6 Reasons To Host Your SAAS Application in a Private Cloud
Today, many companies use software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to improve productivity and streamline operations. SaaS applications have completely changed how firms operate in recent years. They offer immediate access to powerful software tools and services without costly infrastructure expenditures.
SaaS applications have consequently become an essential component of the contemporary business landscape. Organisations use them for various tasks, including project management platforms and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. As a result, the need for reliable and secure hosting solutions has increased.
Private cloud hosting has been popular for those seeking increased cloud scalability and flexibility and retaining total control over their data and applications. However, public cloud providers' on-demand resources and pay-as-you-go pricing models provide unmatched scalability and flexibility. Nevertheless, public cloud hosting has various drawbacks, particularly in data security and compliance, making it favorable for businesses to consider private cloud hosting.
Why host your SaaS product in a Private Cloud?
Instead of hosting software programes’ on-premise, organisations can access them via the Internet thanks to the SaaS cloud-based distribution model. Primarily, companies have two choices for hosting SaaS applications in the cloud: public or private.
This article focuses on the private cloud, an organisation-specific cloud computing infrastructure. In other words, unlike public cloud hosting that allows sharing of computing resources, the infrastructure in a private cloud is not shared with other companies.
Private cloud hosting is a popular option for companies that want high levels of security and compliance since it allows for more control, security, and customizability. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), spending on compute and storage infrastructure products for cloud deployments, including dedicated and shared IT environments, increased 24.7% year over year in the third quarter of 2022. Spending on cloud infrastructure continues to outgrow the non-cloud segment as well.
Why, therefore, is SaaS hosting on a private cloud so crucial?
The infrastructure on which SaaS applications are hosted determines how well they perform.
Businesses can access dedicated resources through private cloud hosting, providing top performance and dependability.
According to a Leaseweb Global research of 500 UK IT professionals, 23% use private cloud infrastructure to attain the best performance. For instance, managed private cloud hosting enables companies to scale resources up or down per their requirements, assuring peak performance at all times.
Additionally, different businesses have different needs for hosting SaaS applications. Therefore, firm owners can tailor their company infrastructure by deploying private cloud hosting to suit their demands. For instance, private cloud hosting enables businesses to optimise their infrastructure using various hardware and software choices, such as dedicated servers, virtual machines, and storage systems.
Furthermore, SaaS application hosting can be complicated. It may require specialised knowledge and expertise. The State of Cloud research by Pluralsight Skills involving 1000 tech leaders and technologists across industries revealed that only 8% of technologists have extensive experience working with cloud-related tools. Fortunately, private cloud hosting companies offer organisations specialised support teams, ensuring they have access to the requisite knowledge and expertise.
Which SaaS applications would benefit from Private Cloud hosting?
Does your organisation handle sensitive data?
Organisations that handle sensitive customer data should consider hosting their SaaS applications in a private cloud. They include FinTech and SaaS companies that operate within the financial services sector. These companies deal with highly sensitive customer information.
Data types like bank account numbers, credit card details, and social security numbers require greater control and security. Hence, hosting these applications in a secure private cloud provides an additional layer of security to protect against unauthorised access.
Are you a government agency?
Additionally, government agencies should consider hosting their SaaS applications in a private cloud. They often deal with highly sensitive information, comprising classified information, personal data, and national security information. Therefore, they should host SaaS applications in private cloud infrastructure to leverage robust security measures. Strong security and control protect data against unauthorised access and breaches.
Do you run critical operations?
Private cloud hosting for mid-to-large-size organisations with business-critical operations and resource-heavy SaaS applications is essential. Such companies have complex infrastructures requiring total control and robust security. Thus, hosting SaaS applications in a private cloud infrastructure allows managed service providers to customise their environment to meet security and control needs. It ensures that their applications are secure, reliable, and performant.
Do you operate in a highly regulated sector?
Lastly, companies that operate in highly regulated industries should host SaaS applications in a private cloud. For example, healthcare, legal and finance institutions must comply with strict data protection regulations. Luckily, a private cloud infrastructure allows them to meet these compliance requirements. Furthermore, it assures customers greater data security in line with data privacy requirements.
Factors to consider before hosting SaaS Applications in a Private Cloud
Private cloud hosting for SaaS applications has several advantages. However, businesses must consider various factors to deploy a private cloud infrastructure successfully. They need to remember the following things when choosing a private cloud provider.
The private cloud infrastructure meets the company's needs
First, business owners must determine whether the private cloud infrastructure satisfies their needs. Needs for hardware, storage, network, and security are a few examples of these requirements. They must ensure the cloud infrastructure can meet the demands of the running application. The infrastructure must also be scalable enough to accommodate the future growth of the company's IT stack. Furthermore, businesses should consider a private cloud service provider with the assets needed to support their SaaS applications. Storage volumes, network bandwidth, and specialised virtual machines are a few examples.
