Published on the 15/06/2015 | Written by Beverley Head
Demand for software as a service continues to rise; according to Cisco, by 2018, 59 percent of all cloud workloads will be SaaS compared to 41 percent in 2013…
Analysts meanwhile point to the global market for SaaS reaching more than $US30 billion sometime next year.
But for consumers and corporates alike that first step into SaaS can be nerve-wracking. Will data be secure? Where will it be held? What happens if a vendor goes belly up?
Leslie Tarnacki, VP and general manager for WFS: a WorkForce Software Company, has released a list of ten questions that she says organisations and individuals should ask of potential vendors before taking the SaaS plunge.
They are:
1. What security measures are in place?
2. Where will my data be stored?
3. What is your disaster recovery plan?
4. What redundancy measures do you have in place?
5. What if the power goes out or the Internet connection is lost?
6. What is your average uptime?
7. What certifications do you have?
8. How long have you been operating as a SaaS provider?
9. What do your SaaS fees include?
10. Where can I go for help?
These queries serve as a useful prompt for enterprises to consider when taking the plunge – but getting comprehensive answers to all the questions may not be easy, particularly for smaller companies or individuals who may not have much clout when kicking the tyres on a possible software platform.
A review of WFS’ own web page, for example, did not reveal the responses to any of these questions; the privacy notice referred largely to the company’s US parent’s position, and when asked by iStart to answer the ten questions for WFS Australia’s SaaS solutions, Tarnacki struggled to provide much detail.
She was however able to confirm that all Australian customer data (the company claims 300 local users of its systems) was held in a pair of Sydney data centres owned by Equinix, and that WFS guaranteed 99 percent uptime with financial penalties for failure to meet that service level.
She wasn’t able to articulate the company’s disaster recovery plan, but said that she “felt confident” about it, and added that in the event of a disaster, organisations could expect to be up and running within 24 hours, and have access to 24×7 support.
