An existential question
Is it acceptable that Windows spies on its users? Is it normal that Gmail reads its users’ emails? Is it tolerable that, through U.S. extraterritorial legal frameworks, your data in the Cloud is accessible to our American friends?
Beyond spying on individuals or companies who “don’t care” because, they believe, they have nothing to hide, Windows is a low-quality product and the Cloud is very expensive.
We offer you, through personalized support, the opportunity to assess your dependency on the GAFAM and to find sustainable solutions to regain your digital sovereignty.
Leaving Windows
Strategically anticipate
Leaving Windows is no small matter. You may not yet realize the savings (in time, money, and stress) that this disappearance will bring you.
Because beyond the savings, you will improve the quality of your information system. And that improvement has no price.
Before walking away from the windows, make sure your information system is not dependent on these openings.
Are your main software tools standard office or creative applications? You’ll find their equivalents on Linux.
Is your business software a SaaS accessible via the web? Your transition will be simple—any web browser on Linux will do the job.
Are you using a business application that must be installed on Windows? It’s time to look for a SaaS equivalent accessible via the web—because one likely exists.
Using Free Software
You can proceed step by step. Even before leaving Windows, replace your usual software with free software.
Free software works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It’s generally just as good—and often better—than its paid equivalents.
It’s often easier to use, and its interface doesn’t change from one version to the next.
The time you invest in learning it is time invested for life.
The file formats of free software don’t change.
Make your life easier. Treat yourself to free software—it’s almost1You have to factor in the cost of training, but it’s an investment that will pay you back a hundredfold. free.
Changing Systems
Changing your system is very simple. Take a Windows machine—probably a bit sluggish—and install Linux. In less time than it takes to reinstall Windows, you’ll have a machine with new life. Windows ages machines. Linux rejuvenates them.
Since you’ll already be familiar with free software, this change will seem trivial. You’ll enjoy the speed, reliability, and absence of spying. Linux is a well-mannered companion. It respects your data and doesn’t watch what you’re doing behind your back.
Your accountant will appreciate the drop in IT spending, and your favorite IT vendor will hate you. You can’t please everyone.
Exiting the Cloud
An expensive trap
There used to be machines and humans. Servers and system administrators. Computers were cared for by kind professionals. The skies were blue, and the future was bright.
Then the clouds rolled in, and the Cloud took over the horizon, accompanied by flocks of influencers singing that the future was cloud-based and that costly administrators were a thing of the past.
With hindsight, the reality is quite different. The DevOp replaced the SysAdmin—but with double the salary—becoming a narrowly skilled expert, because AWS has nothing to do with Azure. All that for high operating costs, mediocre service quality, and subpar performance for the price paid.
An indiscreet trap
Since the major Cloud providers are American, you can be sure that your data—no matter what promises are made—is no secret to our American friends.
And if you believe your data isn’t of interest to them, you may be right. You have nothing to hide, your data is uninteresting, all is well in the best of all worlds. At worst, only their affiliated AIs will use your data to feed their neurons.
After all, let’s relax: if your mailman read all your letters, if every speed radar could read your thoughts, life would be so much simpler.
A deadly trap
A startup had its data in the Cloud. It wanted to cut back on its ever-increasing hosting bills.
It considered repatriating its data to France, to OVH’s data centers in Gravelines and Roubaix. The startup’s operations had generated an enormous amount of data. That data was its value and its reason for being. The Cloud provider’s export pricing turned out to be unaffordable.
Caught between unsustainable hosting costs and out-of-reach data extraction fees, the company was forced to shut down.
You shouldn’t wait until you’re in trouble to discover pricing as hidden as it is abusive—and the impossibility of retrieving your own data.
After the Cloud comes the exit
Time is a great revealer. A reversal has begun. The math has been done.
Hosting your servers with a French or European provider—or in your own facilities—and managing your information system through a reliable IT service provider is no longer a thing of the past, but a demonstration of common sense to safeguard the future.
Most services offered by the Cloud can be replicated on affordable servers, with better reliability and performance. For a fraction of the Cloud’s cost. These observations come from our clients.
Contact us for a detailed cost study on exiting the Cloud for your business—and regaining control over your data.
Your data sovereignty is your company’s independence.
