A zillion years ago, telecommunication was much different than it is now. For instance, businesses used on-premise PBX systems to manage their voice communications, and the idea of integrating these systems with data networks was pretty much unheard of.
But fast forward to today, and the picture looks very different. Businesses are increasingly turning to cloud-based Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions to manage their voice, video, and messaging communications. And as a business owner or strategist, you might consider popping over to UCaaS Review to compare VoIP solutions in the market.
Perhaps, you’re exploring options and are wondering which UCaaS architecture is right for your business. To make a solid choice, it might help to review the options available, right? So, let’s dive into the details:
Single-Tenancy vs. Multi-Tenancy
The first step in evaluating your options is understanding the difference between single-tenancy and multi-tenancy architectures. In a single-tenant system, each customer has an independent instance of the software. As such, their data is completely isolated from other customers. In a multi-tenant system, all customers share software, implying their information is stored in the same database.
The Pros and Cons of Single-Tenancy
A single-tenancy architecture has its benefits. Let’s quickly explore them:
- Increased security: Because each customer has their independent software instance, other customers are not privy to their data. Consequently, the risk of data breaches is minimized.
- Dedicated resources: Customers in a single-tenancy system are not competing with others for the same resources, so they get dedicated access to server processing power, memory, and storage. As a result, they experience improved performance and reliability. And as they do, they may opt to stay with the same UCaaS provider longer.
- Greater control: Customers have more control over their environment since they’re not sharing resources with others. And depending on your needs, the vendor can tailor the system to your specific industry, company size, or business processes. That way, you’re not paying for features and functionality you don’t need or want.
Nothing is perfect. So, you have to be aware of the potential drawbacks associated with single-tenancy systems, including:
- Higher costs: A tailored solution means you’re likely to pay more for your UCaaS service – the related resources. Consequently, it might not be ideal for small businesses or enterprises with limited budgets.
- Longer deployment times: It takes longer to set up a single-tenant solution since the vendor has to configure the system specifically for your business.
Multi-Tenancy: The Pros and Cons
On the other end of the spectrum; you have multi-tenancy UCaaS solutions. Let’s take a look at the pros first.
- Shared costs: As customers share software and other resources, they also share the costs associated with developing and maintaining them. In so doing, you don’t have to bear the brunt of these expenses alone.
- Faster deployment: Multi-tenancy solutions don’t need configuration or customization for individual customers. As a result, the vendor can deploy them much faster.
- Easier upgrades: When the vendor wants to deploy a new feature or upgrade, they can do so once for all customers. On the other hand, customers in a single-tenancy system have to wait until their instance is updated, which can take weeks or even months.
The Downsides:
- Reduced security and privacy: Sharing of software can be risky. After all, if one customer’s data is breached, the rest are also at risk. Plus, customers must be comfortable with the idea that their data is stored on a shared database.
- Potential for reduced performance: Unlike a single-tenant system that provides dedicated access to server resources, multi-tenancy options offer only shared resources. As such, if another customer’s system is hogging resources, your performance can suffer.
How to Choose the Right UCaaS Architecture
Now that you understand each option, how do you select the right solution? Here’re some considerations that can sway your decision:
- Security concerns: How important is data security to your business? A single tenancy might be the way to go if you’re in a highly regulated industry or handling sensitive customer data.
- Cost: As mentioned, single-tenancy solutions can be more expensive than their multi-tenant counterparts. So, if cost is a major concern for your business, you might want to opt for the latter.
- Deployment time: How quickly do you need your UCaaS solution up and running? Multi-tenancy might be the better option if you’re looking for a fast solution.
In the grand scheme, the UCaaS architecture you select should align with your specific business needs. Hence, what works for your company might not be the best solution for another. Therefore, it might pay to consider the variables we’ve discussed as you try to look for the ideal option.
