publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/550988
ILTA WHITE PAPER: JULY 2015 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 55 ON-PREMISES OR SaaS? IT DEPENDS ON YOUR NEEDS Consider these five areas before moving to a hosted DMS solution: financials, deployment, integration, security and investment priorities. FINANCIALS It is assumed that SaaS is less expensive than an on- premises deployment, but this view is because the initial outlay for SaaS is considerably less than for an on-premises solution. However, several things must be considered here. • Hardware Costs: For an on-premises deployment, you must consider whether existing servers can maintain a DMS. Many DMS packages run on Microsoft Windows Server, but you must ensure you have the required version to run the application, see if the server needs updates and determine whether the new application requires a dedicated server. It is also vital to check whether the operating system on your firm's workstations supports the DMS. • Operating Costs: There are maintenance costs associated with managing internal servers, backing up data and updating software. The cost of updating software is typically 15-25 percent of the original purchase price annually. There is also the cost of ongoing support, which, while not essential, is desirable. With SaaS, these are all covered by a monthly fee. SaaS ends up being more expensive, but there might be other costs incurred with the on-premises solution. For example, internal IT personnel costs are not included in this description. DEPLOYMENT The vendor takes care of everything during the implementation of SaaS, including server preparation, configuration and software initialization; all the firm must do is agree to the terms. On-premises deployments, on the other hand, usually require IT help. If your organization does not have a dedicated IT team, it is best to hire a consultant with expertise to set up and configure the system. INTEGRATION Integrating your DMS with existing applications might be easier with an on-premises deployment since it is generally easier to integrate applications operating on the same network. However, this is changing. The past few months have seen the release of connectors and integrations that enable firms to connect on-premises applications with hosted applications. As the technology continues to evolve, firms will be able to leverage integrations between SaaS and on-premises more easily. It is not yet clear how integration between two or more applications on different SaaS platforms will work. Imagining a 10-user system over a five-year period, we could see the following scenario: YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4 YEAR 5 $16,000 $12,000 $8,000 $4,000 0 SAAS Internal Existing Server Internal New Server