Company Imagine
In our company, we moved our entire business to the cloud some time ago, so we do not depend on our own servers and IT staff to maintain them, so we can adjust the infrastructure according to needs.
The company develops and markets desktop products (ERP, CRM, real estate products…), which we sell (On-Premise) or rent (on the customer’s infrastructure or on leased servers), as well as online products, which we market as SaaS ( CRM software, Real Estate Asset Management software – iNep, iFacility,…).
We checked several cloud service providers, which is why we decided on IaaS (infrastructure as a service) for Oracle Corporation. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is considered to be one of the most technologically advanced and secure in the world. The mentioned infrastructure also includes online products that we offer to customers (iNep, iFacility, iDesk…) as SaaS.
When choosing between the On-Premise and Saas option, the latter is more advisable in the long run. Even large reputable corporations that offer both solutions tend to cloud services and reward customers or stimulate if they pass into the cloud.
When choosing a product, the most important things are, of course, its functionality, user-friendliness, and of course the security of the application and its data. Because of the latter, it is important to find out from the SaaS provider who the cloud service provider is, how often data archives are run, and where the data is stored. It is important for EU citizens that data and archives are located in the EU.
It is important that the cloud service provider is not a company with a server “under the table” and that it has the appropriate standards (eg https://www.oracle.com/cloud/cloud-infrastructure-compliance/). Because web applications are accessible over the Internet, are more vulnerable, so it is also very important to have suitable application security. It is recommended (risk reduction) that the SaaS service provider has regulated security standards, e.g. ISO / IEC 27001 (information security management), ISO / IEC 22301 (Business continuity management systems) and regulated application security and data protection, which (in addition to independent external auditors when assessing the mentioned standards) can be proven by intrusive (penetration) tests and written evidence of application security by recognized independent institutions that performed the tests.
SaaS is fast becoming the technology of choice for many businesses in place of traditional on-premises software. There’s no hardware to install or maintain, you simply log in and go. The SaaS software model does give you immediate business benefits with frequent updates, shorter deployment times and independence from IT. So, with all costs considered, SaaS software is generally the cheaper option for many businesses for both short term and the long term.