The digitalization of the business world has been accompanied by the rise of public cloud hosting and software cloud providers. Many small to medium size business enterprises rely on software providers offering Software as a Service (SaaS) or Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) to cover their IT needs. The easy set-up, through ready software and /or SDKs and APIs, offers convenience and relatively low cost, making this an appealing option. The providers of these services offer chat and other communication in a shared or multi-tenant hosting environment under their control. Most CPaaS and chat providers host your application and user data in their infrastructure and you have no ability to input according to your organization’s own needs
As businesses develop, so too do their enterprise hosting requirements. Enterprises with user data, dedicated web traffic, data storage, internal security controls, and encryption and compliance requirements discover tangible advantages when they upgrade to enterprise-level hosting. Business messaging and video chat apps require high performance and reliability to guarantee positive customer experiences and need to ensure that customer data and chat history is stored privately and securely with the possibility of regular back-up. Some also require GDPR or HIPAA compliance. Enterprise hosting provides businesses with direct control of their own user data, chat history, and files, enough resources to power high powerful apps, and additional security enhancement including encryptions to ensure regulatory compliance. For all these reasons, and more, businesses need to consider an enterprise hosting solution.
What is Enterprise Hosting?
Enterprise hosting refers to a hosting environment in which the customer enjoys dedicated computing resources for their application with the ability to support the info-security and hosting requirements of their organizations. This environment can be with public cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Azure, Oracle, and others, in a private cloud of the enterprise, or on-premises, or a mixture of any of these.
Foremost, they have a dedicated instance of the CPaaS communication software which can be configured and customized to their specific needs. Additionally, because this software is deployed in an environment dedicated to the customer, they do not share cloud storage, bandwidth, CPU times, memory, disk space, or security processes with thousands of other users in a shared environment.
Quickblox provides a complete communication platform with the SDKs, APIs, and code samples with instant messaging and group chat, peer to peer and multiparty voice and video conference calling, file sharing, screen sharing and other functions. For our enterprise customers we deploy our software directly into a dedicated cloud account managed by QuickBlox or more often directly to the customer’s own enterprise hosting environment. The enterprise chooses where and we configure and monitor their instance. This is a fully managed service with integration support, SLA, support desk, and all software maintenance. For maximum security we deploy software on their own private cloud hosted by their own dedicated servers which are located within their data center. Either way our hosting solutions deliver high performance and secure communications with the tools and scalability of the cloud tailored to the enterprise. On the benefits of the QuickBlox Enterprise Plan see Part-1 and Part-2 of our earlier blog.
Let’s look in more details at some of the advantages of enterprise hosting more generally:
Advantages to Enterprise Hosting for your chat solution
1. Improved Performance
Moving your application from a multi-tenant cloud environment to enterprise hosting will inevitably improve the performance of your app because you are no longer sharing CPU times with thousands of other apps. A dedicated environment means you will have the necessary bandwidth to power a high performance chat app and ensure positive online experiences for your users.
2. Customization & Flexibility
Shared hosting is designed to meet the needs of as many users as possible, which means unique company requirements or vertical-specific configurations will not be catered for. The opposite is true with enterprise hosting. Enterprise customers have the flexibility to customize and can pick and choose from a wide range of software add-ons. For example, they can integrate a dedicated TURN server for secure video calls, or chat moderation tools to manage or block profanity in chat messages. Furthermore they are free to customize, reconfigure, and upgrade as and when they need.
3. Scalability
With shared hosting you are stuck with a set of fixed limits for traffic and users. Enterprise hosting removes this barrier. Enterprise customers can scale up resource consumption and scale down as they need, a flexibility that enables innovation and business growth.
4. Security
Although cloud hosting is generally secure whether you have a dedicated enterprise instance or not, there are clear advantages if you choose to go the enterprise route. Notably encrypted server configuration is possible at enterprise level which means that databases, file/contents and connections are all secure. This is vital for some industries like healthcare which is required by law to protect patient PHI. In addition to strong encryption of data in transit and rest, there are additional layers of security possible with enterprise hosting. Integrating two-factor authentication, virus scanning, intrusion detection, and extended monitoring comprise important software add-ons that can enhance security capabilities.
5. Storage and Data Back-up
Enterprise hosting supports secure data retention, storage, and back-up. This is crucial for many business enterprises that produce large amounts of customer data and are required (by industry standards or law) to maintain and archive this data. Enterprise hosting supports High Availability / Disaster Recovery solutions which is essential in the unforeseen circumstance of service outage, natural disaster, or cyberattack.
6. Improved Customer Service
Services offering enterprise hosted chat solutions typically offer premium customer support, with a dedicated account manager, 24/7 customer service, and provision of an SLA.
7. Cost Efficiency
Although you need to pay a monthly fee for whichever public cloud provider to choose, these services offer competitive pricing and various pricing models to fit with your business needs. For example, while some charge a fixed fee so you can plan your budget accordingly, others offer pay-as-you-go pricing so that your organization will only pay for the resources they use.
8. Regulatory Compliance
Numerous data protection legislation requires business enterprises in various industries or geographic regions to follow regulatory compliance. Enterprises in Europe are bound by GDPR, and Health companies in the US by HIPAA. These regulations provide strict rules about how data is to be collected, stored, and removed, with breaches resulting in hefty penalties. Enterprise hosting supports organizations with their compliance needs, precisely because their dedicated instance can be configured to meet specific data security requirements.
Enterprise Hosting with QuickBlox
If you are an Enterprise organization looking for a communication solution and looking to host in a dedicated environment check out QuickBlox.
Main features of the QuickBlox Enterprise Plan include:
- Access to ready-to-use voice, video, and chat SDKs and API that are fully scalable and work across platforms (iOS, Android, and web)
- Deployment of software into your own dedicated enterprise cloud account with your preferred cloud service provider.
- Fully managed and monitored by QuickBlox DevOps team. 24/7 customer support, account manager, and SLA.
- Full range of additional security features and communication enhancements.
- Our software and best practice fully support GDPR and HIPAA compliance.
- Option to integrate QuickBlox ready tele-consultation and virtual (waiting) room solution –Q-Consultation.
- We offer a sandbox environment on our shared cloud for enterprises needing to trial a POC and fully support migration from our shared cloud to our dedicated enterprise plan when they are ready to upgrade.
- We also offer custom on-premises installation for optimal secure messaging.
Summary
Whether you are building an instant messenger for internal communication or to connect with customers, choosing the right hosting environment is crucial. The IT needs of businesses usually outgrow the limited resources provided by a shared hosting environment. For secure messaging on a high performance chat app, businesses need to consider enterprise hosting. Get the bandwidth, security features, and cloud storage necessary to build a powerful messaging app that promises a satisfying user experience.
Contact QuickBlox who can provide a powerful set of chat APIs and SDKs and an enterprise hosting plan that can meet your needs.
