A Quick Look at Enterprise Fax Deployment Models

When it comes to deploying an enterprise fax server at your organization, you have four major options:

1. On-premise: you host the fax server on-site at your organization
2. Hybrid: some software is hosted on-premise while other applications are hosted in the Cloud by other providers
3. Managed: your fax server is hosted and managed off-site by OpenText
4. Full cloud: a service deployment model that requires no fax software, hardware or telephony at your site

While all four fax deployment models are significantly superior to standalone fax machines, not every solution is right for every business. Choosing a solution is a critical part of the process, and understanding the general characteristics of each solution will help you make the right choice for your organization.

IT Workload and Responsibility

What separates these solutions the most is the amount of work required to manage them. While on-premise solutions eliminate the costs of paying OpenText to manage the fax server, organizations will need to allocate resources within their IT department to actively monitor and manage their server. With a hybrid solution, these responsibilities are shared between internal IT departments and the OpenText. With a fully managed or full cloud fax solution, IT management is handled by a provider for a fee.

The same rules apply when it comes to server uptime, redundancy and disaster recovery. On-premise fax servers require an IT team on-site to manage. In a managed or full cloud solution, OpenText would handle these tasks.

Integration Options

Integration is the area where all fax deployment models are the most similar. On-premise, hybrid and managed solutions are all supported by SMTP and have prepackaged integrations and APIs available. If you have multifunction printers (MFPs) or other business software that need to be integrated with your fax solution, all four options will deliver very similar results. Most MFPs natively support SMTP and can integrate with your fax server. When it comes to software integrations, RightFax has a long list of integrations capabilities and options. Full cloud solutions are also SMTP supported and have some prepackaged integrations and APIs available, but there is no direct integration with MFPs as the service does not require them for faxing. Integration with MFPs is done via SMTP and APIs.

Data Ownership and Transparency

The primary benefit of on-premise fax solutions is that organizations maintain complete control over their data. It also allows users to fully control who has ownership and access to their data at all times, which can be helpful in heavily regulated industries. In a hybrid, managed or full cloud setup, an organization may choose the data center where their data is stored, but they are limited to the hosting providers existing locations, some of which may be located in different countries.

 

Need help choosing the ideal fax solution deployment option for your business? Contact The Fax Guys today.