Compare a £9,000 server quote against a cloud subscription costing a few hundred pounds a month, and the server looks cheaper. That comparison leaves out most of what determines real cloud computing costs and most of what a physical server costs to run over time. Power, cooling, support contracts and the hardware refresh that comes round on schedule all add up. Here is what the fuller picture looks like for a London business weighing up the two. 

The server costs UK businesses often miss 

A server quote covers the hardware itself, not what it costs to run for the next five years. 

Power is one of the first costs people miss. A small server room can easily add a couple of thousand pounds a year to the electricity bill once you count the servers themselves and the extra cooling they need. UK businesses have been paying around 24p per kWh for electricity in early 2026, according to the government’s Quarterly Energy Prices data. 

Ongoing support contracts rarely make it into the first comparison. Manufacturers typically charge for hardware support every year, and that can easily add another one or two thousand pounds on top. Warranty and firmware support usually only lasts three to five years, so once that support runs out, so does the vendor’s help with patching security problems. 

Downtime is the hardest cost to put a number on and the easiest to underestimate. If a single server fails, how quickly the business is back up depends on how recent the last backup was and whether a replacement part is ready to go. 

How IaaS pricing works 

Most IaaS subscriptions are billed on what is called pay as you go. The bill reflects what gets used each month. A fixed asset in a cupboard costs the same whether it is busy or not. Microsoft’s own pricing documentation for Azure describes this as the standard model for virtual machines and storage, with lower rates available for workloads that run all the time. That matters for planning. A business with steady, constant demand can lock in a lower rate, while one with occasional spikes only pays for the extra capacity when it needs it. 

What is included in that monthly fee differs by provider. A typical hosting subscription, such as 4TC’s IT as a Service, usually bundles the servers and storage with backup and a level of redundancy already built in. Patching is often included too. Power and cooling become the provider’s problem rather than the client’s, which is one reason a cloud quote can look more expensive per month than the fuller picture on the other side. 

What cloud computing costs look like over five years 

For a typical small office setup, the numbers can look something like this. 

That running cost for physical servers also assumes nothing goes wrong. It does not include the extra time and cost of managing backup and patching in house, which is usually already included in a hosted subscription. 

The difference between the two totals is not huge, and that is the point. A realistic cloud migration ROI rarely shows a dramatic difference. What changes is the shape of the spending. One option means a lump sum followed by a repeat purchase down the line. The other means one predictable monthly cost with nothing to repeat. Businesses that prefer predictable costs, or that are close to their next hardware refresh, tend to see the clearer benefit. 

Other factors worth weighing up 

Cloud computing costs are only one part of the comparison. A physical server is sized for what the business needs right now. Scaling it up usually means another order and another wait for delivery. A hosted setup can usually be resized within hours, so a business taking on new work is not stuck waiting for procurement to catch up. 

Security works in a similar way. The National Cyber Security Centre’s cloud security guidance explains the shared responsibility model behind most hosted IT services. The provider looks after the physical infrastructure. The client is still responsible for setting up access and data correctly. That does not remove the client’s own responsibilities, but it does mean the physical security of the data centre and the patching of the platform are looked after by a team whose full-time job is exactly that. 

Backup and recovery is often where the difference is biggest in practice. The government’s most recent Cyber Security Breaches Survey found only 44% of small businesses currently have a continuity plan that covers this kind of disruption, down from 53% the year before. Recovery for a physical server depends on backups being current and stored somewhere other than the server that just failed. Hosted setups, such as 4TC’s disaster recovery service, tend to build this kind of redundancy in as standard, so it is not something a business has to design and pay for separately. 

When your own server can still make sense 

A physical server is not the wrong choice for every business. A business that bought its hardware recently and still has a warranty left has little financial reason to move, as long as the workload stays steady. Specialist software tied to a particular local setup can also be harder to move than an ordinary file server. Businesses with specific data residency needs may also find that having physical control over where information sits matters more than the monthly running cost. 

