A significant trend is developing which provides alternative options for business software. It is known variously as Cloud Computing, Software as a Service or Online Services and in effect removes the need for a business to own and manage some major elements of their computing infrastructure. BT is working with partners at the forefront of this trend.

What are online services?

Consider anyone using gmail or hotmail at home. The person doesn’t own an email server or manage it. They avail of the service via their web browser and internet connection. In the background, Google and Microsoft (Hotmail) own the physical equipment and manage the software that provides the email service.

Online Services for business will work in the same way. Rather than each business having for example an email server in the comm’s room or datacentre, the applications they need such as email are accessed via their connection to the internet. The difference is that many online services aren’t accessed via a web browser but appear on the desktop the same as previously. In this way, users would have fully-featured Outlook rather than just the web version which has less features.

Of course, each business uses more than just email and likewise, there are many applications now available online. Some companies provide online payroll, CAD (Computer Aided-Drawing), accounts packages and so on. BT provides options for Microsoft software and also for contact centre packages.

Are online services attractive?

Yes, they are to many companies. The three main reasons for using applications in this way is that firstly they work on a pay-as-you-go model, secondly you always have access to the latest software and thirdly, the provider manages the service so you can concentrate on your core business.

The pay-as-you-go model may be particularly appealing as it removes the need for capital investment and instead turns software into an opex cost. There is usually a fee per user per month. In some instances, there is a contract direct with the software developer for the software and with the service provider for design, implementation and support. Where possible, service providers will provide a single monthly bill which includes the software plus related services.

Having access to the latest version of the software may be tempting. Often new software versions are released with new features but the investment required for upgrade can be prohibitive. Online Services remove the need to consider ‘if’ to upgrade by automatically upgrading the software.

The service provider manages the service. This means that they continuously monitor the performance of the equipment and applications and deal with any issues as soon as they arise. This level of service helps ensure continuity of service.

How does it work?

UsUsually, all the equipment (hardware) that is used to provide the service is located in a datacentre which has significant network connections. As the software is accessed by possibly thousands of users concurrently, the service provider provides a sizeable connection to the internet. If you consider for example a concert ticket sales website, that website is hosted on servers in a datacentre with a significant connection to the internet to allow for the hundreds or thousands of users who will try to buy tickets within the first five minutes of them going on sale for a major concert. In the same way, but with a more even pattern of usage, the online services software is accessed concurrently by the users.

Typically online services have an additional data centre as backup and spare network connections so any issues which significantly affect the primary datacentre are transparent to the users as the service switches automatically to the backup datacentre.  In doing this, the service provider ensures that both datacentres maintain a current copy of all the data.

From the user’s perspective, they access the software application as normal via their PC or laptop.

For businesses, the main areas of focus are the network connection and ensuring that the software to be used online is compatible with their PC / laptop standard build.

What do you need to bear in mind?

As with any software deployment, there are various items to bear in mind.

Storage - the software provider may not provide as much storage as you would expect as standard. Your service provider is usually able to assist in providing extra storage and also will work with you to provide the duration of storage you need.

Security – the flexibility to access corporate applications wherever the user has an internet connection helps to drive productivity. Users and corporate data however should be protected by anti-virus, anti-spam etc. as normal in addition to firewall and virtual private network (VPN)s being considered.

Availability – certainly it is important to have a reliable software solution for your business. Service providers should provide an availability target of at least 99.9% availability which means you can expect a maximum downtime of about 10 minutes per full week (168 hours). Availability is normally calculated on a 365-day average.

Service level agreement – moving your software to an online service hands responsibility for maintaining that service to the service provider. If the software is critical to your business, investigate whether a penalty-based service level agreement is available so in the event of the availability being less than stated, the service provide will pay compensation.

Backups – with online services, the data is ‘in the cloud’ and therefore it is worthwhile asking your service provide to put in place a local backup process.

Archiving – alongside backups, while extra storage in the cloud can be purchased, it may make sense to perform local archiving of data.

Customisation – the key differentiation between an online service and a premises-based service is that with online services, customisation is usually limited. Therefore consideration should be given to the level of customisation normally delivered before deciding on online vs. on-premise.

Local IT skills – either the service provider can provide the design and implementation for you plus in-life changes or else local skills can be retained to perform these activities.

Integration with other applications – as online services are usually standardised and service providers are unable to customise in the same way as on-premise solutions, integration with other applications is trickier and not always feasible.