Forget Cloud-or-no-Cloud.The market for enterprise software is moving rapidly to the cloud and the conversation has shifted from "cloud versus not-cloud" to "what kind of cloud is needed to ensure sustained success?".
The 80/20 rule
In general terms, cloud computing is proving to be the fastest way to deliver enterprise applications as a service over the internet. Cloud economics are clear: As much as 80% of IT resources go towards maintaining software and infrastructure, leaving just 20% to bring new business solutions to drive growth, according to Gartner.
Moving to the cloud allows organizations to refocus IT dollars and resources towards business innovation rather than maintenance, altering that formula in a positive way.
In addition to low startup costs, cloud deployments allow organizations to better manage the lifetime cost of a solution. The flexibility to scale up or shrink with changes in business needs and workflow demands sets a minimal cost-to-profit ratio and helps to optimize operations.
Things get more interesting when you have to choose a cloud platform because all vendors tend to talk about features: scalability, security, performance. At Appian, we do the opposite of that.
A holistic approach to the cloud
We take a holistic approach to the cloud. We architect, build and run Appian Cloud as an enterprise-grade platform for enterprise applications because our customers across the globe - organizations from all industries, government agencies, etc. - need their important business applications always on, scalable, secure, compliant.
In addition, customers also need to deal with application lifecycle, releases and updates, so they need enterprise-caliber tools and support. They shouldn't have to worry about infrastructure maintenance and application platform updates, therefore Appian Cloud takes care of all that.
Bottom line, we don't view the cloud as a patchwork of individual parts or features: In Appian Cloud, everything is "baked-in" in the context of the whole cloud and application platform. The end goal is to empower our customers to dedicate their time and resources to innovate, compete and create business value.
Paying attention to critical areas
With this holistic approach in mind, it's worth noting the following attributes of Appian Cloud:
Your business operations depend on it so Appian Cloud is designed to maximize uptime to provide service for as long as possible without interruption. 99.95% SLA, High Availability configurations and continuous monitoring ensure enterprise requirements are met.
It's fair to say, veryfew things can be worse than the loss of production data. Replication, High Availability (again) and data backups to safe locations are a must. All of this needs to happen while maintaining regulations compliance - like keeping data within a chosen geographic location - in check.
Keeping things safe
We live in an extremely challenging environment. Data security and privacy are a big deal. It doesn't take much effort to look at the news every day and find customer or business data compromised or stolen at a hotel chain, retail store or even a credit report agency. All data, in transit or at rest, must be encrypted. Access to it must be tightly controlled and managed. Integration from the cloud to on-prem or third-party external systems must be secured, managed and monitored, and other capabilities like "Bring Your Own [Encryption] Key" are a significant plus.
To complicate matters cloud vendors share resources sometimes, like storage, among different customers, due to the multi-tenant nature of their offerings. This is a no-no. Isolation of customer instance and storage is tremendously important to keep everything safe.
Appian runs comprehensive security and compliance programs. They are unsurpassed by any other aPaaS vendors and frequent external audits validate security controls work as they should. To see the up-to-date picture, take a look at Appian's Trust Center.
Peace of mind
Finally, even when everything works as expected, top-notch enterprise level support is always needed.Around the clock, around the globe coverage to resolve issues or to plan for application releases or updates. For enterprise customers, Appian offers Premier Support featuring High Availability and a wealth of cloud features and services to ensure business continuity, security, cloud data access and more.
Conclusion
What it all comes down to is this. Picking the right cloud could be what saves your business. It's an existential issue. Appian Cloud represents a breed of enterprise-grade cloud platforms that supports many of the largest businesses, institutions, and agencies in the world. Appian Cloud offers the security, availability, scalability and support you need to compete and win in the fast-moving digital economy.
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