Sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke had three laws for the future - one of which immediately came to mind when SAP released HANA in 2011:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Recently in SaaS Category
Six years ago, businesses considering colocation wanted to know all about the physical infrastructure - the hardware, the cooling, the facility itself. While those features are still very relevant today, we're seeing a move toward conceptual, strategic needs driving colocation decisions.
No longer are businesses focused exclusively on what is in your data center. They also want to know who is in your data center and how relationships within this data center can support their high-level business objectives.
Are independent software vendors (ISVs) prepared for the next generation of service integration and intermediation?
Over the last several years we have discussed the opportunities and challenges of moving to a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. At Savvis, we have spoken to hundreds of software companies and each seems to be at various stages of their SaaS migration. Some have built out their own infrastructure because a cloud service did not exist when they were going to market or they jumped, feet first, into a cloud platform and are now reaping the benefits. For whatever reason, the choice was made and execution began.
So now we're in early 2012 and ISVs are evaluating or re-evaluating their prior infrastructure decisions. SaaS is going through a metamorphosis. That is, ISVs are looking for new channels to market and having someone else sell their Software-as-a-Service on their behalf. If, as an ISV, you haven't already begun planning for intermediation, aggregation, integration and trust, you need to.
Let me start in reverse order: You must find a cloud platform that you can trust. It isn't just about you trusting the infrastructure on which your application is running, but also about what your customers need. Your enterprise customers are evaluating the application AND they want the peace-of-mind of knowing that their application is running on enterprise-grade infrastructure and that the cloud provider hosting it has the experience to manage and secure their cloud effectively and efficiently. Enterprises also want to know that the application can scale appropriately in the cloud and can grow and expand globally.
Enterprises also need applications that integrate with legacy applications and infrastructure. The best way to achieve this is for you to run your application in a data center where your customers already have a footprint. Instead of trying to integrate applications over the Internet, it makes sense to place your application with a service provider that has network experience and a global backbone so that data can be manipulated securely with private connectivity. A simple example of this is a cross-connect. A cross-connect offers off-Internet connectivity where data can be prioritized through quality-of-service.
Your application will also need a robust set of APIs. Over the next several years, your application will be driven through a set of services, such as user access, billing, monitoring, management and auto-scaling, just to name a few.
Another consideration is aggregation. You want to run your application in a cloud where other applications are running. When your cloud provider hosts a broad and comprehensive set of business applications, it makes it easier to integrate with the services that your enterprise customers demand.
Lastly, if you haven't already, you need to begin thinking about intermediation. In the future, you may be considering new channels to market and need assistance accessing enterprise customers or maybe you are considering going down-market into the small and medium business (SMB) space. Your cloud provider should be able to assist you with this.
Innovation is everywhere, and focusing on your application and expanding it to meet future needs will bode well for the future of your software business. I look forward to your comments.
Larry Steele is technical vice president, Software-as-a-Service, at Savvis, a CenturyLink company.
The Savvis blog officially relaunched exactly one year ago today. We wiped the slate clean and leaned on some of the brightest minds in the industry to share their thoughts on everything from cloud to colocation to horseless carriages (true story; click here if you don't believe me).
In honor of the one-year anniversary, it felt appropriate to highlight the posts that have been read the most over the past 12 months. If you've been following the blog since the start, you may want to revisit these highlights. If you're a newcomer, there are some gems here that are worth a read.
Thank you for reading. We look forward to continuing to serve as a source of industry news on key topics and critical issues in 2012. If you have any suggestions for topics, comments, etc., send an email to cloud@savvis.com or contact us through Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Savvis.
And now (drumroll please), here are the top 10 posts of the past year, listed in chronological order:
Cloud computing in Singapore set to expand alongside Asia economic growth
Feb. 8, 2011
By Mark Smith, managing director, Asia
Public sector IT and the winter at Valley Forge
March 1, 2011
By David Shacochis, vice president, global public sector
April 19, 2011
Guest post by David Kelly, chief technology officer, enterprise, at Thomson Reuters
What is your company's mobile strategy?
May 10, 2011
By Kevin Conway, global director, consumer brands
Beyond the data centre SLA: The end-user view of Web applications
June 2, 2011
By Steve Falkus, product marketing director, hosting and cloud services
Five security questions to ask your cloud provider
June 29, 2011
By Ed Moyle, senior security strategist
What to look for in a SaaS infrastructure services provider
July 21, 2011
By Larry Steele, technical vice president, Software-as-a-Service
Big data: Information security downsides (and upsides too!)
Aug. 3, 2011
By Ed Moyle, senior security strategist
5 critical assessments your organizations must complete before moving to cloud
Oct. 3, 2011
By Steve Garrou, vice president, outsourcing and cloud services
5 free security tools every cloud user should know about
Dec. 19, 2011
By Ed Moyle, senior security strategist
What key considerations should you look for when evaluating SaaS solution vendors? We obviously think of the business requirements as the starting point. However, when you are evaluating a SaaS vendor, how often do you ask about their infrastructure or cloud services? When you evaluate a SaaS solution, there are some key areas that I believe you should focus on.
Security
First, what are the security requirements? Can the SaaS vendor prove that they are SAS 70 compliant? SaaS vendors should use reputable colocation or hosting providers that follow strict guidelines and audits. Ask questions about who is managing and operating their network connectivity, firewalls, log file management, web application firewalls and access and identity management. If they answer "multiple providers," you should probe deeper here, because when there is a problem (and there will be a problem), how they respond to the issue depends on the number of third parties that are involved through resolution. Also ask for information about the colocation provider's facilities. How are they secured? Where are they located? ... just to name a few.
Flexibility
Next, how flexible is the SaaS solution? Can the SaaS vendor offer additional services like private network connections to legacy systems, shared or private compute services and various storage options? These examples seem obvious, but I'll bet you will find those who have rigid offerings because they have partnered with a service provider with limited capabilities.
SLAs
Another area that needs to be evaluated is the SaaS vendor's SLA policy. What is the architecture of their SaaS solution? Is the SaaS solution fault-tolerant and does it have the right redundancy in place in case of a failure? The answers to these questions usually come out during the negotiation process and while finalizing agreements. This is too late. The definition of SLAs needs to be identified earlier in the evaluation phase. Furthermore, SLAs should be aligned with the cloud provider that they are running on.
Disaster Recovery
Disaster recovery is another area that is overlooked or is treated as just a checkbox. There are many important pieces during a disaster. How often do they test their disaster and recovery process and procedures? Are their employees geographically dispersed? Is their infrastructure dispersed? When it comes to the infrastructure, some cloud providers have very different infrastructure implementations in various geographies. Make sure your SaaS vendor's solution is the same across all geographies and that they test their processes regularly.
Global Reach
Lastly, as I just mentioned above, is to inquire about geographies. Can the SaaS solution meet your current and expanding global needs? Has the SaaS vendor partnered with a cloud services provider that offers cloud services around the globe? This is extremely important if performance is critical or the data must be stored within a particular geography.
Good luck on implementing your next SaaS solution, and I hope you find these tips helpful as you evaluate vendors.