The right setup usually depends on where a business sits in its own hardware cycle. A general rule that cloud is always cheaper misses the timing question. Timing changes the maths. The closer a business is to its next hardware refresh, the stronger the case for costing out the alternative before signing off on another purchase. 

If your last server purchase is closer to its replacement date than its first birthday, this is worth costing out properly using your own numbers, with an example like the one above only as a starting point. 4TC works with businesses across London and Essex on this exact kind of comparison, looking at real usage and support needs alongside list prices. 

4TC can put together a tailored comparison between the cloud and physical servers for your own business. Get in touch to find out what that would look like in practice. 

Every Microsoft 365 subscription comes with a set of security tools built in. Most of them sit there unused.

It’s an easy thing to miss. You buy the licence, set up the mailboxes, the team gets going, and somewhere along the way you assume the protection came bundled in. Some of it did. Plenty of it’s still sitting there, waiting for someone to switch it on.

For SMEs running Microsoft 365 across London and the surrounding area, that gap matters. You are paying for capability you may not be using, and the unused parts are often the ones that would stop an attacker getting in.

The Security You Have Already Bought

A Microsoft 365 subscription goes beyond email and Office apps. Depending on your plan, it includes identity protection, access controls, threat policies and audit tools that many businesses never touch.

Microsoft runs a shared responsibility model, meaning they keep the platform itself patched and available while you configure what happens inside your own tenant, including who can sign in and what they can reach.

Default settings are designed for a smooth start rather than a hardened finish, so the tools you have paid for tend to stay in their out-of-the-box state. The ones most often left untouched include:

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) that has not been enforced for every account
• Conditional access rules that could limit risky sign-ins but were never built
• External sharing and guest access left open by default
• Audit logging switched off or switched on and never reviewed

None of these draw attention to themselves, which is why the gap goes unnoticed for months.

MFA and Why It’s Still Not Universal

MFA is one of the most effective controls available to a Microsoft 365 tenant, and it’s included in every plan. But it’s still not switched on everywhere it should be.

Part of the reason is friction. Enforcing it for every user takes a deliberate decision, and there is usually one account, often an admin or a senior leader, that someone decides to leave exempt. That exemption tends to be precisely the account an attacker wants.

This matters because of how most breaches begin. The government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026 found that phishing was the most common type of attack, experienced by 38% of businesses.

Phishing works by capturing a password. With MFA enforced, that stolen password on its own isn’t enough to get anyone in.

Conditional Access, Guest Permissions and Admin Accounts

Beyond MFA, a handful of areas build up risk over time without anyone deciding they should:

• Conditional access: This lets you set the conditions under which a login is allowed, such as blocking sign-ins from countries your staff never work in or requiring a managed device. The capability is there in most business plans but often goes unbuilt.
• Guest permissions: External sharing links and guest accounts accumulate as projects come and go. Few businesses can say exactly what is currently shared and with whom.
• Admin accounts: An admin account can change security settings and reach everyone’s data, which makes each one a prime target. Many tenants carry far more admins than they need.
• Dormant accounts: Logins belonging to people who have left often stay live, handing an attacker a valid account that nobody is watching.

Each of these is manageable once someone has eyes on it. The difficulty is that they rarely get reviewed once the initial setup is done.

Connecting Microsoft 365 to Dark Web and Credential Monitoring

Even a well-configured tenant has its blind spots. It only sees what goes inside it, so it has no way of knowing when one of your staff has had a password caught up in a breach elsewhere on the internet.

Reused passwords are more common than you think. When a member of staff uses the same password for a work account and a personal account that later gets breached, those stolen credentials end up traded on the dark web. From there they get tested against business logins in bulk.

Dark web and credential monitoring watches for your domain and your users’ details appearing in known breach data. Paired with Microsoft 365, it means a leaked password can be flagged and reset before it is used against you.

This is the layer that connects what Microsoft 365 protects with what is happening beyond it.

