Why would a small or mid-size business choose a cloud solution over an on-premises solution?

On-premises solutions generally offer greater customization capabilities because the business has full control over the hardware, software stack, and environment, unlike cloud services which have predefined configurations.

On-premises solutions provide more direct control over the entire implementation process, including hardware selection, network design, and security configurations, compared to cloud environments where much is managed by the provider.

Cloud solutions typically operate on a pay-as-you-go or subscription model, eliminating the need for large initial investments in hardware, software licenses, and datacenter facilities that are required for on-premises solutions, making them budget-friendly for SMBs.

While cloud providers invest heavily in security, the statement that cloud *inherently* provides *higher* data security than on-premises is not universally true; on-premises security can be as robust, and data sovereignty/control can be better, depending on implementation and specific requirements.