Dam decision, self-built or SaaS

Once upon a time, the choice between the cloud and the internal dam was very easy. Because of the high cost of cloud storage and bandwidth and the limited capacity of SaaS (software as a service) solution, it is beyond doubt to choose internal dam.

Today, however, costs are no longer the only determinant. In recent years, as technology has developed, cloud computing and storage costs have been greatly reduced, making SaaS a fallback option for many companies. SaaS Dam vendors compete with internal dam solutions by providing customers with new features and rich functionality, such as integration of social media tools.

What is the difference between the two?

SaaS is not a panacea, so internal dam solutions are still a smart choice for many companies.

In general, internal Dam solutions are limited to the company's hardware infrastructure, security management, network, and IT resources. The client is responsible for purchasing and supporting hardware, software, databases, storage, security, and business continuity planning. Internal Dam provides a faster and better internal management solution for your network that is more suitable for high-volume, large files.

They often provide custom choices that are extensive and feature-rich. These solutions also provide additional software that can provide an integration point for internal systems to cope with the development of complex internal and external workflows.

Finally, the internal dam solution is usually part of a capital project management whose costs are amortized over the amortization schedule of the project cycle.

For a SaaS dam solution, vendors Manage hardware, software, databases, asset storage, and security through subscription mode.

There is a new trend: a hybrid solution that incorporates both internal and SaaS dam Solutions. This scheme has the advantage of internal dam to share and manage assets with our customers.

This hybrid solution is where suppliers and customers share responsibility and share costs. Vendors manage the storage and security of hardware, software, databases, assets, and then upload them to the cloud. Customers support and manage the storage and security of internal hardware, software, databases, internal assets.

Why use a mixed model?

For example, your company needs to manage a large number of large files in the network, such as photo source files or video source files. In this case, the SaaS solution may not work because you need to move these large files quickly in the internal system. However, if you need to widely share the final edited version of these files globally and upload them to the cloud, SaaS Dam can help you achieve this functionality. In this case, the cost of the hybrid solution may be lower and the customer will have a better user experience.

Are they superior or inferior?

The following chart shows the differences between SaaS and Internal dam solutions. It is important to note that because of the different vendors, their features and functions will vary greatly.

High level contrast to SaaS internal

Initial cost is cheaper and more expensive

Implementation time is not long

Scalability can be quickly (and automatically) expanded or scaled down usually requires additional hardware support and configuration

Fewer features and features

Release Management (update and security) vendor responsible for internal IT specialists

The database management (performance) vendor is responsible for internal IT specialists

Less training

Custom Limited Cost high

Business Continuity/Recovery provider is responsible for multiple servers, geo-information redundancy (SLA-based) customers

Service Layer/Run time available, including penalties, response, and fixed time most internal it maintainers do not provide SLAs to the departments they support

What kind of dam is more suitable for your company?

It may take some homework to find the answer to this question. First you need to fully understand your company's needs. You need to consider the following questions.

Does your company have IT resources to support internal dam?

Your company's current and planned monthly bandwidth usage (number and size of files)

Is your company's files used or managed locally?

Does your company need to share assets widely/globally?

Does your company provide geo-information and internal redundancy for dam?

Does your company need an advanced custom solution for the workflow?

Does your company need to integrate existing internal systems?

    What is the total cost of ownership for your company?