Security Set Once Does Not Stay Secure

Just because your tenant is configured well today doesn’t mean it can’t be exposed within a year. Staff join and leave, new apps get adopted, permissions get granted for a one-off task and never removed, and Microsoft changes its own features and defaults along the way.

Getting the most from Microsoft 365 depends on treating cyber security as something maintained on an ongoing basis. In practice that means the following:

• Keeping MFA and conditional access enforced as accounts change
• Reviewing admin roles and permissions so privilege stays tight
• Monitoring sign-ins for activity that looks out of place
• Keeping external sharing and guest access controlled
• Running independent backups, since Microsoft 365 does not protect your data from accidental deletion or ransomware on its own
• Watching for leaked credentials through dark web monitoring

At 4TC, we work with SMEs across London and Hertfordshire to keep Microsoft platforms secure and well managed, so the tools you are paying for stay switched on and doing their job as the business grows.

Speak to 4TC About Your Microsoft 365 Environment

Want to make sure your Microsoft 365 environment is properly configured and protected? Speak to the 4TC team today. We work with SMEs across London and Hertfordshire to keep Microsoft platforms secure and well managed.

FAQs

1. Is Microsoft 365 secure by default?
   Not fully. Microsoft 365 includes strong security tools, but many, including MFA and conditional access, stay switched off until someone enables them. Microsoft secures the underlying platform, while the settings inside your tenant are yours to configure.
2. What security features do most Microsoft 365 for UK businesses leave unused?
   The most commonly unused features are enforced MFA on every account, conditional access policies, controlled external sharing, and audit logging. These come included in the licence that most Microsoft 365 for UK businesses already pay for, yet they often sit inactive.
3. How does dark web monitoring work with Microsoft 365?
   Dark web and credential monitoring checks whether your users’ details have appeared in known data breaches. When a leaked password is found, it can be reset before an attacker uses it against your Microsoft 365 accounts, closing a gap the platform cannot see on its own.
4. Can a managed IT provider help with IT security in London?
   Yes, a provider offering IT security in London can audit your tenant, enforce MFA and conditional access, review permissions and add monitoring, then keep everything maintained as your team changes.
5. Does better Microsoft 365 security mean paying for a higher licence?
   Often not. Much of what protects a Microsoft 365 tenant, including MFA and basic conditional access, is already part of the business plans most SMEs hold, so the first step is activating what you have rather than upgrading. A higher tier can be worth it for advanced threat protection or compliance features, but it’s worth confirming what your current licence covers before spending more.

Six months after a member of staff leaves, the login still works. Messages keep landing in an inbox no one reads, and the shared drive shows the same access it did on that final day.

Nobody decided this should happen; it just never got undone, and that is the gap most businesses carry without realising it.

When someone leaves, the energy goes into the handover and the goodbyes. The accounts, devices and permissions they leave behind rarely get the same attention, because nothing visibly breaks when they go.

For SMEs in Bishop’s Stortford and throughout Hertfordshire, managing employee access can easily be overlooked during a hectic week. Treating it as a cyber security and continuity issue, rather than an afterthought, is what closes that gap.

A Former Employee’s Account Is Still a Live Account

The thing to remember about a leaver’s login is that it doesn’t know its owner has gone.

Email, Microsoft 365, the CRM, shared folders, the accounting platform, and the various SaaS tools picked up along the way – all of these stay exactly as functional the day after someone leaves as the day before, unless somebody steps in to change that.

While an account stays open, it remains a route into business data. The exposure usually takes one of a few forms:

• A former employee continuing to read company email or download files, whether out of habit, grievance or simple curiosity
• Credentials being reused elsewhere, so a login tied to your systems gets caught up in an unrelated breach
• An attacker finding a valid account that nobody is monitoring and using it as an easy way in

Attackers tend to look for the path of least resistance, and a live login that nobody is watching fits that description well.

The government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/2026 found that the proportion of businesses reporting a breach that led to loss of revenue or share value rose from 2% to 5% over the year, with reputational damage climbing from 1% to 3%.

When incidents do bite, they increasingly cost real money and real standing, and unmanaged access is one of the simpler ways to hand an incident the opening it needs.

