Cloud Apps and SaaS: Business Continuity vs Cheap Connectivity

I often look into getting databases or applications hosted for clients. Resilience and reliability are generally the key drivers for this and for sure, a secure data centre is safer than a standard server in a typical office. I have looked at some further pros and cons in an earlier article.

As a result of its popularity, there is a trend for more use by small business of SaaS (Software as a Service) and hosted, or web based applications generally, including hosted Exchange and hosted CRM - the IoD is pushing both of these for its small business members.

But ... internet connections are not getting better, due to cost there is a major resistance to leased lines and in many cases ADSL is just not good enough - response times to fix problems at exchanges and questionable technical support services should often rule out ADSL as a connection that a business depends upon.

As soon as you move your critical data off site, the internet connection probably becomes mission critical, however, an ADSL line is probably far more vulnerable and may well take longer to get repaired than a server in your office.

Therefore, if you are a small business moving towards hosted applications but don't want to spend thousands every year on leased lines, you need to consider alternatives:

• 3G data via a mobile network - as well as 3G cards for PCs and laptops, there are some business firewalls that will take a 3G data card and provide a cost effective 'fall-back'.
• WiMax - a wireless based internet service provision for business. These are becoming available in major cities, provide really good SLAs and excellent resilience at about the same cost as SDSL.
• It's normally regarded as waste of time having two ADSL lines as they are likely to come from the same exchange, however, if you can get a second cable based DSL, this can make a good backup.
• A more dispersed workforce - encourage home working or at least provide the facility for staff to do so as part of a DR plan.

Other articles and information:
An article on Business Continuity and SaaS by John Gannon
Salesforce.com
Urban WiMax

Comments

[Hosted Exchange]

Hosted Exchange Keep It Up! Thanks.

[Alain Yap, Morph Labs]

What good are SaaS and Cloud-based solutions without connectivity?

It is something people take for granted, that's for sure.

Best.
Alain Yap
Morph Labs

[Elliott Rosenthal]

An internet connection will never be able to guarantee the level of service that some implementations demand. One could say exactly the same about the power grid over 100 years from its widespread adoption. I do not see this as a weakness, simply a potential trade-off.

Given that the most compelling reason to switch to the cloud is
to lower costs and reduce the burden on technical staff I think the recommendation to multi-home may be misplaced.

I think Google may have found the correct solution with its off-line caching facility. It effectively allows users to trickle their 'mission critical' cloud data back to a local cache and then, in the event of an internet outage, seamlessly direct database calls locally.

Regards,
Elliott

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Impressive blog! -Arron