 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
Computing
in the cloud |
 |
Software as a Service is a new deployment paradigm
made possible by broadband Internet. Kay Ewbank finds
out what it can do for your business. |
|
|
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a term that you've probably been aware of for a couple of years now, but in the past most of the products being offered were aimed at a very specific market. In the last year or so, however, SaaS has entered everyday business use and is no longer the province of CRM, ERP, and other specialist areas; there are even products aimed at home users.
So what is meant by SaaS? 'Normal' software is installed locally ‘on premise’, either on a desktop machine or a server on the company network, and you buy a licence giving each user the right to use it. With SaaS, instead of having software installed locally, at least some elements are accessed from a remote location; and rather than buying a licence that gives you the right to use it indefinitely, you pay a subscription that gives you access for a specific period. You can think of it as software delivered ‘down the pipe’ in the same way as you buy electricity, water and gas.
Gartner defines SaaS as having three essential elements:
1. The application is owned, delivered, and managed remotely by one or more providers;
2. The application is based on single set of common code and data definitions which are consumed in a one-to-many model by all contracted customers at any time;
3. The application is licensed on a pay-per-use or subscription basis.
While this mainstream definition is usually applied to software such as email servers or Web portal hosting, SaaS can be used to describe a wider range of software. Some sources include online software such as Google Apps, with its free email, calendar and online document storage services, as an example of SaaS. Accountancy software such as Sage Live and KashFlow are available online in versions where you pay a monthly fee to use them. Gartner's current estimate is that the overall SaaS market is expected to more than double with SaaS revenue reaching $14.8 billion in 2012.
In many ways, SaaS sounds so sensible you wonder why we don't all get our software that way. SaaS overcomes the main problems faced when providing services such as email, backup and Web portals to users. The software used to provide such systems is large, complex and expensive, and 
My Company Portal gives you access to your Microsoft Online Services account.keeping it running well takes a lot of time and expertise. If you move to having these services provided by SaaS, you get all the benefits of the large system with minimal expense, and without the need to spend time and money maintaining the servers.
This argument is particularly clear for smaller companies or for branch offices. If you've only got a few PCs, you're unlikely to have a full time system administrator; in a lot of cases, the administrator will be the person who knows a little bit more than the other users. People like this don't have the time or the expertise to devote to doing the job properly, so the small company has to make do with a less than perfect setup.
SaaS can also be very cost effective. Software such as email servers and Web portal servers are expensive, and the hardware needed to run them is equally expensive. If the software company brings out a new version of the server software with increased hardware requirements, you have to either buy new kit or fall behind. Most companies run multiple servers running at much less than full capacity to avoid problems of cross-application compatibility and demands, and to avoid the risk of poor performance.
If you use SaaS, the hardware purchase and maintenance is someone else's problem, and all you have to do is pay for the number of users you actually need to connect. There's no building in room for expansion, no upgrading.
Depending on the software you're contemplating, there may be other advantages too. For example, companies providing email servers will usually provide spam filtering at the host, so you don't have to watch all those offers of strange medication clogging up your bandwidth on their way to the local Junk email folders.
Software plus Services
While most companies in this sector offer Software as a Service, Microsoft prefers the term Software-plus-Services. This is based on the fact that increasingly, users want to access information on a range of devices, so that at different times they might view their applications through a browser,
Microsoft Azure
The Azure Services Platform is a cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centres. Currently in beta, it provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together.
Windows Azure itself is a cloud operating system that provides file I/O access as well as hosting applications and services that developers have created. Azure Services Platform includes Live Services which handles synchronisation of data and enables access from any relevant device and application. Underlying the platform is SQL Data Services, a cloud-based database.
Microsoft Visual Studio. There are also SDKs for both Java and Ruby available for download.in standard PC software, on a mobile or even a console. To enable this, Microsoft sees Software plus Services in Windows as including a services component that can be used to store device settings, making it easier for users to access the same application from various devices, or to buy new devices without having to create new settings.
The next element in Microsoft's Software-plus-Services theme is that infrastructure and solutions should extend from the server to the cloud. For many companies, this will mean that some applications will be run and managed within the organisation while others will be run and managed in the cloud.
Which applications run where might change depending on different circumstances. For example, a company might run its own servers for its order processing system for most of the year, but use an external cloud-based service for added capacity to meet extra demand in the run-up to Christmas. The idea would be that with Software-plus-Services, it's easy to move applications back and forth between your own servers and the cloud as necessary.
Clouds and Hosts
Associated with mainstream SaaS is Cloud Computing, though definitions for just what this means vary according to who's talking about it and what they're trying to sell. The term 'cloud' started as a way of describing the Internet, but cloud computing is used to describe anything from the narrow meaning of virtual servers available over the Internet, to anything outside your own network and firewall boundary essentially being cloud based, including conventional outsourcing.
