Online Cloud vs On-premise – ERP Business Management System | Software Solution

Talk about the Cloud is everywhere, and so are cloud buzzwords, which can result in confusion and misconceptions. Here is a brief discussion of the more common terms:

Licensing options: Subscription or Perpetual

• Subscription: The company pays an annual or monthly charge to use the software license. Upgrades to the software are usually included in the subscription price.
• Purchase (or Perpetual): These terms refer to when a company BUYS a software license. The company pays to owns the license and also pays an annual maintenance fee for upgrades.

Deployment options: On Premises, Hosted, or SaaS

• On Premises (or In House): The company is responsible for the infrastructure (hardware, system software, communication hardware, software on user devices, etc.) and the deployment of the application software (implementation, support, upgrading, etc.)
• Hosted: The company or hosting provider buys a license for the software. The hosting provider manages most, if not all, of the infrastructure and software deployment as described above. The hosting provider can be an independent company or a division of the company itself. Hosting is one way to outsource IT operations.
• Software as a Service (SaaS): This method of deployment is a combined software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and hosted by the software provider, all for a single price that is typically a fixed amount. In many cases the software provider uses a Public Cloud for the hosting.

Private Cloud and Public Cloud

• Private cloud is privately owned and maintained by the company or a hosting provider. Based on business requirements or regulations, sometimes this may be the only option.
• Public cloud is owned by a service company, such as Microsoft, IBM or Amazon. The service provides all the hardware, load balancing, backup and security.
• Hybrid cloud is a blended approach with a mix of on-premises, private cloud and third-party, public cloud services.

Multi-Tenancy and Single-Tenancy

• Multi-tenancy is where the Cloud software provider has single instance (version) of software on a server and serves multiple tenants (customers) simultaneously.
• Single-tenancy is where each customer has their own application and data base.
• Cost Savings

• • It is believed that multi-tenancy reduces the cost for the software provider, which is absolutely true for cloud apps that are quickly purchased and downloaded like Pandora, Facebook, etc.
  • For Cloud ERP, the cost savings are insignificant when compared to providing the server hardware, operating system, and database; development of the very sophisticated ERP programs; sales and marketing required; and on-going support.
• Flexibility is reduced when you share the same program with many others. The impact may be loss of control in:
  • Customization and tailoring
  • Upgrading schedules

Thin Client and Web Services

• A Thin Client, in cloud terms, is any device (PC, tablet or phone) that requires NO application or communication software to be downloaded. Any thin client can access the application from anywhere, similar to a web page.
• Web Services are simply application components. They are designed for and used on the Web. Common examples are apps on a mobile phone, such as a weather app. Business applications may include zip code look up, sales tax calculation, or much more sophisticated applications.