The private cloud does not lead to vendor lock-in
Businesses should also factor in the possibility of vendor lock-in. Some service providers make switching to another provider expensive or difficult. It hence restricts flexibility and gradually raises costs.
Therefore, businesses should consider the costs, risks, and flexibility of switching to a different provider. They should consider how well their applications work with various cloud platforms. More importantly, they must assess the migration procedure, considering the data migration cost and potential downtime.
The service is highly available
High availability is also essential for SaaS applications. SaaS apps need to be accessible all the time because downtime can seriously hurt a company's bottom line. Lack of availability may lead to lost sales, unhappy customers, and a tarnished reputation for the business.
As a result, companies must provide high availability from the private cloud infrastructure. For instance, selecting a private cloud service provider with numerous data centres and redundant parts ensures the highest level of uptime. Load balancing strategies like DNS round-robin or IP-based load balancing should be a priority to ensure high availability. Using a content delivery network (CDN) to distribute content globally can also be advantageous.
The private cloud supports seamless integration
SaaS apps also need to work with other enterprise systems and programs. Therefore, a private cloud infrastructure must support seamless integration and interoperability. Thus, businesses should work with private cloud providers to create unique plugins or modules that allow hosted SaaS apps to integrate with other platforms.
Additionally, pre-built integrations link deployed systems and SaaS applications. Organisations must also consider how integrating SaaS applications with various platforms would affect security. They must ensure that data in transit and at rest are adequately protected.
SLA considerations
Service level agreements (SLAs) contain the terms of service for SaaS applications. They outline requirements for uptime, performance, and availability. The private cloud infrastructure must meet SLAs for optimum Saas application performance. Service providers must include backup plans in the SLAs to mitigate SLA violations. For instance, the private cloud provider can install redundant systems to ensure the best uptime. Organisations must also define the metrics for evaluating the application's performance and regularly track them to assure SLA compliance.
Top reasons to host your SaaS Application in a Private Cloud
Difference between Public vs Private Cloud Hosting:
The fundamental distinction between hosting SaaS applications in public and private clouds is one of the main factors influencing business decisions. Private cloud hosting provides a dedicated and isolated environment for a single organisation. In contrast, public cloud hosting allows several tenants to share the same resources and infrastructure.
Additionally, public cloud hosting is frequently more cost-effective and adaptable, enabling companies to scale up or down their resources as necessary. It has drawbacks, though, including shared resources, security challenges, and potential performance issues from noisy neighbours.
A secure private cloud, on the other hand, offers companies more alternatives for customisation, security, and control. Organisations can modify the infrastructure to suit their requirements, implement stringent security measures, and guarantee high availability. Private cloud hosting is especially advantageous for companies that must adhere to data privacy laws or work with sensitive data.
Additionally, private cloud hosting provides a higher level of isolation, which lowers the possibility of data breaches and cyberattacks. With a private cloud, businesses may deploy cutting-edge security features like network segmentation, firewalls, and intrusion detection and prevention systems while maintaining total control over their infrastructure, apps, and data.
Private cloud hosting also provides the ability to link SaaS apps with other on-premise or cloud-based systems like databases, APIs, and third-party services. It enables businesses to develop an integrated and seamless IT environment that streamlines business procedures and boosts productivity.
Additionally, compared to public cloud hosting, private cloud hosting can offer businesses more customisation and control over their IT environment. Organisations can customise the infrastructure to match their needs and specifications, including integrating new apps, configuring specific security measures, or setting up the network to meet necessary performance standards. Businesses operating in highly regulated sectors with stringent and complicated compliance requirements, like finance or healthcare, may find this level of control particularly crucial.
Improved Security
Inadequate security hampers public cloud infrastructure adoption, 58% of IT security decision-makers said in a survey. Furthermore, a recent study found that 93% of public cloud deployments have multiple errors that expose businesses to online threats.
Therefore, improved security is one of the primary reasons for using a secure private cloud to host SaaS apps. Businesses maintain total control over their data in a private cloud hosting solution. SaaS application hosting in a private cloud enables companies to process sensitive data in a safe, closed environment accessible only to authorised people. It lowers the danger of data breaches, unauthorised access, and cyberattacks, which can seriously harm a company's reputation, cause financial loss, and expose it to legal battles.
A hosted private cloud offers greater customizability and control over security measures. Businesses can modify security policies and procedures to meet their demands and compliance requirements. They can implement advanced security measures like multi-factor authentication, encryption, intrusion detection and prevention, firewalls, and network segmentation.
It is also important to note that SaaS applications hosted on private clouds adhere to industry standards and data protection laws. Businesses in regulated sectors, including healthcare, finance, and government, must comply with strict security and privacy requirements. As a result, choosing to host SaaS apps in a private cloud puts companies in a better position to meet these compliance standards and save expensive fines and legal repercussions.
In addition, private cloud hosting improves disaster recovery and company continuity. Businesses can swiftly recover their data and apps in case of a security incident or outage without relying on third-party service providers. As a result, downtime, data loss, and the possibility of financial harm are reduced.
