Cloud hosting
Hosting SYSPRO in the cloud means using either a dedicated or virtualised server in a data centre to host the application stack required to run SYSPRO. For end users, they simply use a remote desktop connection to access the ERP on their own PC.
The cloud offers several points of difference to an on-premise solution, the first of which is the ability to build redundancy into the infrastructure, either onto a second virtual machine or even replicated to a second geographical location. The needs of the business will dictate the extent of the configuration.
A major benefit to the cloud is that hardware is no longer an issue, both in terms of purchase and maintenance. Everything is covered by a monthly Opex fee. Equally if your business requires additional processing power or storage space, that can be added very quickly without any upfront investment.
Typical situations for SYSPRO cloud hosting are geographically diverse businesses where users need to access the system from different locations and businesses that need to adjust their IT capacity to meet varying demands, for example seasonal spikes in sales.
On-premise hosting
The most traditional approach is to host SYSPRO on physical machines on your own premises. Before cloud hosting, this was the only option.
It involves running the entire application stack on your own hardware located on your own premises, in a server room or micro data centre. You buy the hardware and are responsible for maintenance, either via your own IT team or a 3rd party Managed Service Provider.
At its most simple level, SYSPRO can run on a single server although when your system is being designed, architects will often build a degree of disaster recovery into an on-premise solution by virtualising SYSPRO on additional servers.
There are a number of scenarios where on premise hosting has obvious appeal. For example when internet connectivity issues preclude the use of the cloud or if your business wants to be wholly responsible for the safe keeping of its own data. Equally, if a business is confident that the IT processing requirements will be relatively static for three to five years then on-premise offers a good option.
Hybrid cloud hosting
A hybrid arrangement offers a combination of benefits from both cloud hosting and on-premise. Typically, SYSPRO is installed and runs on physical hardware on your premises but the installation can also be maintained in the cloud for disaster recovery purposes.
Depending on the configuration, SYSPRO can be replicated in real-time to multiple cloud locations, offering incredibly robust disaster recovery capability. Or where instantaneous response is not necessary, SYSPRO can be virtualised to the cloud along with backuof your data, ready to be spun up should the on premise installation fail.
A hybrid approach also offers the ability to be selective in how you use the cloud. For example, archived or test data can be stored in the cloud, while live data is all kept on premise. Equally, entire test environments can be run in the cloud for development purposes before being migrated to the live on premise server.
