Do You Have SaaS Database Access?

You’d think that a Software as a Service (SaaS) partner would always give access to your ERP database, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

There are many reasons why you may need to have access to your ERP database, from reporting improvements to security enhancements. System vendors or solution partners hosting those vendor systems are often trapped in a conundrum of providing low-cost services with a high level of application capability. That sometimes means building out a privately hosted cloud environment, which can lead to severe restrictions for customers wanting to access their own information as the security model only supports administrative access for the partner’s staff. As a result, your partner maintains complete control over your SaaS database access and you are forced to rely on them for the foreseeable future.

Is Your Partner Holding Your ERP Data Hostage?

One of the foundation pieces of a true cloud accounting or ERP system is the ability to share the core database server and application objects across a number of customers while keeping data confidential and allowing unique customizations. This capability is built on the premise of a shared system layer that can’t be modified by either customers or partners. This most often means customers don’t have their own unique instance of Microsoft Azure SQL Server, which prohibits handing out the Azure SQL administrative password to customers.

This feature alone greatly restricts access to the system but is compounded by vendors or partners who decide to offer a low-cost service (or at least the most profitable to them). This is greatly simplified by not allowing access to administrative functions by anyone except partner personnel.

The customers we have come across who have found themselves in this situation are pretty unanimous in how this topic didn’t seem to come up during the sales cycle. Sadly, it’s only when customers realize they need better and more timely access to their ERP database do they realize they don’t have access to their own system. They discover they aren’t able to attach a report writer to the data in these private clouds or make backups of the software themselves, even if it is just to make a reporting database available.

Choose Wisely: 7 Ways to Ensure Your ERP System Lasts the Life of Your Business

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Reduce Risk with Microsoft Azure SaaS Security

Who would you rather have managing the hardware and systems software required by your ERP system: an independent firm or Microsoft?

As we began our transition to providing cloud solutions to our customers, we believed there was a better alternative. Not only is there a massive infrastructure investment to running a private cloud, but it significantly more risky compared to relying on Microsoft Azure SQL services provided directly by Microsoft. As a Microsoft Dynamics Gold partner, we chose to rely exclusively on this latter option.

The decision to rely on Microsoft means the entire infrastructure is protected by Microsoft’s SaaS and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) methodology. Microsoft provides duplicate data centers in many countries with automatic failover to multiple copies as an option; Hardware and software systems always have the latest patches; Firewalls are the best you can buy; And all of this protection and security supports giving our customers the maximum possible SaaS database access and self-sufficiency.

While there are certain instances where full administrative access can’t be granted, we have options to deal with these situations to ensure customers get access to their information when they need it. For example, one of the latest versions of Dynamics 365 Business Central even offers customers the ability to easily download a backup from the cloud to wherever they want it. You can learn more about Business Central SaaS support options here.

Put Your Trust in a Reliable Microsoft Partner

It is your data. At Open Door, we believe responsible partners should never hold their customer data hostage. That’s why we give our customers the option to choose what level of security and control they want in their SaaS database access.

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When we establish customer accounts, we provide administrator access to customers and allow them to manage their subscriptions through our online store for Dynamics 365 Business Central, Office 365, and other subscriptions. Depending on your needs and requirements, we help out when needed – but you will never get a services bill for time to add another user to your system. To learn more about how to host and manage your ERP data in a Microsoft Azure cloud, contact our team today.