SHAREPOINT CLOUD SOLUTIONS COMPARISON

A Technical Comparison of SharePoint Cloud Approaches

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INTRODUCTIONThis document will present the pros and cons of several different approaches to SharePoint architecture to assist in making an informed decision for SharePoint in the future. It will compare four approaches to SharePoint architecture: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, Software as a Service and an On-Premises solution.

There are a myriad of solutions for SharePoint available today. Most of them can be broken down into three different categories: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and On-Premises Solutions. First, we’ll take a look at the definitions of the three types of solutions.

When considering a cloud-based solution, you should consider the cost to benefit ratio. As a general rule, the more money that is given to the solution, the more control will be given over the environment. The cheapest solutions usually yield the least control over the final product.

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PLATFORM AS A SERVICEWikipedia defines Platform as a Service (PaaS) as:

Platform as a service (PaaS) is a category of cloud computing services that provide a computing platform and a solution stack as a service. Along with SaaS and IaaS, it is a service model of cloud computing. In this model, the consumer creates the software using tools and libraries from the provider. The consumer also controls software deployment and configuration settings. The provider provides the networks, servers and storage.

In the case of SharePoint, PaaS refers to the usage of SharePoint in a hosted environment such as Office 365. Microsoft provides Office 365 to its customers for a per-user monthly fee. The consumer has the ability to make configuration changes. The customer is not responsible for managing the operating system of the servers or the networks they ride upon.

PAAS SECURITYThere are several aspects of security to consider in a Platform as a Service deployment.

Active DirectorySharePoint relies upon an implementation of Active Directory to identify users and control access to resources. For this approach to a SharePoint deployment, the customer can consider two approaches for implementing Active Directory:

• Directory synchronization with an on-premises Active Directory deployment• Standalone clients with Active Directory deployed in the PaaS data center

Both options rely on the offering of the PaaS provider and security requirements for your enterprise. For instance, if you have a requirement that Active Directory user information reside only within your own network boundaries, it may prove difficult to implement a PaaS solution for SharePoint.

Directory synchronization with an on-premises Active Directory deployment may be required if your workstations are joined to a domain. When your workstations or laptop clients interact with SharePoint in a PaaS cloud, they will need to validate credentials. The PaaS SharePoint service will require those Active Directory credentials to proceed (Single Sign-On).

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PaaS allows the consumer more

control with software

deployment and configuration

settings.

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Secure Sockets Layer for HTTPIt is highly recommended to use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology with SharePoint sites that are deployed with a PaaS model. The SharePoint servers will be physically located outside of your network boundaries and traffic must go over the Internet. Without SSL, all of these transmissions will be “in the clear.” A malicious user could monitor the traffic and capture vital information from files or passwords. This can place an extra yearly cost burden on the customer to maintain active SSL certificates from a third party unless the PaaS provider offers an SSL solution by default.

PAAS COST MODELTypically, a PaaS service provider for SharePoint will charge a monthly fee per user only. Most service providers include the cost of server operating system and software licensing. The costs of these licenses are consumed by a per user monthly fee that is charged back to the customer. The end result is that this type of solution can be the cheapest. However, it can also be the most limiting in terms of features.

PAAS ADVANTAGESThe primary advantage of using SharePoint in a Platform as a Service model is cost savings. Customers of a PaaS SharePoint deployment will often enjoy a large amount of functionality for a low per-user monthly fee. Server and software licensing, operational staff costs, data center costs and any other costs are rolled into this low monthly fee. Applying the economies of scale, PaaS vendors often save money by combining customers onto servers or resources wherever possible.

No need for local support staff running serversSharePoint in a PaaS deployment is a cloud-based service operated by a separate company. The server infrastructure is hosted within one of many remote data centers. This alleviates the need for specialized, highly-paid local IT support staff that must support a local server infrastructure. This can come with a significant cost savings.

Local data center infrastructure not requiredThere is an obvious cost savings in using a cloud infrastructure for a service application. There are significant cost savings in power, cooling, space and hardware procurement.

Patches and updates are rolled automaticallyPatch maintenance is a fact of life in any enterprise environment. Patches must be maintained for desktops and servers. With a cloud offering, patches are handled by the cloud provider. While this is an advantage, it should be noted that sometimes the expectations of outage windows and maintenance may need to be realigned for the cloud provider’s service levels.

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The primary advantage of

using SharePoint in a PaaS model is cost savings.

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Backups are handled, offsite and onsiteBackups are an important part of any service. As is the case with most cloud services, backups would be handled by the provider as a regular part of the service. The customer should do research into the service levels of the service’s backups to properly align expectations with the offering.

As a general rule, data does not exist unless it resides in at least two physical locations. The data would exist in the remote servers as well as an offsite backup location (usually another data center).

