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With the whole world moving “online” it seems, maintaining data on your own internal computer servers is fast becoming yesterday’s solution.
SaaS (Software as a Service) is the way that most businesses are now moving. This is where the software provider also “hosts” your data, in addition to providing the base code and processing power that drives the software solution. As the threat of sophisticated cyber-attacks grow, knowing that your data security is taken care of by a trusted partner, means you can focus your time and resources on your core business.
SaaS providers can buy server space at much better rates than individual companies can and also subscribe to much higher levels of security than can be provided inhouse. Most SaaS companies will seek to host your data in “top tier” data centres (DC’s) with state-of-the-art “multi-tiered” cyber and physical security.
These DC’s or “server farms” offer the latest in “fail-over” redundancy and also have physical access security protocols that severely restrict the ability for non-authorised users to even get close to the servers housed within.
These days, if you do hear of someone suffering a data breach or even a ransomware attack, it is often via a “VPN hack” within their own local network and inhouse servers. Or might be the result of a trojan virus or ransomware infiltrating their servers and PCs. This is often because they didn’t have the resources or knowhow, to implement appropriate security policies and cyber security defences.
Good SaaS providers take the complexity out of managing and safeguarding their client’s data and ensuring uninterrupted system availability.
Top tier data centres used by SaaS providers usually provide the following as standard:
- Full Fault-Tolerance with multiple levels of redundancy.
- Highest level of Physical Security – including bio-metric access control as standard.
- 24/7 onsite maintenance staff
- Advanced infrastructure with electrical power backups and distribution facilities
- Dual powered and independently cooled computer equipment, and
- Top tier DC’s generally promise 99.995% “uptime” allowing only a few minutes every year for maintenance downtime.
Collectively, all of these precautionary measures equate to uninterrupted business continuity and better management of corporate risk – well beyond what most businesses are capable of providing independently. Which means those businesses are able to concentrate on productivity and workflow efficiency, rather than IT infrastructure.
SaaS also provides a “scalable” solution, where individual companies use as little or as much computing power and storage as they require, without the incessant need for regular and expensive hardware upgrades and ongoing maintenance.
Modern hosted SaaS solutions also provide “enterprise” level firewalls and ongoing security testing which are often unable to be replicated independently by smaller businesses.
Top tier DC’s also provide cascading levels of data backup, offering well-structured off-site data storage in multiple physical locations. Much of the data storage is provided in an encrypted format, adding another level of data security.
Many smaller companies are still grappling with the necessity to continually patch outdated security software, which struggles to keep up with the ever-increasing number of cyber-attacks.
Our advice to any small business looking to better mange their cyber security, is to embrace the move to SaaS based software systems. By doing so, you are leaving the ever changing data security landscape to companies who have a vested interest in keeping your information safe and secure.
Author: Steven Carulli, Co-Founder - Cirrus8 Commercial Property Management Software.