Another term used alongside SaaS is Hosted Services. The most widely used definition of a Hosted Service is that of a combination of the hardware and the applications that run on it, which is very similar to Cloud Computing and SaaS. You could say that the difference comes down to how you pay for the service: in general, with a Hosted Service, you pay for a fixed amount of computing per month irrespective of whether or not you use it, whereas Cloud Computing is more about paying for the amount you use. Just to add to the confusion, many companies who used to sell Hosted Services have simply rebadged their offering as Cloud Computing without changing anything else.
Potential Gotchas
If you're thinking of using SaaS for your company, the main thing to remember is that you are relying on another company for what are probably essential services. If you host your email server in house and it goes down, you can go round to the desk of the person who’s job it is to keep it working and shout at them until they do something about it. If your Web server is running like treacle, you have direct access to someone whose job is to make it work. But to a company providing SaaS, you're just one customer among many, and the contract you sign probably says that if something goes wrong, you get part of that month's subscription back in compensation. That may be a very small consolation if not having your email or Web server available means you lose thousands or tens of thousands of pounds worth of business.
It's also worth looking at the actual terms of the service level agreement (SLA) to see just what constitutes a 'problem'. For example, guaranteed 90 per cent availability means you could lose access to your email for three solid days each month, and the SaaS company would still have met
Where is your data stored?
One question that you should consider when thinking about online or hosted services is the location of your data. EU data protection regulations state that if you store personal information, it must not be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area without adequate protection. If you do plan to transfer information outside the EEA, you need to inform everyone whose information you are storing that you are transferring their information, and get their permission to do so.
Because of this legal requirement, it’s important that you find out exactly where the data centres are that your chosen provider will use. For example, Microsoft has data centres in Dublin and Amsterdam, with other centres in the USA and Singapore. We understand that UK data will under normal circumstances be stored and processed within the EU, but this is not necessarily guaranteed.
Symantec MessageLabs services are delivered across a global network of 14 data centres spanning four continents and claim to comply with US Safe Harbor, European data protection legislation (DPL) and similar regulations world-wide. MessageLabs services adhere to the British Data Protection Act and also comply with EU data protection legislation by guaranteeing that email is processed inside Europe.
Not all hosting companies have EU data centres, however, and even for those that do, problems could arise under circumstances where the EU data centres became unavailable. In order to ensure data availability, most international providers would then use non-EU data centres. If the non-EU centres are in countries covered by agreements such as Safe Harbor in the USA, this should ensure you are still meeting the requirements of the Data Protection Act, but it’s worth checking the small print as you’d still be the one legally responsible if something were to go wrong. its SLA. Availability will generally be for the server as a whole rather than individual mailboxes, and server unavailability caused by problems such as denial of service attacks, mail bombing and other flooding techniques could be excluded.
Whether you prefer the term Hosted Service, Cloud or SaaS, you could still be talking about quite a wide variety of services, some of which are more established than others. For example, many companies have used Web site hosting ever since they created their first Website. It seemed an obvious candidate for outsourcing because of the need for bandwidth to access the sites, along with the complexities of keeping servers and visitor loads balanced.
Hosted data storage took longer to become accepted, but is now seen as pretty much mainstream. The latest development is the general availability of many mainstream applications online. Until quite recently, for example, if you wanted to provide corporate email, your only real choice was to licence a full email server. Recent releases of hosted versions of email, database and Web portal servers have all widened the options.
One other advantage of the increase in mainstream SaaS, Cloud and Hosted services is the opportunities they offer for the software developer. There are a number of interesting APIs either available now or under development that should let developers create applications that fit the SaaS or Hosted model, increasing the range of potential customers. Examples you might look at include Microsoft Azure, SalesForce.Com's Apex and Nirvanix Storage Delivery Network. GoGrid for the SaaS is another API that lets you dynamically provision hosted servers from your own code, while Sonoa's ServiceNet for SaaS aims to provide a way to organise SaaS APIs.
Mainstream Acceptance
So why aren't we all using SaaS? One reason is that until recently, the more mainstream server applications weren't really available in this way, and the companies that were supplying SaaS were smaller and less well known. The arrival of Microsoft in the SaaS market has changed the situation in many people's minds. Grey Matter's Andrew King feels that, "The fact that major players are now coming into the market will make customers more aware of the potential advantages. SaaS is a good option for companies to evaluate and explore when looking for server software." So let’s look at some specific solutions in more depth.
