: field access stops being a project. No hardware refresh cycle. No server room. Recovery from a fire, a flood, or a ransomware event stops depending on one box in your building.
What gets harder when you go cloud: the internet becomes critical. Some legacy applications need workarounds. Large-model performance requires deliberate design.
What gets better when you keep a server: Quicker access to large files with no design work required or latency. Line-of-business applications keep working exactly as they do now. Predictable capital budgeting.
What gets harder when you keep a server: remote access is on you to build and secure. The refresh cycle never ends. A single site failure is a business event. Patching, monitoring, and backup verification are ongoing obligations.
Why Construction Firms Work With Alexaur
We've supported architecture, engineering, and construction firms across Katy, TX and Greater West Houston since 2001, and we're still family-owned. The person who answers your call knows why the trailer machine matters.
- 98% of support tickets resolved on the first call
- Average client tenure of more than 10 years
- 100+ combined years of cybersecurity experience on staff
- Clients who have implemented our full security and business continuity recommendations have not reported a business-disrupting security incident.
- Fluent in the software you actually run: AutoCAD, Revit, Bluebeam, SolidWorks, Procore, Navisworks, ProjectWise, and OnScreen Takeoff.
- Dell & Lenovo Partner
- Managed Protection Security Suite Associate Accreditation
- MSP Pro
- Keeper Sales Professional
- Network+ Certified
- SonicWall Certified
Get the Numbers for Your Own Firm Before the Server Decides for You
If you're holding a server replacement quote, or your current server is past warranty, the useful next step is measuring what your team actually opens and what software and programs you depend on daily. Our free network assessment reveals if your data and computer network are properly backed up and secured, and if there is anything you need to do now to prevent a major network outage, data loss, cyberattack or other expensive, data-erasing disaster.
Book a 15-minute discovery call and we'll tell you honestly whether you need the server.
Call 281-646-1200 or email results@alexaur.com.