Software licensing cost savingsUsing a cloud provider brings significant cost savings because software licensing is no longer a concern. In a typical local server deployment there is a large, sunk cost on licenses for the operating system and application software. Most PaaS services are licensed on a per-user basis, so the licenses for the software are figured in to the overall cost. When a new version of software is rolled out to the customer base there are immediate benefits with little or no unexpected change in the monthly cost.

PAAS DISADVANTAGESWhile the Platform as a Service approach can often save money, there are some disadvantages to take into consideration.

Multi-tenancyCustomers that have unique security requirements should carefully consider PaaS. Most PaaS SharePoint deployments are in a multi-tenant model, meaning many customers can share server resources. This can impact performance and possibly open servers and data to attack. It may be desirable to avoid using SharePoint in a PaaS model if you deal with the following types of information:

• Personally-Identifiable Information (PII)• Trade or corporate secrets• Classified information• HIPAA

Lack of control over server infrastructureMany organizations dislike the notion of cloud services because the servers are not locally-housed or nearby. This means the data and content exists in an offsite facility, often many hundreds of miles away. This may not be an issue for many organizations, however, if physical

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Cost savings by removing

licensing fees.

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security and access to data is a concern this should be a consideration.No Internet connection, no dataCloud services rely completely on an Internet connection from the desk worker’s office to the data center. If the connection is not stable and there is an outage, the organization will be unable to operate with the cloud service until the connection is restored. The SLA for the service does not include any connectivity through the Internet to the cloud data center.

Security concerns may preclude the use of AD FS or directory sync for Single Sign-OnA PaaS deployment of SharePoint requires the use of Active Directory Federation Services or Active Directory Sync to implement Single Sign-On. This allows users to interact with SharePoint without entering credentials multiple times.

The tradeoffs for implementing Single Sign-On must be considered. If the customer intends to use AD FS to implement SSO, there must be some engineering and IT support locally to create and maintain the solution. Directory sync can produce a similar need, but this creates copies of user objects in the PaaS environment and may violate security policies of the customer.

PAAS EXAMPLESMost vendors of cloud-based SharePoint services take an Infrastructure As A Service (IaaS) approach to SharePoint. However, Microsoft does offer Office 365, which is a PaaS approach to SharePoint.

Office 365 (Platform as a Service)Office 365 is a service provided by Microsoft, the creators of SharePoint software. It is a cloud-based solution that charges businesses monthly by user. The solution offers SharePoint Online, Lync Online and Exchange Online as part of the overall suite of services. The solution can be purchased with all of the components or a subset of them.

Exchange Online is a cloud-based alternative to an on-premises Exchange server deployment. This allows businesses to run Exchange as “Software as a Service” (SaaS) with a low monthly cost per seat. This Exchange Online solution can completely replace an on-premises Exchange deployment or augment it for a subset of users. Exchange Online is included as part of the overall Office 365 solution for each user.

Lync Online is a collaboration tool that enables users to send instant messages and engage in online meetings. It is the SaaS approach for an on-premises Lync Server 2010 solution used by many enterprises. Lync works well when plugged in to Office 2010 with Exchange and SharePoint to bridge collaboration gaps.

SharePoint Online is a SaaS version of SharePoint 2010. While most of the features from an out of the box SharePoint 2010 are available, there are some aspects of SharePoint 2010 that are not available.

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O365 offers SharePoint, Lync and Exchange

Online as part of the overall suite.

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Office 365 SecurityAuthentication with Office 365 is handled via Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) or by synchronizing Active Directory. Both approaches allow Single Sign-On (SSO) to operate with the customer’s Active Directory. When SSO is properly implemented, users within the network can authenticate against Office 365 without entering a password multiple times for each service. More information about how to use Single Sign-On with Office 365 can be found in the document entitled, ”Plan for and deploy AD FS 2.0 for use with single sign-on - Office 365 for enterprises.”There may be major concerns about the ability to meet security requirements with Office 365.

The Microsoft O365 platform offers 3 methods of authentication:• Customer AD credentials are entirely separate from Office 365 credentials. This is well suited for very small businesses that may not utilize AD.

• Directory Synced which requires the customer have AD but still keeps separate password policies for O365 and the on-premise environment.

• Rich Coexistence which requires AD, DirSync and AD FS 2.0 and allows user to access O365 applications with the same user credentials they log onto their local network with. Local (customer) AD accounts are synchronized with the O365 environment.

NOTE: It is very important to understand that AD FS allows SharePoint to use claims based authentication and that in the configuration shown above usernames and passwords are NOT stored on servers in the Office 365 environment. The one-way trust allows for O365 to read those credentials in the local, or customer, environment.

