Emportant Blog » SaaS http://blog.emportant.in HR/Payroll Software-as-a-Service - news, views and more Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:09:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Importance of multi-tenancy for subscription based software http://blog.emportant.in/2010/01/importance-of-multi-tenancy-for-subscription-based-software/ http://blog.emportant.in/2010/01/importance-of-multi-tenancy-for-subscription-based-software/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:49:04 +0000 sandeeptodi http://blog.emportant.in/2010/01/importance-of-multi-tenancy-for-subscription-based-software/ A true subscription based software should be multi-tenancy capable. This has profound implications on scaleability, performance and security of the system. Most vendors simply create ‘virtual’ instance of application for each customer and are not able to scale. Read this commentary on EBizq for an expert perspective:

Click here for EBIZQ commentary on multi-tenancy

]]> http://blog.emportant.in/2010/01/importance-of-multi-tenancy-for-subscription-based-software/feed/ 0 On-premise v/s On-demand – which one is for you? http://blog.emportant.in/2009/10/on-premise-vs-on-demand-which-one-is-for-you/ http://blog.emportant.in/2009/10/on-premise-vs-on-demand-which-one-is-for-you/#comments Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:22:08 +0000 Kanchan Kumar http://blog.emportant.in/?p=16 Before we get into the debate – let’s admit – people like us from IT industry love creating new phrases – faster than we develop software. While we can not change that  - we are trying to make it easy for you to understand this. For the un-initiated here is a quick description of the two terminologies :

On-premises – This is the way you have bought and used business application/software so far. Buy the license, procure a server, install, test and go-live.  On-premise means – software which is installed a hardware box you have procured and possibly runs exclusively for you. Read more on wikipedia

On-demand – This is also known as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). This is the new way of using the software. You learnt it first when you used web mail – that was the first popular SaaS (though wasn’t called so!). In this case you do not buy the license, nor do you procure the hardware – all you requires is a web browser to use the software. Most of the time – you’d pay for a subscription fee to use the software. Read more on wikipedia

Most often we are asked – how do you choose between the two.  Here is a quick comparison between the two:

Item On-premise On-demand
Software
license		 Need
to purchase		 Not
required
Database
license		 Need
to procure		 Not
required
Server Need
to procure		 Not
required
IT
infrastructure management		 Required not
required
Data
backup		 Required Not
required
Control
over IT infrastructure		 Complete None
Integration
with Other systems		 Tight Loose
or negligible
Customisation High
possibility		 Limited
feasibility
Upfront
investment		 Substantial Negligible
Annual
fee		 Moderate Nil
Monthly
subscription fee		 Nil Low

As you’d notice from the table above – On-demand v/s On-premise debate is not about functionality – but about application management. I have compiled a small list of leading questions which would help answer this question – which is right for me?

  • Do you have a IT team to manage your server, database and application infrastructure?
  • Do you have the budget to invest in server, database and application software licenses?
  • Do you have the need for tight integration ( automated dataflow ) between various applications?

If you have answered Yes to most of the questions above – then you are ready for On-premises software.  If you answered No to more than one of these questions – then SaaS is a better choice.

Having said that – being ready for On-premises software does not mean – you should not evaluate on-demand options – it might still present a better value proposition for your organisation.

But this is just the starting point – we’d bring more on this topic in coming days.

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