With Salesforce backup and recovery, there are two primary approaches to ensure Salesforce business continuity: Self-Hosted vs SaaS. Each of these methods provides different key advantages and disadvantages. Our goal is to take a look each option and find the best solution to protect your Salesforce Data and your business.
So what is the difference between Self-Hosted and SaaS?
Self-Hosted
- A self-hosted solution backs up data from Salesforce into your own on-premise or hosted data center. This extraction method is over the Salesforce API’s, with the data extract formatted into CSV’s or maintained in a relational database format and a structure identical to that of the underlying Salesforce database. CapStorm is an example of a self-hosted Salesforce backup and recovery provider.
SaaS (software as a service):
- The SaaS method extracts data from Salesforce into the providers own on-premises or hosted data centers. The extraction method also uses the Salesforce API’s and data is typically stored in a CSV format, in a landlord-tenant database architecture.
Now let us compare!
| Item | Self-Hosted | SaaS | Advantage |
| Implementation
Installation & 1st Backup | Data is stored in your own data centers, so the first step is to create a data repository, typically a relational database, then install the provider’s solution. | SaaS solutions provide the data repository, so implementation typically requires simple entry of Salesforce credentials. | SaaS |
| Data Assurance
Confidence in the backup process | Data is stored in your own data centers, so verification is possible by a variety of methods. A few include: running reports, comparing record counts between Salesforce and the backup, and provider’s tools. | Data is stored in the provider’s data centers, so the provider should provide verification tools. A full verification may not be possible without access to the real data. | Self Hosted |
| Data Enablement
Ability to use the data | Self-hosted data can be used for near real-time Salesforce integration and analytics. Optimally, the provider will also provide DevOps solutions to enable Salesforce sandbox seeding. | Data is not available for integration or analytics; however, the provider may provide sandbox seeding capabilities. These may be limited if the data is stored in CSV format. | Self Hosted |
| Data Governance
Management of data security, | Data Governance is controlled by the consumer of the self hosted solution, enabling each company to determine data security and access. | A SaaS provider may provide tools for data governance. There is an inherent data governance risk when data resides with a 3rd party. | Self Hosted |
| Data Archival
Data Storage & removal of obsolete records | Self-hosted options offer unlimited data archival functionality, as the data is stored in your own data centers. | SaaS solutions offer similar functionality to self-hosted for data archival, though the data is maintained in the provider’s environments which may increase costs. | A tie! |
| Transition
Breaking up with the provider | Self-hosted solutions can be hard to leave because the data extracts are typically used for internal purposes other than backup. However, the process to leave the vendor for a direct backup use case is simple – as you own the data. | The most difficult part of leaving a SaaS solution is data retrieval and storage. The data must transit the vendor’s systems to your systems, which is entirely reliant upon the vendor. You may also loose historical versions of data during this process. | Self Hosted |
CapStorm enables our customers to Be Expert with self-hosted Salesforce disaster recovery, ensuring data security, access, verification, and usability. In the words of CapStorm founder and CTO Greg Smith, “Why trust somebody else when you can trust yourself?”
Start a conversation to see how CapStorm products provide self-hosted Salesforce backup and recovery for Salesforces of all sizes.