By Alex Geuken. June 22, 2021.

SaaS solutions, periodically upgraded by your cloud services vendors, use the existing platform your vendor has already provisioned, tested, and implemented. On-premises solutions, however, take time, skilled labor, and money to be deployed, managed, and periodically upgraded; all manually, whether software or hardware. Out of the 15,431 asset management software buyers who used Comparesoft to shortlist and compare software tools, we found that 90% of them prefer cloud-based systems. 

https://comparesoft.com/asset-management-software/blog/cloud-based-or-on-premise-tools/

Why do 90% prefer SaaS over on-prem? 

Lower costs, easier upgrades, and better scalability are the top reasons why many believe SaaS to be the future of nearly all computing. They also don’t have to worry about upgrades, security patches, and deployment across the board, while greater scalability and flexibility mean they can scale as they grow; better direct support, less support. For businesses SaaS brings together simplification, easy secured access, and affordability to seamlessly  use complicated software and IT infrastructural components easily and at lower costs. So, even large-scale enterprises like SAP and Oracle Corp. are adopting the SaaS model. 

SaaS and Xensam lowers the threshold for SAM tools 

A SaaS SAM tool also means easier and faster implementations.  

• Easy to purchase 
• Easy to implement 
• Easy to use 
  
  

Xensam 3 & Easy Blog Post

Implementation: 0–100 in two weeks or 12 months?

With SaaS the implementation and configuration are simpler and faster, the average time for implementing Xensam is less than 14 days. With SAM the simplicity of implementation decreases the threshold of getting you started. You don’t need a certification nor spend three months on software and hardware configuration. You don’t need to spend $X on a consultant/partner for the implementation and configuration.  

Xensam aims to lower the threshold of your getting started with SAM and directly getting value.  

With cloud you get a much faster implementation; you only need to install the agents and the connectors. The Xensam agent is the most intelligent agent in the market, and it’s a pre-built MSI; so, installation is very quick and easy. You need to: 

1. Install the agent as an administrator. 
2. Ensure the agent can speak to Xource via HTTP (port 443). 
3. Whitelist the agent from your antivirus. 

When done, start working with your data.   

Advantages of a SaaS solution 

Lower entry cost — The Xensam SaaS solution offers a much lower entry cost than an on-premise solution. SaaS solutions come at a fraction of the cost needed to procure, deploy, and manage an on-premise solution. Xensam offers its PAYG (Pay As You Go) model. You pay only for what you use. SaaS is also used in many situations, say, as a Proof-of-Technology (PoT) tool, to ensure and prove that the given solution will, in fact, benefit an organization if purchased.
  

Lower total cost of ownership (TCO) — The Xensam solution is reasonably free of maintenance. Rarely are there deployment issues and for certain, no hefty maintenance costs. Costs are reduced by eliminating the need to meet infrastructure requirements and purchasing software licences (SQL, Windows Server, and JAVA, say). SaaS reduces both capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX), thereby boosting an organization’s overall savings. 

Faster time to market (TTM) — The Xensam solution provides a platform which has already been provisioned, implemented, and tested. The only thing to do before a solution is implemented in an organization is configuration and set-up, meaning a much lower deployment complexity. That means that organizations can get started quickly and leverage the PPM concept early without the need for a large investment upfront and in many cases eliminate executive buy-ins. A faster time-to-market implies quicker ROI. 

Flexible pricing — Xensam offers PAYG; as your organizational needs grow (or shrink), you can easily scale up or down accordingly, with a monthly invoice. This means that you are never bound by oversized infrastructure and unused resources nor over commit.  

Lower risk — Your SaaS vendor takes care of infrastructural risks and ensures high availability for your organization’s needs. Implementations are faster and involve fewer risks as they are handled by professional experts. 

Better security — SaaS solutions are extremely secure. Security is one of the top concerns for all SaaS solution providers, and they have a reliably secure infrastructure in place for varied customer needs. SaaS vendors offer automated back-up services to ensure your data is always safe. Major investments must be made for an on-premise solution to match the security and reliability of a SaaS solution. 

Automatic upgrades — SaaS providers automatically and continuously upgrade their solutions at no extra cost for you. Costs and effort associated with upgrades and new releases are thus much lower than the traditional model that usually forces the user to buy an upgrade package and install it, or pay for specialized services to upgrade the infrastructure. 

Disadvantages of a SaaS solution 

Internet dependency — To use any SaaS application, Internet connectivity is a must. Parts of your organization located in places with intermittent connections result in spotty application performance. 

Less control — For some organizations the idea of handing over control to a third-party vendor makes them feel uncomfortable. Trust and reliability arecrucial to the success of any SaaS approach. If you as an organization already have another vendor hosting your invaluable data and precious applications, this is a big mental block (there is in fact no difference). 

Less customization — Typically it is not possible to customize a SaaS solution to the same degree as an on-premise solution. If an organization has special needs for custom functionality (they rarely do), the options for building such customizations are often limited in a SaaS environment (except for what is provided through your SaaS service provider’s APIs). 

Advantages of an on-premise solution 

Total control – Contrary to a SaaS model, an on-premise solution offers you total control over the software and hardware. All sensitive data are internally stored, completely negating the risks of exposing such data to third-party vendors. Unless of course an organization’s IT services are already sourced to a third party. 

Full ownership – Since an organization must purchase the infrastructure and resources for an on-premise solution, it offers a higher sense of ownership. 

More customization — Often, an on-premise solution enables more options for your ad hoc customizations that are outside the scope of your cloud service providers’ APIs. For example, it might be possible to create new screens, workflows, and data objects beyond that initially provided by your on-premises vendor. 

Disadvantages of an on-premise solution 

Costly — On-premise solutions have higher entry costs and higher operational costs than their SaaS counterparts. You own the infrastructure and software and thus must also spend the money to maintain it. Pressure on internal IT is constantly rising, so think about that. 

More maintenance — An organization owns it and so must also maintain it. It is the organization’s responsibility to maintain, upgrade, and scale the solutions when needed. This is often not a trivial task. 

Need More People/Resources – Onprem solutions requires more resources maintaining both backend and frontend solutions, meaning you need resources with both backend and frontend knowledge and also infrastructure to support this. You need people just to keep the lights on.

ROI

Ask yourself what will give you the most ROI most quickly with minimal effort and technical know-how.With Xensam you will have a shorter time from implementation to ROI realization and no ongoing hardware and software costs for maintenance and support. Also, with no time spent on maintenance and support, you will have more time for optimization and cost savings.  

Conclusion

With Xensam’s SaaS-based SAM tool, you buy a solution/service and not a product. With an on-premise SAM tool, you buy a product, own the responsibility of its configuration, implementation, maintenance, and lifelong support. Where do you want to spend your time? On maintaining the tool or on the data derived from the tool? SaaS is agile, quick, and maintenance free. The overall cost will be lower and the ROI will be higher and quicker with SaaS. The functional SAM tool continuously needs upgrades since the software industry is always changing and customers’ needs are becoming more complex; in that perspective, a SaaS solution makes more sense. This means with Xensam SaaS solution you can achieve more with less. If you want to know more about Xensam SaaS solution contact us.