SaaS Versus On-PremiseDeployment Reality

David S. Linthicum

Abstract

Some of the issues that need analysis when making a cloud/nocloud decision include analysis of the costs, understanding the
use cases, looking at security and governance, and the value of
time-to-market and agility. The idea is to weigh the positives
and the negatives, understand the core metrics, and then make
a decision based upon the best available information.
Well explore how to understand the deployment realities when
considering an on-premises versus SaaS solution. Well
suggest a decision model and step-by-step process to define
the core metrics for the decision, and provide some helpful
experiences from the trenches from those who have made
these critical calls in the last several years.
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Agenda

Step 1: Comparing Costs

Step 2: Understanding Use Cases

Step 3: Considering Security

Step 4: Considering Time-to-Market and Agility
Step 5: Pulling the Trigger
Step 6: Considering Operations

Not an Easy Decision

Step 1: Comparing Costs

Many Moving Parts

Source: TechNet

Cost Advantages of On-Premise

Organizations that have pre-invested in a large amount of

hardware and software, without any way to recover that
capital.

Organizations under regulations that require that information

reside on private and tightly controlled hardware and
software.
Organizations where the cost of SaaS services for
comparable on-premise systems are exorbitant.
Organizations that do not have a culture that will readily
accept the use of software systems not owned and controlled
by the company.

Cost Advantages of SaaS

The ability to operate at

a lower cost of
production.
The ability to reduce
risk.
The ability to shift
around technology
changes.
Time-to-market.
Business agility.
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Example: Cumulative Total Cost Comparison for SaaS and On-Premise Mid-market with 100 Users

Source: The TCO Advantages of SaaS-Based Budgeting, Forecasting & Reporting,

Hurwitz & Associates, 2010, Aggarwall and McCabe.

Step 2: Understanding Use Cases

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SaaS Use Cases

Utility services are services that perform specific

tasks related to the management of computer
functions, resources, or files, memory
management, virus protection, file compression,
etc., and these utility software services can be
delivered using a SaaS model.

Management services are SaaS services that

focus on managing software systems, either
those that exist on public or private clouds, or
traditional systems that exist on-premise.
Middleware services are software services that
are built specifically to facilitate communications
with one or more on-premise or cloud-based
systems or data stores.

Business services are true applications that are

delivered as a service. This is what most people
think of when they consider SaaS-based
providers.

Security services are services such as

encryption and identity management that allow
you to manage access to the SaaS-based
system.

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Step 3: Considering Security

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Understanding the Basics

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The Process

Understanding your security

requirements for a specific
system and/or data store.
Understanding that
controlled access is much
more important than the
location of the data.
Vulnerability testing is an
absolute necessity.

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Control does not Mean Security

According to Alert Logic's Fall 2012 State of Cloud Security Report:
Variations in threat activity are not as important as where the
infrastructure is located.
Anything that can be possibly accessed from outside -- whether
enterprise or cloud -- has equal chances of being attacked, because
attacks are opportunistic in nature.

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Step 4: Considering Time-to-Market and Agility

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The Value of Agility

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The Value of Time-To-Market

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Step 5: Pulling the Trigger

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Its all about the execution

Understand your business case.

Understand your requirements.
Understand your user.
Understand the technology.
Understand the migration
strategy.
Understand the risks.
Understand what success
means.

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Path to the clouds

Path to clouds: start
with the requirements
Understand:
Mission drivers
Information under
management
Existing services under
management
Core business
processes
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Step 6: Considering Operations

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Cloud Operations? Its Not What You Think

Source: Rackspace
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