ASP (SaaS) or License mode?
We will first describe the ASP mode since it is the most widely subscribed form of our suite. If you wish to skip directly to the License mode description, then you may click here.
1. ASP or SaaS, what does it mean to you?
ASP = Application Service Provider.
SaaS = Software as a Service. This acronym has recently taken the lead over the previous one.
In this operating mode, we have:
- on one hand, the service provider, an IT professional who operates a set of application modules on a server hosted in a datacenter, bearing all constraints, whether they be related to hardware and maintenance or to software and regular updates as well as all security devices (physical and logical) required to preserve data integrity,
- on another hand, the user of the application who only needs to own a desktop or portable equipment able to run a browser and an Internet connection.
The Internet connection must have an acceptable speed (avoid modems on switched telephone networks) so that the tasks may be performed in comfortable conditions. It may be found:
- within the company, through its wired or wireless network,
- outside the company, for example at the user's home where the same operations as the ones performed within the enterprise will be possible. The user may also use any equipment made available to him (from a customer, a partner, a cybercafé, ...) or his/her own laptop with WiFi connectivity while in a hotspot (railway station, aiport, hotel, public area offering a free service, ...) or equipped with a "Edge" or "3G/3G+" card or phone.
2. Advantages for the enterprise:
These advantages are provided here in no particular order beacause every entreprise or every user will perceive them in different ways, depending upon the usage they make of the solution.
- On an infrastructure and personnel costs perspective: operating in ASP mode is equivalent to outsourcing whole or part of the IT ressources. This must result in saving on in-house personnel salaries. Furthermore, the IT staff often proves to be difficult to manage for various reasons: their sharp skills are not always fully used, their culture may be quite different from the one of the enterprise and, in a reduced size structure, they may feel like not evolving the way they should and get bored. As far as costs are concerned, in the ASP model, they have both advantages of being predictable and under control and of keeping initial investments to an abolute minimum, which enables the entreprise to better invest in its core activity. A simple browser is all that is needed to trigger the applications power on any type of workstation, whether they be Mac's, PC's, Unix stations. And, be it necessary to swap them for newer equipment, no particular precaution needs being taken as neither the application software nor the data reside locally.
- On a security perspective: very few small size businesses take the appropriate actions to secure their most important asset, information, and to protect it against the various risks it is exposed to: contamination by viruses, data loss as a consequence of hardware failures, back-ups badly or not performed, media kept on location so as exposed to risks as the rest of the equipment, etc. Operating in ASP mode is making sure that all the vital information are secured because the ASP has taken care of all the physical and logical devices that ensure their integrity.
- On a productivity and job quality perpective: operating in ASP mode is equivalent to having centralised one's applications and the data they act upon on a server the access of which is granted to the company employees, according to the role they play within the organisation. In a majority of cases, this centralisation is a bonanza since it serves the company's interests prior to the ones of the individuals. By sharing information, collaborators gain a precious time and produce a better work: errors are minimised, formalism in data capture enables a more rigourous exploitation and consolidation, thus a gain of time when producing reports. A selective sharing of information is also possible with external organisations for some applications. Accordingly, advantages are extended to users communities who partner with the enterprise.
- On a mobility perspective: being able to access one's "virtual office", wherever one may be, is a dramatic improvement for all mobile employees as well as for the excutives brought to travel and willing to stay as close as possible to their business outside the regular working hours. This allows them to be reactive, to better cope with all the administrative tasks they used to accumulate upon their return to the office, and to never be taken by surprise by a prospect or a customer. The agility confered by the hosted solution may soon turn to a competitive advantage since some decisions are taken quickly nowadays. A permanent access to the working environment does not necessarily mean additionnal constraints but rather an increased serenity. It is indeed easier to achieve a fair balance between family and professional lives when having the ability to carry on certain tasks at any moment and in any place if this is justified.
- On a flexibility perspective: Hosted solutions are ideal for testing purposes since the only thing needed is opening an evaluation account for the to be convinced prospect to have an immediate access to all the applications. A few editors, such as Oryanoo, don nor require any commitment as for the contract duration and allow for month to month variations of the number of users, directlu managed by the administrator of the solution according to the needs of the time. Nothing will be charged when establishing nor for cancelling the contract the notice of which is as short as a month. A company whose financial visibility is short term, upon its starting up for example, willnot find a better mean to access to the IT energy!
