Logicworks Managed Hosting Solutions

Landing your first big client is often the most exciting and also the scariest moment for any growing business. The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) industry is providing a new playing field for service and application development companies. Small, flexible SaaS providers are now able to compete in an arena previously dominated by the software giants. Here at Logicworks we have supported many application developers through this process and we are familiar with the unique set of demands and concerns associated with enterprise-level SaaS deployments.

SaaS offerings are typically browser-based and on-demand. This means that the client does not have to worry about installing the application on servers in their own data center that would require support from the internal IT department. It also means that customers can add as many end users and as much data as their business requires, and count on the application to scale up gracefully and seamlessly to meet these needs without any interruption in service.

These benefits make it very easy for a new client to adopt your service and they give you a competitive advantage against legacy software products that require major infrastructure and staffing investments. However, once you land a large commercial client, it becomes your responsibility to provide a scalable, secure, and enterprise-grade service including infrastructure, support, and compliance. Here are some best practices for delivering an excellent product.

Three Words: “Redundant Redundant Redundant”
Your clients are going to be dependent on your application for critical business needs, so your application cannot be dependent on any one piece of hardware. You will need to have a scheme for redundant Internet connectivity, preferably with multiple upstream providers. Your entire core infrastructure (Switches, Routers, Firewalls, Load-Balancers, VPN) will need a documented fail-over process. Layers of servers in your architecture must be redundant: Web servers must be load-balanced, application servers must be built in pairs, and you will need a high-availability database design (read more here about high-availability database designs).

Security

Doing business with an enterprise client, especially for finance or healthcare related projects, means being able to provide evidence of industry best practices for security and compliance (read more about typical compliance and security issues here). Be prepared to offer tours of your facilities, including your data centers, and answer security questionnaires regarding physical access to servers, intrusion prevention, data management, and internal practices for screening members of your staff who have access to sensitive data. If you are outsourcing parts of your service like hosting or credit card processing, choose vendors who will assist you when you are vetted by a new client. Logicworks understands these requirements and provides a written agreement detailing how we assist SaaS clients in pitching their service to new clients including data center tours, security surveys, discovery, and confidentiality.

Single Tenant vs. Multi-Tenant

Will you build dedicated infrastructure resources for each client, or will you build a large multi-tenant environment that is shared by all your clients? Single-tenancy environments are a one-to-one technology relationship with your customer end user. The upside is that your entire hosting infrastructure is dedicated to an individual business customer. All resources can be tweaked to support specialized needs, and the environment can demonstrate a clear chain of custody for the customer’s data. The downside is that single-tenancy does not provide economies of scale and requires your customers are able to support the cost of a dedicated infrastructure.

In a multi-tenancy environment, multiple customer end users are commingled in a single hosted infrastructure. The upside is that economies of scale are more easily realized, and that only a single code-base for the application needs to be supported in a production environment. The downside is that it may be more arduous to achieve regulatory compliance, and that any single customer end user can potentially cause service issues for all other customers.

Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) and Customer Expectations

A satisfied customer is one whose expectations have been set correctly. Does your product include 24x7x365 support? Will you support individual users within your client’s company? Will you support problems that stem from issues with their desktop computers? Will you provide training? Make sure that your SLA is very specific about your responsibilities and your client’s responsibilities. Double-check that your client understands the scope of your service and that they have the internal resources to fulfill their end of the bargain.

“Build based on your observations, not your aspirations.”

This is Logicworks’ motto when it comes to infrastructure design. Build a system based on your current needs, not your projections. This is the key to gaining early profitability and putting a smile on the face of your CFO. You should have a detailed plan that covers the logistics, turn-around time, and cost required to upgrade to your next phase, but there’s no reason to execute this plan until you have the appropriate revenue-base in place for your product. This is perhaps the most compelling case for outsourcing in the SaaS marketplace. With a top-notch vendor you can minimize time-to-production and the up-front costs associated with major upgrades. This way you can stay ‘lean and mean’ until you have a contract singed and it’s time to pull the trigger on the next phase of your plan.

If you would like to discuss a phased SaaS hosting deployment at Logicworks, contact our sales department and ask for a proposal from one of our specialists.