The best choice between Self-hosted or Remote Hosted (SaaS) Software Solutions

If you are planning to invest and introduce a new Recruitment Process Automation system, it is not uncommon for you to get hassled about comparing features, advantages, quality, benefits, and prices. Immaterial of selection, your new software will play a major role in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and your Return on Investment (ROI).

How would you decide on the best recruitment software solution for your organization? In this article we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of two renowned software deployment methods, which will assist you in taking the right decision on this critical subject.

Self-hosting Software Deployment:

Self-hosting deployment is also known as Enterprise software deployment. This method is the most traditional method of using a recruitment or staffing software within an organization. What does Enterprise deployment mean?

• You purchase the software as a licensed product
• Purchase and own all of the hardware
• Servers
• Power systems
• Back up systems
• Communications
• All other infrastructure, at your location

All maintenance of the hardware, software and infrastructure is totally your responsibility including the hiring of IT staff. You will also need to pay for software maintenance, support and services to your vendor. This amounts to about 20% of the software license cost, per year.
The advantages of the ownership of the software license lets you have complete control over your data and its management. Most importantly, the system is fully secure and you can be sure that they system will not be accessed by outsiders. The only disadvantage with Enterprise software deployment is the high costs, and the TCO for this application is higher than any other application.

Software as a Service (SaaS) Software Deployment:

Also called – as mentioned in the title, Remote Hosted or more commonly known as On-Demand software. This is a subscription based model; you need to subscribe to the recruiting software, which is on servers owned and operated by your vendor at their location, and not at yours. You use the software over an Internet connection using a Web Browser or Smart Client, and your vendor is responsible for all ongoing hardware and software maintenance.

The advantages are it has a low cost of entry and a lower total cost of ownership (TCO). There is also a vested vendor interest – in case of mismanagement in the application, the vendor will loose a client.

Our choice for a suitable software solution is eConn Resume Parser which is a Self-hosting or Enterprise Software deployment. It provides you with the facility to process online resumes by extracting the required data in an organized and logical manner. The added advantages are that it helps you get support on:

• Enterprise portals
• E-learning solutions
• Enterprise application integration tools
• SOA software
• Document management systems
• Project management software

The advantages with Resume Parser as a self-hosted software solution are far more useful and safer than all other software solutions, SaaS software deployments.

Although SaaS software solutions are growing to be very popular, its disadvantages are equally high as well. Some organizations find it difficult to delegate control or trust third parties to manage their applications and data. Records and reports show that many hackers have had access to important databases using SaaS software solutions.