Wednesday, May 09, 2007 10:13 PM Erwyn van der Meer

Should you trust Software as a Service?

Today, I wanted to continue working on my FlickrMetadataSynchr tool after a break of a month or so. This project uses SaaS in the form of a hosted Team Foundation Server by Microsoft for source control and work item tracking. This SaaS is called CodePlex. 

Team Foundation Server is known to be a very robust source control system that is based on SQL Server 2005. You can cluster the database tier, you can have hot standby for the application tier, etc.

Yet, Microsoft was able to corrupt the source control database and not have a proper backup schema in place. I.e., they thought they were making backups of the database, yet they weren't.

That will teach me not to trust a third party with my precious data. So based on my current experiences I don't trust Software as a Service (SaaS).

Even worse. Three weeks after the fact, Microsoft still cannot tell if the source control data will ever be restored. At some point you just have to admit you screwed up and say that nothing can be done about it anymore.

Luckily, I still have the latest version of my sources stored locally. But it is the nature of an integrated source control and work item tracking system that you can't keep a full local backup of the state of the system. If Microsoft (or another vendor) screws up you loose a lot of historic data.

Another SaaS that I have become to depend on quite heavily is Gmail. Considering the perpetual beta status of Google Mail, I have never fully trusted them to keep my data safe from disaster. I am very diligent in backing up my mail locally in Outlook PST files using the POP3 access that Gmail provides.

Do you trust SaaS?

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# re: Should you trust Software as a Service?

Thursday, May 10, 2007 1:43 AM by Ruud Campsteijn

You can't really blame SaaS (the "concept") for that. It's a major point of attention with any hosted solution or service.

Did Microsoft claim to be making any backups? I.e., is it in the SLA for CodePlex (if there is any)? If not, then you should have made backups yourself and you can't blame Microsoft, let alone the SaaS-concept.

# re: Should you trust Software as a Service?

Friday, May 11, 2007 12:15 AM by Erwyn van der Meer

Hi Ruud. I simplified things a bit. SLAs are very important. Microsoft probably disclaimed any liability as CodePlex is a free service. I can't find any SLA or such only a "Terms of Use". This mostly concerns the rules for *my* use of the service. It makes to claims as to the obligations on Microsoft's part.

And of course I have a backup of my source code.  But as I stated in my post, you *can't* create a full backup of the code and work item repository. You have to rely on the service for that. So it is impossible for me to reinstate the old state.

But do you trust SLAs? They don't guard against operator error, like corrupting a database and having a wrong backup schema. Microsoft probably can say they have tried to backup CodePlex on a best effort basis.

# re: Should you trust Software as a Service?

Sunday, May 13, 2007 10:38 AM by Lennard Bakker

It is not the question if you trust SaaS, it is the question if you can and are willing to trust a third party with your DATA.

The concept of offering software as a service doesn't automatically a good place your personal or public data.

# re: Should you trust Software as a Service?

Monday, May 14, 2007 12:11 AM by Ruud Campsteijn

SLAs don't guard against operator error, but they define how many errors the operator is allowed to make ;) If the agreed level of service is not achieved, the SLA defines what compensation you receive. If you the SLA is satisfactory and gives you enough security concerning uptime etc., there is no reason why SaaS and other hosting solutions would not work. The key is in the SLA IMO.

Of course, no-one is stopping you from defining your own fallback-scenario, such as another hosting provider that can kick in within a certain amount of time as soon as your primary provider dies on you. Another thing you could do is making backups yourself, even remotely - although that's not very feasibly if you're dealing with large amounts of data.

# Windows Vista Crash without BSOD

Thursday, May 17, 2007 8:35 AM by Erwyn van der Meer

I just experienced my first Windows Vista crash that didn't even display a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD).