Cloud and On-Premise System Integration.

Many businesses are considering their move to SaaS from their on-premise systems. This is a decision that needs carful consideration. It is also a decision on how much of your current processes and data do you want to move onto cloud-based systems and how much would you want to keep on-premise, creating a hybrid system. There are many reasons these systems exist, Laws can require you to keep certain types of data and information stored behind firewalls provided in your on-premise system, whilst other data would need quickly accessing between offices around the globe and kept up to date in real time, which is where your cloud system would be used. There are many other factors to consider from a technical standpoint also, as you need to ensure your on-premise system and SaaS apps work well together. Below are a few points to consider.

What is the cost?

There is more to consider with costs than how much you will be paying for your SaaS apps. In hybrid systems you cloud provider will often consider extra features you will need which will be added to your price, such as if you are using gateways will you need secure ports? This will incur costs. Depending on the data flow between the on-premise and SaaS apps will also be included in extra costs as well. It will also incur extra costs if the integration between the systems is not as straight forward as you first thought which leads into the next point…

How will your systems connect?

One of the big drawback f on-premise systems is they’re a fixed piece of technology in an ever-advancing market. By this I mean if your system was installed 10 years ago and it hasn’t been touched since, the programming language behind the system and the software or its versions will be 10 years behind current systems. When considering your integration, you need to consider that your current system may need to be upgraded before being able to properly work and communicate with your new SaaS apps. This could be very tricky in older systems due to, the original programmer may not be available or documentation on how the system was built could be lost.

There are options you could consider with this if upgrading is not an option. You could introduce a layer between your systems such as a client gateway, this would allow your current system to transfer its data to the cloud system and vice versa. This however comes with added implementation costs, the need for more secure ports to your cloud system as even more added layers of security, all taking more time and incurring more costs.

How will the systems work together?

A big consideration is how much of your current work processes will be moved onto the cloud servers and how will that effect business. During a project for example, the procurement of services for a new piece of hardware for the business would have multiple steps and layers to the process.

There would be initial scoping, research, costs analysis, benefits reviews all done on-premise between the project team and procurement team. Then sign off would be needed to approve the purchase within the business before a purchase order can be raised from the finance team, the procurement team would then be able to purchase the hardware for the project team to install and use.

With a hybrid system all these processes need to be able to flow from one to the next to not hold up anything within the business, you need to consider what needs to be done on-premise and which of these processes would be best suited to your SaaS apps. This would need to be done for all your processes across the entire organization.

Is it worth it?

Most often the answer will be yes! SaaS apps and cloud-based systems have enabled businesses to interact with global audiences, reach and set up in places once considered impossible. In a hyperconnected world, Cloud technology has allowed us to communicate information seamlessly across countries and time-zones enabling businesses to do more, whilst giving flexibility and scalability which lines with their organization.

If you want to know more about how your business could benefit from an integrated system get in touch!