Cost Predictability
Cost predictability is one of the key motivations for hosting SaaS apps in a hosted private cloud. Organisations may better understand the costs of hosting their applications with a private cloud, allowing them to budget properly and prevent unforeseen costs.
According to a recent study, 41% of IT leaders believed private clouds are less expensive than public clouds, with 9% saving more than 50% when using private clouds.
Unlike public cloud services, private clouds offer greater control over the infrastructure, allowing organisations to customise and optimise their applications to their specific needs. Subsequently, this can lead to cost savings, as the business can avoid unnecessary resources and adjust capacity to meet demand. Private clouds also allow organisations to choose their hardware and software, which can help reduce licensing and subscription fees.
“If your organisation is focused on efficiency, then private cloud might be the lower TCO [total cost of ownership] option. Centralised applications, just-in-time hardware provisioning and prioritised workloads can drive high utilisation, while automation, homogenous workloads, and outsourcing can drive labour efficiencies,” notes Owen Rogers, the research director for 451 Research.
Additionally, private clouds often allow organisations to consolidate their IT infrastructure, reducing the number of physical servers needed to run their applications. Therefore, this can lead to significant cost savings, as fewer servers mean less hardware to purchase, maintain, and replace. Furthermore, hosted private clouds offer greater security and compliance, reducing the risk of costly data breaches and legal penalties.
Lastly, hosting SaaS applications in a private cloud allows companies to use usage-based pricing models. Private cloud providers can offer metered billing, allowing organisations to pay only for the resources they use. The approach can be particularly beneficial for organisations that experience fluctuating demand for their applications, as they can easily adjust their usage and avoid overpaying for unused resources.
Enhanced Performance
Hosting SaaS applications in a private cloud environment offers enhanced performance. Private cloud environments can provide a high-performance infrastructure designed to meet the demands of SaaS applications.
One of the main reasons why hosted private clouds can offer enhanced performance is their ability to provide dedicated resources. Unlike public clouds, private clouds offer dedicated resources exclusively used by a single organisation. In other words, this means that the resources are not shared with other users, so there is no competition for resources. Private cloud hosting translates to better performance, as there are no limitations to the number of resources allocated to the SaaS application.
Moreover, private clouds can be optimised for the specific needs of the SaaS application. The infrastructure can be tailored to meet the application's requirements, leading to improved performance. Private clouds can also provide better control over the infrastructure, enabling better monitoring and management of the resources. In turn, this can help to identify and address any performance issues in real time, leading to enhanced performance.
The location of the private cloud infrastructure also contributes to better performance. Private clouds are often hosted in data centres that are geographically close to the users of the SaaS application. This reduces latency and network congestion, leading to faster response times and improved performance.
Greater Control
Hosting SaaS applications in a private cloud offers more control over the infrastructure and the data. The hosted private cloud is a dedicated environment solely under the control of the organisation that owns it. Such a level of control allows for customised configurations and personalised security measures, which may not be possible in a public cloud environment.
Organisations can tailor the infrastructure to their needs with a private cloud, ensuring that the hardware, software, and networking components work together seamlessly. Increased control means that organisations can fine-tune the system for optimal performance and availability, manage the system's capacity, and scale as needed.
Besides, data is one of the most critical assets of any organisation, and hosting SaaS applications in a private cloud allows organisations to maintain full control over their data. Organisations can set their security policies and access controls through a private cloud, ensuring that only authorised personnel can access sensitive data.
Organisations also control the software and application stack in a private cloud environment. They can install, update, and configure applications and operating systems per their requirements. Control over the software stack allows organisations to choose and update the software as needed, ensuring they always use the latest and most secure versions.
Also, hosting SaaS applications in a private cloud allows organisations to have full control over the management and maintenance of their infrastructure. They can monitor the system's performance, troubleshoot issues, and update patches. It allows organisations to ensure their SaaS applications' availability, reliability, and performance, minimising downtime and ensuring that their business-critical applications are always available.
Scalable Infrastructure
With a private cloud environment, organisations can quickly and easily add or remove resources as needed to meet the demands of their growing business. The scalability allows organisations to be more agile and responsive to changing business needs while ensuring they have the resources to support high-performance SaaS applications. Whether adding more computing power, storage capacity, or network bandwidth, a private cloud environment provides the flexibility to scale resources up or down as required.
In addition, private cloud environments typically offer more advanced monitoring and management tools, enabling organisations to track resource usage more effectively and identify areas where resources can be optimised. This can help organisations avoid unnecessary costs and ensure they get the most out of their IT investments.
Lastly, a scalable private cloud infrastructure can help ensure that SaaS applications remain highly available and performant, even during periods of high demand. By leveraging the ability to scale resources as needed quickly, organisations can avoid performance issues and downtime resulting from resource constraints in traditional on-premises environments.