Thru makes a promise to our customers that they can transfer files seamlessly without compromising security or radically altering their existing workflows. Inherit in that promise is our agility in meeting a business’s unique needs or challenges. One of the questions we often receive is:
Can a customer enjoy the benefits of Thru’s managed file transfer as a service (MFTaaS) within its own private cloud?
The answer is yes…and no…read on for an explanation.
What Is MFT as a Service vs. MFT Licensing?
According to Microsoft, software as a service (SaaS) “provides a complete software solution that you purchase on a pay-as-you-go basis from a cloud service provider…All of the underlying infrastructure, middleware, app software, and app data are located in the service provider’s data center. The service provider manages the hardware and software, and with the appropriate service agreement, will ensure the availability and the security of the app and your data as well. SaaS allows your organization to get quickly up and running with an app at minimal upfront cost.”
On the other hand, software licensing gives the customer rights to run the software on its own hardware, i.e., cloud servers. The customer is responsible for managing every aspect of underlying infrastructure and keeping the licensed software up to date.
Thru as MFTaaS vs. Thru in Private Cloud
From day one, Thru has been cloud-based software providing secure file transfer capabilities as a service. Designed solely for use by businesses, Thru enables centralized control to create, configure, manage and monitor file transfers.
Thru can be deployed in a private cloud, however, it becomes more like licensed software instead of a service. It is the responsibility of the customer to build out, maintain and manage the infrastructure and accompanying components where Thru is hosted. It also becomes the responsibility of the customer to keep its version of Thru in parity with the latest available release.
For further clarification, let’s look at a comparison table of Thru as MFTaaS in its standard cloud-based service versus Thru licensed and deployed in a customer’s private cloud.
Table: Comparison of Thru as MFTaaS vs. Thru in Customer Private Cloud
| Thru as MFTaaS | Thru in Private Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Application Features |
All Thru application features are the same in both cloud environments, such as
|
|
| Architecture |
The architecture and its services can be set up the same*:
* The difference is that in the Customer Private Cloud scenario, the customer separately acquires, pays for and manages the architecture and all its components. |
|
| Cloud Hosting | Thru provides cloud-based service in Azure. | Customer obtains hosting in AWS or Azure. |
| – Deployment | Deployed by Thru in Azure. | Deployed by customer in its private Azure or AWS cloud. |
| – Maintenance | Included in subscription — Managed by Thru. | Responsibility of customer. |
| – Capacity Scaling | Data transfer determines tier assignment for Thru pricing. Thru provides additional capacity hosting. | Data transfer determines tier assignment for Thru pricing. Responsibility of customer to scale out infrastructure. |
| – Storage | Included in subscription — Managed by Thru. | Responsibility of customer. |
| – Cloud Security | Thru manages all aspects of security, including fault tolerance, high availability and disaster recovery. | Responsibility of customer. |
| – Location Options | Multiple location options, based on data sovereignty requirements and network proximity. | Responsibility of customer. |
| Thru Updates | Automatic releases managed by Thru. |
Customer configures Thru instance to either
|
| IT Resource Commitment | Thru manages all backend infrastructure. | Customer manages all backend infrastructure. |
Is MFT as a Service or MFT License in Private Cloud Right for Your Business?
The answer generally depends on your company’s requirements or constraints regarding
- Resource availability (financial, human and technical).
- Corporate governance or security policies, especially for achieving compliance standards in your industry.
Whether your decision is MFTaaS in our cloud or licensing in your own cloud, Thru has a solution that will meet your needs. Your company can enjoy all the Thru application features and its benefits in both scenarios. The difference is your amount of responsibility and expense in self-hosting the Thru application, as described in the table above.
Do you want to be “hands-off” and let Thru manage all aspects or does your business case require you to maintain your own cloud? The decision is yours!
If you would like to discuss your file transfer needs and options, please contact us »
