With all of the buzz about the "Cloud," it's always astonishing to see how hosting is not considered during many IT sourcing initiatives.  Cloud, by the way, means a lot of different things to a lot of different organizations and people, so I would like to start by going on the record that I am adamantly against that term and wish everyone would just describe what they mean when they are discussing hosted services.  But back to the point at hand: with so many ways to buy software today (SaaS, license only, license + support, license + support + hosting, etc.), it's easy to forget that hosting may be a component of a licensing buy.  And even when it's considered, it can be challenging to decipher and compare each supplier's various licensing models.

So why has the hosting landscape become so cumbersome and complex?  Probably because IT loves buzz words and SaaS was getting old.  Also, many software firms are leveraging the same hosting environments typical enterprise end users would in order to create new revenue streams by providing layers of value add service on top of the hosting component such as implementation services, maintenance, and support.  Irrespective, it's important to understand the hosting options you may have for each software rollout and what its implications may be on your budget and how the application will be managed.

First, it's important to understand the types of environments that may be a part of your hosting requirements.

  1. Hosted on a dedicated server: real, physical hardware will be dedicated to your application or applications.  Management and support may or may not be included in this cost and may be included by the provider or managed by your staff.  Upgrades may require significant costs for new equipment from the provider. In some cases, you may be able to choose your own third party provider.

  2. Hosted on a virtual server: your hosted environment will be virtual on a larger, physical platform.  Capacity can be scalable and elastic with incremental cost for additional capacity.  Management and support may or may not be included in this cost and may be included by the provider or managed by your staff.  In some cases, you may be able to choose your own third party provider.

  3. SaaS: Hosting, maintenance, and support will be behind the scenes and the responsibility of the provider.  Think of it as buying a login and access to an application.

  4. License only: you will be responsible for providing the hardware, power, HVAC, space, security, bandwidth, etc. to host the application.
In my next article, I will provide additional detail on what questions are important to ask when buying software in order to prepare you for the related hosting requirements and costs.  In the meantime, for help approaching your upcoming IT sourcing projects, contact Source One at www.sourceoneinc.com






Share To:

David Pastore

Post A Comment:

0 comments so far,add yours