Adopting SaaS Cloud Hosting: A Path to Modernization

Using applications of all kinds and scopes that are delivered to us via “the cloud,” is far from a new idea. Unless you have your own rack of servers in a room down the hall (which some people do!), nearly every application you interact with is hosted out in the cloud somewhere. Cloud hosts such as IBM, Amazon, etc. have massive data centers all over the world with the sole purpose to provide the computing power needed to serve 100’s of millions of people with applications and to securely store their data.

The question comes for those applications that are used at a business. Historically this meant maintaining a server farm either on-prem or not far away on hardware that the company purchased and controlled. All the monitoring, maintenance, backup, upgrading, outage notifications, etc. were the responsibility of the company. If Users had an issue, they would contact the internal IT staff for resolution.

With Software as a Service (SaaS), much of the maintenance and monitoring performed by internal staff is eliminated (not all!) and largely transferred to the Cloud host. The idea is the software solution is provided by the Cloud host with no change in access or functionality for the User communities.

How does SaaS work?

Consider the typical enterprise application suite that supports users in performing their daily tasks. Most likely users access the application via a link in a browser, or perhaps via an installed “client” on their computer or tablet. Once logged in, the users go about their business in the application.

Behind the scenes is the physical (or wireless) network that they are connected to, giving them a path to the servers in the data center where the application suite and data are stored. Users make requests and the applications return the data. The only difference for users is a slightly different (and secure) link they use to gain access to the applications.

The only real difference with SaaS is that the company is not providing the server side in their own data center. The company network enables the path to the application out in the Cloud, of which the Cloud host is maintaining. All the maintenance of the software solution and the supporting computing hardware is the responsibility of the Cloud host, not the business.

Is there a cost for this convenience?

Yes, there is a cost. Cloud hosts are not only providing the hardware and software to deliver the solution to the business, but they are also replicating the IT staff to monitor and maintain. Unless the host has their own data center, they themselves may be leasing the underlying servers and networking infrastructure.

One of the first tasks when considering moving to the Cloud is a cost benefit analysis. Gather up all the costs involved with providing the application suite to your user communities, including license costs and IT staffing, then compare those costs with the quotes received from multiple Cloud hosts. Be sure to compare apples to apples.

In many cases, long term costs for Cloud hosting will be lower than on prem, but not always. This is where thoughtful consideration of the Cloud subscription costs, licensing, hosting costs, migration services, and ongoing support need to be stood up against the costs of keeping the solution(s) on prem.

What about security, redundancy, and backup?

Before the advent of secure browser connections (from http to https), interacting with websites, applications, and data on the “internet” was rather risky. Now that we have secure connections, (and local anti-virus software) the risk of data being intercepted or viruses being caught has been greatly reduced.

However, this is only the first part of security… the connection to the application and data. Behind the scenes there is further anti-virus software, security procedures, firewalls, and a host of other activities that the typical IT operation takes care of. The internal IT operation may also adhere to, or even be certified by certain security standards perhaps mandated by the company. ISO 27001 and NIST 800-53 and others are common.

Cloud hosts have a vested interest in securing their client applications and data, perhaps even more so than the client. As such, most Cloud hosts are certified at security levels well beyond the typical IT operation. Data centers themselves such as those operated by IBM, AWS, etc. have very sophisticated security procedures and technology in place to protect those valuable resources.

When contracting with a Cloud host, the service levels and roles/responsibilities are clearly outlined. The more the Cloud host performs (or is expected to perform) the more costly the hosting contract will be. Critical concerns such as recovery times, frequency, scope, and retention of backups are always contractual considerations.

Too complex?

Many on premise solution environments are very complex. The typical enterprise software suite may be interconnected to several external systems. Some of these systems feed the central system with data, while the central system may feed the externals with data as well, including alerts and other status information. These interconnections may include mobile applications and even remote monitoring of equipment.

If the central system is moved to the Cloud, how are these interconnections maintained? From a technical standpoint the method of interconnection does not change much. Much like the User changing the link they use to access the solution via a browser, the interconnection is pointed to a different target. This connection does need to be secure as well, but that is typically a simple configuration.

When moving to a SaaS solution, it is a good opportunity to review the feature/functionality of all related solutions to determine if there are any duplicative functions. Very often systems have similar functions, and one will go unused. Having the User community adopt the capabilities in the SaaS solution rather than continuing to maintain a duplicate system may be of value to the business.

If the move from on-prem to the Cloud is with the same solution vendor, then it is highly likely that any customizations performed while on-prem will migrate over to the Cloud environment. Of course, after the move due diligence testing is necessary to ensure the desired functionality is still serving the users as expected. The goal is to deliver the same or better experience for the Users because of the move to the Cloud.

A final complexity consideration is the degree of access the local IT staff needs to the underlying systems. While on-premises, the IT staff could directly access the systems for whatever purpose they needed. When going to the Cloud, the Cloud host normally takes care of the task, or the IT staff will submit a ticket to ask for the task to be performed. As discussed with the security topic above, the roles, responsibilities, and limits placed on the IT staff are clearly spelled out.

Wrap up

TRM has been assisting clients across industries for over 30 years in improving their processes and maximizing the use of their EAM solution. Now with the inclusion of Generative AI solutions in world-class EAM tools such as IBM MAS, the conversation has more nuance to it. Let’s talk about your goals and how we can help you convince the C-level that now is the time to investigate adopting Generative AI solutions to benefit the business in the near and long term.