Book a DemoCloud vs On-Premise: Choosing the Right Deployment Option
Hosting
Cloud
Deskpro Cloud is our hosted service. We run your helpdesk from secure data centers (US, EU, or UK) and take care of all the backups, updates, security patches, and bandwidth costs.
We'll update your Cloud helpdesk regularly with performance improvements, fixes, and new features.
Note: Enterprise customers have the choice of 31 AWS data center locations.
On-Premise
Deskpro On-Premise enables you to run your PHP-powered helpdesk on your choice of server infrastructure: your servers, virtual hosting, EC2 or Azure, Windows, or Linux. You'll need staff with server administration skills.
You can choose when to update your helpdesk. With the On-Premise Controller, updating most installations is a one-click process.
Setup
Cloud
With Cloud, creating your helpdesk takes seconds, and you can have your helpdesk fully configured for production use in under an hour.
When you sign up, we'll send you a 7-step launch guide that walks you through the process of configuring your helpdesk so it's ideal for your organization.
On-Premise
We've made getting started incredibly easy: you can run from a VM image or use an automated installation script. If you need to install manually, there's a unique web-based installation wizard to guide you through configuring your server.
The On-Premise Controller provides a friendly GUI to manage your helpdesk deployment, reducing the need to directly edit the command line for any changes.
Setup and troubleshooting are fully documented in our sysadmin manual and Knowledgebase.
Who's it for?
Cloud
Deskpro Cloud is popular with organizations of all sizes. Our managed service reduces the overhead of running a helpdesk, whether you're a small company with no dedicated IT staff or a larger company that doesn't want yet another server to manage.
On-Premise
Larger organizations with more IT resources often adopt Deskpro On-Premise. You can host on a multiple-server configuration for maximum availability and performance. Deskpro is proven to scale to meet the needs of the busiest helpdesks.
You might have privacy and security requirements that make a Cloud solution unsuitable. For example, if your tickets include sensitive financial or medical data, On-Premise gives you complete control over access and backups.
Updates
Cloud
With Cloud, you don't have to worry about technical details like applying security patches or dealing with a web hosting company.
We'll automatically update your helpdesk to add new features and improvements as we make them.
On-Premise
We've designed Deskpro On-Premise to be easy to administer. The web-based interface will alert you to errors and problems that need your attention. As well as offer a unified view of all relevant logs. You can update to the latest version of Deskpro with one click.
We have an extensive sysadmin manual and Knowledgebase, which we constantly update with solutions and advice.
Security
Cloud
We follow security best practices to ensure the confidentiality of your helpdesk data.
You have control of your helpdesk's security settings: you can set password policies for users and agents, see full audit logs of agent and admin actions, and enable IP whitelisting so agents can only log in from trusted IP addresses.
Deskpro automatically limits the rate of login attempts to defend against password-guessing attacks.
On-Premise
With an On-Premise helpdesk, you can use all the same security features as Cloud. Self-hosting also enables you to keep access to the agent interface or Help Center limited to your intranet or VPN, reducing the potential attack surface.
Backups
Cloud
With Deskpro Cloud, all your data is immediately written to disk and backed up in multiple locations in either the US, EU, or UK.
Our core MySQL data stores are replicated in data centers run by different providers, and we retain daily backups of all databases. Attachments are stored in Amazon S3, providing additional high-availability backup. You can also export your helpdesk data to make your backup using the Deskpro API.
On-Premise
With Deskpro On-Premise, you are in charge of your data backup policy, giving you full control over data access.
Backing up Deskpro simply involves using standard tools to copy the MySQL database plus the helpdesk's data folder. You can take a backup while the helpdesk stays live.
Pricing
Cloud
With Cloud, it's easy to add and remove agents as your needs change, with both monthly and annual billing available.
Deskpro offers three simple tiers; Team, Professional, and Enterprise. The Team plan contains all the features of Deskpro that you need to run a successful helpdesk. Professional and Enterprise plans provide extra levels of service on top of the software.
If annual billing is more convenient for your organization, that's now an option for Cloud which includes ~10% discount.
On-Premise
We've chosen to charge for Deskpro On-Premise with an affordable annual fee rather than a higher one-off cost. This model enables us to offer regular feature updates and fast, high-quality support at no extra charge. It also gives you peace of mind knowing we have to win your business every year.
On-Premise pricing starts at 10 agents. Additional agents are licensed in blocks of 5.
You can increase the number of agents at any time, and simply pay the difference in a time-adjusted fee.
Compliance
Cloud
Our cloud service data-center provider (AWS) operates state-of-the-art, ISO27001, PCI DSS Level 1, HIPAA, GDPR & SOC 2 Type compliant data centers.
Deskpro is certified to ISO27001, GDPR, Cyber Essentials Plus, G-Cloud-12 & CSA Star. SOC 2 Type II & HIPAA coming soon.
On Deskpro Team & Professional, you can choose to host options from US, EU, and UK. On Deskpro Enterprise, you can choose from 31 AWS global locations.
On-Premise
Cloud solutions are often not suitable if you need to comply with regulations such as HIPAA, ITAR, Sarbanes-Oxley, BDSG or your tickets contain sensitive financial, medical or legal information.
An On-Premise installation gives you total control over who can access your data.
Hosting Options
Cloud
By default, your Cloud helpdesk is hosted at an address like yourcompany.deskpro.com. You can move it to a custom subdomain of your site, like support.yourcompany.com, or even a dedicated domain of its own.
A free SSL certificate is provided for both Deskpro and custom domains.
On-Premise
With Deskpro On-Premise, you have complete freedom to put your helpdesk on any domain or subdomain you like.
You can set up SSL for your custom domain at the webserver level.
FAQs