3. Possible objections and our answers :
Amongst all questions or objections formulated on the ASP operating mode, here are the most frequently expressed and the answers we usually provide:
« I fear that my sensitive data reside on systems located outside my company » : this is legitimate, as well as it is legitimate to provide any bank information over the net. However, millions of transactions are completed every day in the world without any problem. One must only ensure, through questionning, that the ASP has put everything in place in order to ensure security and integrity to your data, i.e.:
- Physical security elements: servers localisation in datacenters equipped with all the required devices, e.g. : 24*7 security personnel, fire alarm and automatic sprinklers, generators, ups, etc.
Logical security elements: firewalls, intrusion detection systems, systems redundancy (clusters), redundant disk arrays (RAID), encryption of communications (SSL protocol), granularity of the access rights management system, login id and password with auto-blocking logic if subsequent failures noticed, ...
« Despite of all those devices, I fear that the ASP themselves may access my data » : there is no unique answer to that question but all of them can be summed up into one unique question to ask oneself: am I ready or not to trust my provider ? If this can help, we will mention here that all accesses are logged and viewable by the system administrator and that only remote help requests will require that the provider accesses the applications.
« What will I be left with in case of contract cancellation or of a failure of my ASP? » : in the latter case, one must ask whether the solution can be provided so as to run on a local server, in your premises. This is the case with Oryanoo. In case of contract cancellation on behalf of the customer, the whole of its data can be migrated with or without help of the ASP. Databases may be exported as flat files (.csv), emails may be downloaded in a mail client (outlook and similar) or written on CD or DVD-roms under the form of an html tree structure. Files residing on the portal or associated to contacts in the database may be accessed and saved locally.
« May I rest my activity on a service the availability of which is vital to me? » The answer is yes, provided that your ASP has engaged the necessary means to maximise the applications availability. Keep away from legal terms the implication of which cannot compare with the cost of the solution but rather interrogate existing customers abour their experience of the matter. When absolutely no service interruption is bearable, Oryanoo will recommend adequate solutions to introduce an adequate degree of redundancy in the Internet access means, which could prove the weakest link in the Applications access chain. For example, Oryanoo will robustify this link with a second Internet access provider and a load balancing device able to switch to the remaining line in case of failure of the other. On another hand, regular version or revision updates performed by the ASP or the installation of new equipement or upgrades on the user side will not affect the applications availability which thus reaches a far better level than the one of the local applications!
4. License mode:
In this operating mode, our customer is in charge of the infrastucture equipment on which our solution runs. It generally is a Linux server or a system that has virtualisation capabilities. Linux must be one of the following distributions: Debyan, Fedora, Red Hat). Our customer must also connect the equipment to the local network and to Internet, protect it against all risks and run regular backups. Depending upon their knowledge, tasks such as the installation, configuration, parameters setting, then on-line administration can be delegated to Oryanoo. To those who do not operate in a Linux environment, Oryanoo will deliver the solution in the form of a virtual machine.
In which case should you opt for the license mode? Reasons may lie in the company policy when, for instance, it is excluded that data could be hosted ouside the premises, or in economical factors when the existing staff and infrastructure are such that no additional cost will incure when the solution is introduced.
The license mode pricing policy at Oryanoo also is an argument when the final customer plans to heavily use the e-mailing and on-line survey tools or when it is anticipated that the disk space will by far exceed the 1 Gb allocated per user in the ASP mode. As examples, here are some configurations and their prices:
10 users, remote administration included, for 120 € per month.
20 users, same conditions as above, for 180 € per month.
Unlimited number of users for 360 € per month, in the same conditions, per server (single or multi-cpu), the application remaining "single domain", no reselling of services being allowed in this pricing model (please contact us for more information).
In the license mode, support included in the above tariffs is limited to the administrator and the backup person. They in turn have to support their own users. However, Oryanoo may propose a support contract aimed at the end users.