Most business software today is delivered as a service from the vendor’s own infrastructure. There is another way to deliver it: install the software in a cloud account that belongs to the customer. Here is what that means in practice.
What “your own cloud account” means
A cloud account is an account with a cloud provider, opened and owned by your business, and billed to you. The servers, databases and storage created in it belong to your account. Who can sign in to it, and what they can do there, is decided by your own access settings.
When software runs in your own cloud account, it is installed into that account. Its data is stored there too, alongside anything else your business keeps in the cloud.
How it differs from vendor-hosted software
With vendor-hosted software, the vendor runs the application on its own infrastructure, and every customer’s data lives in the vendor’s environment. You pay the vendor, and the vendor pays for the infrastructure. It is simple to start, because there is nothing to set up.
With software in your own account, the same questions get different answers:
| Vendor-hosted | In your own account | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the data lives | In the vendor’s environment | In your account |
| Who pays for the infrastructure | The vendor, as part of what you pay it | You, directly to your cloud provider, for what the software uses |
| Who controls access | The vendor’s systems, under its terms | Your own access settings |
| What it takes to start | Nothing to set up | A cloud account, and someone responsible for it |
| If you stop using the software | Depends on the vendor’s terms | The data is still in your account |
What you gain
Control
Your records stay in an account you own. When a client asks where their information is kept, the answer is simple: with us, in our own account.
Visible costs
The cloud provider’s bill shows what the software actually uses. There is no hosting charge folded into a subscription that you cannot see into.
Continuity
Your data does not depend on the vendor staying in business, or on the relationship continuing. It stays where it is.
Your own rules
The account follows your business’s own policies for access, retention and review, the same ones that apply to everything else you keep in the cloud.
What it asks of you
The model has costs, and it is better to name them:
- Your business needs a cloud account, and someone responsible for it.
- The provider’s bill is yours. It follows what the software uses, so it is worth watching.
- Installation happens in your account, so someone has to be given the access to do it.
For many specialist businesses these are small asks compared with keeping control of their records. For others, the convenience of vendor-hosted software matters more. Both are reasonable choices.
When it fits best
Software in your own account tends to suit businesses whose records are sensitive or valuable, whose clients ask where their information is kept, and who want to see exactly what their software costs to run. We look at the question for gem businesses in Where should gem appraisal records live?
Questions to ask a vendor that offers it
- What access does the installation need in our account, and for how long?
- What will it cost to run at our size?
- How are updates delivered?
- If we stop using the software, what happens to the data, and what do we need to do?
How Atelier uses this model
Atelier, our gemology platform for gemologists, appraisers, gem labs and jewelers, runs in your own cloud account. Your data and your client records stay there; Quorum doesn’t host or store them. You pay your cloud provider directly for what you use, and Quorum builds Atelier and installs it in your account.
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