What You Should Know Before Choosing Software Hosting
October 28th, 2009 by Lois MelbourneGuest Post By Tony McDonald, Manager of Information Systems at Aquire
The first challenge you’ll face in software hosting is wading through the very poorly defined list of terms people use in an attempt to label this very nebulous suite of offerings. Some people talk about Software as a Service (SaaS), others will try to convince you that they have the best solution because it’s built on “Cloud Computing,” yet others will push Software + Services, or a hosted solution. Is your head spinning yet?
We don’t have time in this posting to wade through the naming nightmare, so I’ll trust you to accept that I’m talking about all of the above mentioned names.
More important than the name are the end results. What are you getting for your money and time? Is the software going to help make your business successful? Will the vendor provide stellar service to insure the success of the project? We’re going to assume you’ve selected a product that delivers the required functionality. Big leap of faith here, but we’ll also assume that you’ve found a provider who will step up and help insure your company’s success through stellar service and support.
Let’s look at the benefits and disadvantages of hosting. Please keep in mind that the list below is a generalization and your mileage may vary depending on where you are headed and who is behind the wheel.
Pros:
- Much quicker to deploy than traditional in-house software projects
- Ongoing updates are delivered with much less effort than in-house software
- Minimal if any investment in infrastructure – reducing project startup costs
- No additional overhead for internal IS to support additional systems
- Cost is spread out instead of up front (You end up paying only for what you use)
- Training is usually easier because demonstration systems are immediately available
Cons:
- Often not as easy to customize as an in-house software project
- Software data is housed at the vendor’s location and you are relying on them to maintain a secure and stable environment
- Greater risk should the provider get out of the business of providing hosted software
- May not be as tightly integrated with existing software systems as an in house solution
Summary:
Your vendor will be the key to a successful deployment. Ask a few questions before diving in. Have they been around long? Do they have any reference customers for the service you are purchasing? Be specific in your requests. Do they have any training references? Do they have any references from a company that struggled during deployment? It’s vital to understand how your vendor deals with difficulties during deployment.
As the methods of deployment change, the reasons IS/IT projects fail remain the same. All the things on the business side of your project that might cause an in-house solution to fail will also cause a hosted solution to fail.
Stay focused on your company’s business goals. Don’t let the cloud of “Cloud Computing” obscure your view of those goals. It can be an expedient and price friendly way to deploy a new solution, but be sure it aligns to your business first.
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