Microsoft
Microsoft Online Servicesin the UK, allowing customers to choose Microsoft Exchange Online with Microsoft Exchange Hosted Filtering, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Office Communications Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. The main collection of products is the Business Productivity Online Suite. This is made up of Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications and Office Live Meeting, and the price for the suite has been set to attract customers to use the full suite rather than simply choosing  Exchange Online. The Business Productivity Online Suite is currently listed at £10.04 per month per user, which is a 38 percent discount compared to the cost of subscribing separately to the individual services.
Microsoft Exchange Online is based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and provides 5GB mailbox storage per user for the standard license, with choices up to 25GB per mailbox.
Microsoft Online Services Administration Center gives you control over your
hosted services.
While BPOS is likely to appeal to companies who want to simplify system administration, Microsoft has also added a product designed to make email and collaboration software affordable for a new group of workers. Deskless Worker Suite is designed for those who currently do not have access to email and collaboration software because their job does not specifically require it. Microsoft estimates that as many as 40 per cent of workers fall into such a category.
The Deskless Worker Suite includes Exchange Online Deskless Worker, which the users will access via Outlook Web Access, and SharePoint Online Deskless Worker. It is a low-cost solution costing £2.01 per month per user. Microsoft also offers Dynamics CRM Online which integrates a suite of marketing, sales and customer service capabilities with Office Outlook. The Microsoft SLA guarantees 99.99 percent availability, and if this is not met companies will be offered a service refund as compensation.
Microsoft Online Services is being offered through partners such as Grey Matter. These partners have been fully trained by Microsoft on BPOS so can offer advice and pricing on any of the offerings. Grey Matter can also provide advice on the pros and cons and pricing comparisons for the traditional ‘on premise’ offerings versus the online alternatives.
Symantec
Symantec recently bought MessageLabs which now enables them to provide a range of hosted messaging and Web security service to protect, control, encrypt and archive communications across Email, Web and Instant Messaging. The result is Symantec Hosted Services which provides Backup and Hosted Mail Security.
According to Symantec, the MessageLabs services differ from the competition through the use of predictive technology, known as Skeptic, to proactively monitor, track and provide protection against emerging messaging and Web threats before they get near the corporate network. Skeptic will use recent threat and reputation information from one protocol, such as email, and apply that knowledge to another protocol, such as Web traffic.
Email security services include Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus, Content Control and Image Control, Policy Based Encryption, Email Archiving and Email Continuity. Web security services include Anti Spyware, Anti-virus, and URL Filtering services to intercept malware, spyware and other Web-borne threats before they reach customers networks. Companies can monitor and control Internet use and enforce acceptable usage policies. Symantec also offers the Symantec Protection Network which provides online storage and online backup.
All of the MessageLabs services are charged on a per user, per month basis, and discounts are based on the number of users and number of services provided.
Websense
Another company offering hosted services in this arena is Websense with hosted versions of its security software. Websense Hosted Email Security uses the company’s ThreatSeeker Network to monitor and analyse emerging threats, both with regards to virus attack and spam. To quote the company’s Web site, ThreatSeeker Network is “a network of technology and human intelligence that creates an adaptive feedback network that uses more than 50 million real-time data collection systems to parse one billion pieces of content daily.” Websense Email Security also allows users to set policies for outgoing mail, so preventing the loss of sensitive data and achieving better levels of corporate governance. It is based on Blackspider MailControl which the company acquired when it purchased SurfControl in 2007.
As its name suggests, Websense Hosted Web Security is the hosted version of Websense’s Web Security product which blocks access to Web sites deemed dangerous by the company’s ThreatSeeker Network, so protecting you from spyware, botnets and phishing attacks. Based on Blackspider WebDefense, the service is particularly aimed at smaller companies who do not have the resources to support an in-house solution.
Simply Mail Solutions
Simply Mail Solutions has a range of hosted solutions including Exchange and SharePoint Services. The Exchange Services include Outlook Web Access and a choice of Outlook 2003 or 2007, along with support for Windows Mobile and BlackBerry so your users can read their emails on their mobile devices. Simply Mail Solutions offers either 1Gb of disk space per mailbox, or 2Gb with Exchange Executive. Pricing for Exchange is either £5.99 per month per mail box or there's an annual account that works out at £4.99 a month. Larger organisations can get larger discounts.
Customers using Simply Mail Solutions for Exchange hosting can also make use of Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. This lets users create of a single workspace for teams to coordinate schedules, organise documents and participate in discussions. SharePoint Services comes with 40 Microsoft templates to help set up portals covering business areas such as HR, IT operations, marketing or industry specific applications. Simply Mail Solutions believes its customers will benefit from adding SharePoint hosting to their existing Exchange Server hosting as it removes the need for local maintenance of servers and involves no capital cost for the customer.
