SaaS deployment challenges

Today the advantages of the SaaS software model are widely acknowledged. ISVs have realized the need to employ one in their product offering. However, the challenges to make a software product SaaS-enabled are as complex and important as building a new product.

The whitepaper discusses the following challenges in deploying SaaS applications:

Security: Implementing security in SaaS models is a challenge, especially when the database is shared by more than one organization. As the complexity of the requirements increase, the performance of these solutions depends on their robustness.

Multi-tenancy: Enabling more than one customer on the same software platform is challenge. Multiple solutions exist, and each of them has its own merits and demerits.

Data-isolation and Transactions: Database isolation gives complete security compared to table sharing and different table-space mechanisms. In case of shared resources, transaction requirements could be different for different vendors on the same system.

Sharing resources: A significant advantage of the SaaS model comes from sharing of resources. Security and vendor isolation becomes a huge challenge.

Deployment strategies: Some companies deploy solutions using the shared table approach while others share the same database installation, but different instances within. Managing backups, or restoring and configuring these databases pose a huge challenge.

Other challenges discussed in the paper are: Auto scaling and configuration, Auditing, and Billing and Payments. Download the white paper to understand these challenges in detail and respond to them better.