The Damage Goes Well Beyond Security

It would be a mistake to file unmanaged access purely under cyber security. The fallout reaches into parts of the business that have nothing to do with hackers:

• Productivity: Nobody can find the files a leaver was working on because they sat in a personal OneDrive that has since been locked or left untouched
• Client communication: Enquiries land in a mailbox no one is monitoring, so they go unanswered, and the client assumes you aren’t interested
• Compliance: Data protection rules expect you to know who can reach personal data and to be able to show that access is controlled
• Data ownership and lock-out: If a departing salesperson held the only login to a key supplier portal or the only admin rights to your social media, their exit can leave you shut out of your own tools

These are continuity issues as much as security ones. A business that cannot reliably account for who holds access to what is a business carrying hidden operational risk.

Cloud Tools Have Made This Harder, Not Easier

A decade ago, removing someone’s access mostly meant disabling their network account and collecting their laptop. The perimeter was the office. Today it’s far less tidy, for a few reasons:

• Remote and hybrid working means staff connect from home, from personal devices, and through tools the central IT function may not have set up
• Microsoft 365, SharePoint and Teams sprawl across shared sites and folders, each with its own separate permissions
• SaaS platforms get adopted team by team, sometimes signed up for with a work email and a personal password and sometimes on a free tier that never appears on any invoice

The result is that the question “what does this person actually have access to?” has become difficult to answer. It’s that difficulty which is exactly why access control deserves more attention now.

You cannot remove access you don’t know exists, and the modern toolset makes it very easy for access to exist in places nobody is tracking.

Offboarding Is Also a Data Ownership Question

There is a part of leaving that often gets missed entirely, which is making sure the business keeps what belongs to it.

Important emails, working files, client records and shared documents need to be transferred into the right hands before or immediately after someone goes. If that does not happen, the knowledge simply leaves with the person.

Think about what tends to sit only in one place:

• A half-finished proposal saved to a personal drive
• The only written record of a client’s specific requirements
• Running notes on a long negotiation that nobody else has seen

All of it can vanish into a deactivated account or an unreturned device. Treating handover as a data exercise means deciding in advance where a leaver’s files should end up and who becomes responsible for them.

This protects continuity and keeps you on the right side of your data protection obligations at the same time.

Where Proactive IT Support Changes the Picture

The reason access lingers is often because offboarding gets handled differently each time, depending on who is around and how busy the week is.

Proactive IT support closes that gap by making access management an ongoing discipline rather than a scramble at the point of exit. That means keeping a clear view of who has access, managing permissions, and removing access promptly when someone leaves.

At 4TC, we work with businesses across Bishop’s Stortford and Hertfordshire to keep this consistent as teams grow and change so a departure is handled to the same standard, whoever happens to be managing it that week.

The goal is straightforward. When someone leaves, their access should leave with them, and your data should stay where it belongs.

Speak to 4TC to Protect Your Business

Former employee access should not become a hidden security risk.

Speak to 4TC about managed IT support that helps keep your systems, data, and users under control. Get in touch today.

FAQs

1. Why is employee access management important for SMEs?
   Because an open account is a live account. Strong employee access management means former staff cannot reach email, files or business applications after they leave, which is a core part of IT security for SMEs and a basic expectation under data protection rules.
2. What are the biggest cloud access security risks when someone leaves?
   The main cloud access security risks are accounts that stay active across Microsoft 365 and SaaS platforms, shared logins that never get changed, and files saved in personal cloud storage that the business cannot see or recover.
3. How does managed IT support help control access?
   Managed IT support gives you a consistent process for monitoring accounts, managing permissions and removing access when roles change. It also keeps a clear record of who can reach what, so nothing slips through when a team member moves on.
4. Does 4TC provide cyber security support in Hertfordshire?
   Yes, 4TC offers IT support in Bishop’s Stortford and cyber security in Hertfordshire, helping local businesses secure company data and keep their IT processes consistent as their teams change.