Simply Mail Services guarantees 99.9 per cent Exchange Server availability, measured on a calendar-month basis, and refunds a percentage of the monthly fee in the event of problems. For example, if you have between 99.0 and 99.9 per cent availability, you'd receive a 5 per cent credit of your monthly fee.
Oracle
Oracle is another big name company that is moving into SaaS, both for their ERP and CRM software, and in development opportunities. This March, Oracle announced Oracle Sourcing On Demand, a SaaS module for handling the purchase of supplies and services. The new product is a SaaS version of components from Oracle's ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, E-Business Suite Release 12. Oracle's CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software has been 
Oracle Sourcing On Demand combines components from Oracle’s ERP and CRM software.available in on-demand license models for some time.
While pricing information is 'on application', Oracle estimates that the On Demand model helps their customers reduce total cost of ownership by 30 to 80 per cent.
In addition to the On Demand licenses for ERP and CRM, Oracle has a SaaS Platform based on Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle Enterprise Manager, and Oracle VM which is designed to let Oracle Partners develop and offer to offer on-demand software custom applications. The Oracle Software-as-a-Service Initiative can be used by Oracle developers to gain access to information, tools and resources while designing applications that will run as SaaS and cloud-based applications. See ‘Inside Oracle’ on page 9 for further details.
Salesforce's online CRM service offers strong reporting facilities.
SalesForce CRM
SalesForce CRM is available in a Web-based version providing support for sales, service, marketing and call centre operations. The SaaS product is available in multiple editions starting at less than £5 per user per month, with more-advanced solutions from around £45 per user per month.
SalesForce CRM comes in a number of versions. There's a Personal Edition aimed at individual sales reps, and a Developer Edition that can be used by ISVs wanting to create applications based on SalesForce. The Group Edition is aimed at small teams, while Professional Edition adds scalability along with security and sharing controls. Enterprise Edition is designed for larger or more complex businesses and can be configured to manage multiple divisions and to integrate with other systems.
The top of the range is Unlimited Edition which provides the most options for customisation and extension.
In addition to SaaS, SalesForce offers developers Platform as a Service (PaaS). This lets developers make their SalesForce applications available on a cloud computing model. SalesForce PaaS provides the infrastructure needed to run the applications over the Internet.
Adobe
Adobe Photoshopand Premiere are both available with a SaaS component; and Photoshop Express is fully Web-based.
Acrobat Connect Pro provides Web conferencing and eLearning. The software lets you set up online collaborative meetings that run in the Web browser using Adobe Flash Player. The videoconferencing facilities include shared screens, personal meeting rooms and the ability to control access to meetings and related assets. One nice touch is the ability to have a 'persistent room'. Each team member is assigned a URL that is their own personal meeting room.
When used as a virtual classroom, Connect can be configured for either taught or self-paced courses, with simulations, quizzes and student interaction. In addition to virtual classrooms, the service provides tools for creating the content, managing it once created, and carrying out curriculum management and tracking. All of this is available in versions that you host and manage locally, but Adobe also sells a hosted, SaaS installation of Connect for companies who don't want to run their own installation.
Scene 7 is another Adobe product that is available in a SaaS format. This is software designed to manage 'rich media and dynamic imaging'. Here ‘rich media’ means high-quality, interactive content, while ‘dynamic imaging’ is content that can be interacted with, manipulated and distributed in multiple ways and in multiple locations from a single image or piece of content.
The future for SaaS
MindManagermind-mapping technology that lets users capture, organise, and communicate information. MIndJet Connect extends this using the SaaS model to let groups of users collaborate in real time over the Web, allowing users to collaborate with anyone from virtually anywhere.
Offering a rather different approach, VMware has just announced vSphere 4, which it describes as “the industry’s first cloud operating system”. Building on VMware’s existing virtualisation technologies, the idea is to turn your IT infrastructure into a ‘private’ or ‘internal cloud’ which can then be deployed to either internal hardware or to external clouds in whatever fashion best suits your business needs. VMware CEO Paul Moritz, previously of Microsoft, claims this is a much more flexible solution that gives customers more choice and more control.
Whether you call it cloud computing, hosted services or Software as a Service, this is a very new industry. It can undoubtedly offer huge benefits, particularly to smaller businesses where the cost and effort of running a reliable IT service in-house can be a major headache. On the other hand, outsourcing mission-critical applications and the handling of sensitive data brings new risks that must be taken into account. Certainly, we can expect to see some interesting developments in the near future.
|
|
KAY EWBANK
Kay is a database consultant specialising in EIS, financial analysis and GIS systems. While much of her work is based in London, being a consultant gives her the freedom to sail, travel and help out as a part-time sheep farmer.
kaye@hardcopymag.com
|
|
|
Find out more...
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Copyright © 1983-2010 Grey Matter Ltd. All rights reserved. |
 |
|
 |
|
|