Banner
Backup D.R. Replication Virtualisation Hardware/Media Privacy

Current Filter: Storage>>>>>>

Key Word Search Filter within Articles: Rethink

PREVIOUS

Filtered Articles:1 of 6   Current Article ID:6359

NEXT



Flash to the rescue for SaaS providers

Editorial Type: Management     Date: 01-2016    Views: 2425      





Flash technologies could turn out to be key to the future success - or otherwise - of SaaS vendors, suggests Tom O'Neill, CTO EMEA at Kaminario

Software-as-a-Service - SaaS - has become a prominent trend in software. This is because customers are increasingly appreciating its many business benefits - the opportunity to switch to an Operational Expenditure (OpEx) model, a speedy deployment and the ability to scale-up as the organisation grows, to name just a few.

Most importantly, the SaaS subscription model allows customers to avoid the heavy upfront costs required to invest in infrastructure and operational staff. However, this means that the brunt of the investment must then be borne by the SaaS provider itself. Thus, while all businesses have unique needs when it comes to storage, the business models of SaaS providers are particularly dependent on having a solid and reliable infrastructure to ultimately keep their customers happy. Too often, a SaaS provider has been held back by slow, inflexible arrays that can't anticipate their growth, let alone change to accommodate it.

ALL-FLASH TO THE RESCUE
Luckily for SaaS providers, things are changing for the better in the storage industry. Until recently, all-flash storage had been regarded as a somewhat niche product, used for specific tasks such as accelerating key applications and driving virtualised environments.

However, the last few years have seen an explosive growth in flash deployment, as showcased by analysis firm IDC in their most recent report ('Worldwide All-Flash Array and Hybrid Flash Array 2014-2018 Forecast and 1H14 Vendor Shares'). This is evidence that the all-flash products on the market today have matured to become a general purpose storage solution; a real alternative to traditional spinning disk products rather than simply an add-on.

CAPEX: THE ENEMY OF SAAS
But what makes flash the perfect solution for the unique needs of SaaS? Firstly, it is important to remember the specific demands that SaaS places on its storage system. SaaS is essentially a model of software licensing and delivery whereby customers pay a subscription to access centrally hosted software. It is typically hosted in a multi-tenant design on shared infrastructure - shared in the sense that all customers are using the same physical equipment, although their data is separated by either virtual or logical constraints.

Therefore, any infrastructure purchased by the SaaS vendor must be of sufficient power and capacity to support the entire customer base and any future predicted growth, which represents a significant Capital Expenditure (CapEx) investment. However, due to the subscription-based licensing model, CapEx investments are the enemy of any SaaS vendor and every step must be taken to move costs into OpEx where possible.

THE INVESTMENT GAMBLE
One big challenge facing SaaS vendors is the gamble over how much infrastructure to invest in. Underinvestment will result in poor service levels to a customer base who potentially have the ability to walk away when dissatisfied. Over-investment is a serious financial hazard that could see a SaaS vendor go out of business before any return is delivered on that investment.

When you sell on a subscription basis, it becomes very difficult to predict the future growth of the platform, so clearly, the storage solution they opt for needs to be able to scale up (for capacity) and out (for performance) where and when it is needed.

This is where flash comes in. Always regarded as the flexible option, a good all-flash array is designed to start small and build up so that it accommodates growth. SaaS vendors can also just pay for what they need rather than be lumbered with extra payments that don't bring in results. It is the perfect companion for OpEx, which also functions on this scale-out model.



Page   1  2

Like this article? Click here to get the Newsletter and Magazine Free!

Email The Editor!         OR         Forward ArticleGo Top


PREVIOUS

                    


NEXT