SaaS, Cloud, Hybrid, In-house? You decide what’s best for your organization.
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When selecting a claims processing system vendor, you’ll find that there are many new options available in terms of software implementation and deployment. These include SaaS (software as a service), cloud, hybrid cloud, and in-house hosting. Each model can make its own unique contribution to your technology stack, allowing you to elevate and transform your organization. With Beacon, we give you the power to decide which best suits your business and financial objectives.
So, which one is right for your organization? Before making that decision, it’s important to carefully analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the various deployment models in all phases of a system life cycle before adopting one. Beacon’s suite of health claims management applications is entirely cloud-based, meaning you can access the application from any location and on any device using only a web browser, but how we deliver these cloud applications is entirely up to each customer. Below we’ve outlined the key differences between each model to help determine which might be the best fit for your organization.
| Aspect | SaaS | Cloud | Hybrid | In-house |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implementation | SaaS and cloud hosting greatly decrease the time and effort involved in implementation. Customers are able to leverage a model that has already been prepared, implemented, and tested by Beacon. | You can leverage some portions of your own internal resources, for your own sense of inner peace, without building out everything at once. You can use your own Storage Area Network (SAN) to pull back-ups home every night or roll-your-own disaster recovery using internal or other external resources. | SpyGlass nestles perfectly into standard web-deployment models with dual firewalls on hardened servers. But, if you’re a startup, supporting an in-house deployment takes more time, personnel, and financial flexibility, as new and additional equipment/hardware may be required. | |
| Maintenance | SaaS hosting ensures Beacon’s responsibility for high levels of system availability. |
Infrastructure maintenance and system availability would be handled via a trusted third-party, whether it’s AWS or Azure. You can scale these as needed. | With hybrid cloud hosting, you use the parts of the cloud that make sense to you and support only those resources in-house that you need for your end of the operation. | In-house hosting provides complete control over your own data while maintaining the application. Any additional resources to ensure high availability or disaster recovery are rully under the control of your own technical organization. |
| Cost | Selecting SaaS as your hosting model keeps the up-front entry costs flexible and low. Monthly hosting and adjudication fees are typically calculated on a subscription basis. | While up-front costs are not as high as in-house hosting, cloud and hybrid hosting is often more expensive through implementation than that SaaS. | In-house hosting requires modest higher up-front configuration costs to get the system tested and up and running. But when you're managing all this yourself, it all makes sense. For this same reason, you'll be confident that ongoing maintenance fees will be lower than other models and also under your own control. Beacon offers size sensitive, reasonably scaled pricing for in-house models. | |
| Scalability | Scaling up or down with SaaS, cloud, and hybrid cloud deployments is simple and straightforward, requiring little time and effort. | Advanced planning and resource allocation are required for scaling with in-house deployment models. | ||
| Security | Beacon servers are highly secure and sit in a 24/7/365 manned Network Operations Center with robust security, redundant internet connections, and redundant power. | Data and network security are in the hands of your trusted, third-party cloud hosting provider. | End-to-end encrypted tunnels can keep all dedicated channels to external resources secure, with your network still under your full control. | While Beacon’s network and applications have been successfully security tested, your in-house technical and compliance organization would take full responsibility for security. |
| Customization | Beacon updates SpyGlass twice a month, with larger releases quarterly and annually. Beacon updates to development and/or user acceptance servers prior to going to production so that you can test as needed. | Beacon can push object code updates to your sFTP site (or your network via a dedicated VPN tunnel), and your team can deploy to development and/or user acceptance servers. Beacon can assist your database administrators with running and managing database deployment scripts.
When you want to control the full measure of your own technical destiny, Beacon will work with you to design a plan that puts you in charge, offering options that let you license the source code to make your own "secret sauce" changes. |
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| Integrations | Site-to-site tunnels keep all dedicated channels to trading partners secure, offering real-time web services to SpyGlass claims processing applications. | Some internal uses may avoid the overhead of encryption and connect directly to your network resources. | ||
Though true to one degree or another with all models, SaaS is the most transparent to you and your team, cloud is the most scalable under your control, hybrid cloud lets you combine your existing resources with some elements that you haven’t yet built out, and in-house is for you if you’re already running all the services you need. SpyGlass, along with HIPAA Director and the new Compass Code Edits, can nestle right in as one of your own secure applications.
Contact Beacon Today
Has your organization found itself locked into pricing with limited hosting options through its current claims system vendor, or are you interested in learning more about the deployment flexibility that Beacon offers? Click the button below to schedule time with a Beacon deployment specialist today.