Foundation Software Clients,
Many of you may have seen advertisements from Foundation software for their Foundation Hosted product. Here’s what that is and here’s what you need to know when considering. The technical term SaaS stands for Software-as-a-Service and all this means is that Foundation in this case, resides on a server that is hosted on the internet (cloud). So rather than you hosting Foundation on your own server, Foundation does this for you. Here are the pros and cons:
PROS:
- You may not have to invest in an expensive server every 5-7 years or you may be able to downgrade to a less-expensive version (there are many other factors that need consideration to make this go away though)
- Foundation handles all maintenance of software
- Cost becomes monthly expense and you’ll always be on the latest version
- No more waiting for annual tax table updates—it’s done automatically
- You can access your login from any device anywhere—even phone or tablets!
- SaaS is highly scalable so that when you grow, adding users is a phone call away with nothing more to do on your end (no potential upgrades for server memory, capacity etc.)
- Support can be much quicker since Foundation can access your account without having to remote in to your systems
CONS:
- Potential slow response when using the application. This depends mostly on your internet connection and its reliability and speed. We don’t recommend SaaS unless your internet is fiber or if not, at a very high speed like 500×50 or above for asymmetrical connections (normal cable internet).
- Cost may be more during a defined timeframe. ROI calculations may conclude that in a 5-year timeframe, your current licensing is less expensive. But here you have to factor in the savings of downgrading the type of server needed if at all and monthly costs to maintain your servers.
- If your internet goes down, you have no access to Foundation Software unless you go to another location that has it.
Our recommendations evolve alongside changing technology and we want everyone to know that Techspert is here to help you make these decisions. Our suggestion is to reach out to Foundation and find out what the cost of converting to hosted vs. on-prem, then we can help demonstrate on-prem hardware costs going forward which may even be reduced depending on other variables. Let us know if we can help.