Microsoft offers a dedicated Office 365 instance for customers that will be expecting 30,000 seats or higher. The dedicated instance of Office 365 is logically and physically separate from all other Office 365 deployments. The servers are dedicated and placed in a separate partition of the Microsoft data center. Any customer with a number of seats below 30,000 must use the shared Office 365 instances.

In order to obtain an instance with ITAR security controls, the customer must have a requirement for 30,000 seats or more. Additionally, they must be a U.S. Federal Government entity or a contractor dealing with ITAR data for the U.S. Federal Government.

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Office 365 Cost ModelMicrosoft’s Office 365 uses a per-user licensing model. Businesses are charged monthly per user. The cost is typically scaled based on the amount of users. Each user that will be using the service will be considered as a seat for the service.

Office 365 can be licensed as an entire package or the features of the service can be broken out into the plan. The customer can license Office 365 for users to support only the SharePoint Online feature if required.

Office 365 does offer a package for extranet users. The package is an additional fee per month but does provide Enterprise Plan E customer to have 50 partner access licenses (PALs) free of charge, additional PALs may be purchased in package of 50. For some extranet applications this arrangement poses some challenges. If the expectation is to collaborate with more than 50 unique external users per month, the customer may have to purchase additional packages of Partner Access Licenses to accommodate those users.

Office 365 AdvantagesThere are no additional advantages above and beyond the ones that have already been noted for a PaaS deployment of SharePoint.

Office 365 DisadvantagesWhile Office 365 does include plenty of advantages, there are many considerations to take into account. Some of these considerations can produce disadvantages to the approach. These disadvantages are unique to an Office 365 deployment of SharePoint.

SLA for support and service must be understood and negotiated.

The Office 365 Service Level Agreement is 99.9%. This means the service can be unavailable for 43.2 minutes a month, or 8.64 hours per year. This figure includes only unscheduled downtime, so maintenance windows are excluded from this measurement.

The customer should verify if this SLA is acceptable for the service.

In addition to the service outage Service Level Agreement, there are technical support options to consider. If Office 365 was purchased directly from Microsoft the customer can open a support request by phone or electronically. If Office 365 was purchased through a reseller, the customer must use the reseller’s technical support resources.

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Light customization abilityOffice 365 works best when there is a standard approach to the collaboration solution. If the need arises to do customization, the users may run across a situation that cannot be solved due to customization limitations of the service.

Custom code that is developed for SharePoint Online must generally operate in the sandboxed code service within Office 365. Solutions that must run outside of the sandboxed code service may only be considered for a dedicated instance of Office 365 and subject to a code review process. For more information, a Developer’s Guide for Office 365 is available.

Limitations on forms and custom codeOffice 365 offers much in the way of SharePoint’s regular features for forms and custom code, but there are some limitations. In general, if the forms or custom code do not work in the browser it may not function on SharePoint Online. Many of these limitations cannot be quantified until requirements for custom code solutions are gathered and reviewed.

Limitations on storage in SharePoint OnlineThe cloud offering has limitations placed on space within SharePoint Online. There is a surcharge for additional space. An on-premises solution is only limited by how much storage is purchased for the data center, which can be an advantage or disadvantage.

Other security concernsMost security concerns could be alleviated by using a dedicated instance of Office 365. However, Microsoft requires the customer to have a mini-mum of 30,000 seats to qualify for a dedicated instance. Office 365 may not be appropriate for HIPAA or PII data in a shared instance.

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Custom code developed for

SharePoint Online must

operate in the sandboxed code

service within O365.

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INFRASTRUCTURE AS A SERVICEWikipedia defines Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) as:

In this most basic cloud service model, cloud providers offer computers – as physical or more often as virtual machines, raw (block) storage, firewalls, load balancers, and networks. IaaS providers supply these resources on demand from their large pools installed in data centers. Local area networks including IP addresses are part of the offer. For wide area connectivity, the Internet can be used or -- in carrier clouds -- dedi-cated virtual private networks can be configured.

Usually in the IaaS model, the service provider is responsible only for the infrastructure. The customer is responsible for building the operating systems, configuration and applications on the servers. There is much more design work that goes in to an IaaS design, yet there is much more control over the final product. This achieves a happy medium for most customers that are considering a cloud-based solution.

There are a plethora of cloud providers offering IaaS services for a fee. Most of these providers offer servers (virtual and/or physical) and networks. For example, Rackspace and Amazon are solution providers that offer IaaS solutions. The customer is also advised to consider the Service Level Agreement when considering an IaaS solution. Some providers may offer better SLA’s for a somewhat higher fee, for example.

IAAS SECURITYInfrastructure as a Service security is similar to that of the Platform as a Service approach. SharePoint still requires an instance of Active Directory to host the security infrastructure. You can choose to implement Active Directory Domain Services in the local enterprise and synchronize the directory or host Active Directory on servers within the IaaS provider’s network. Either way, the pros and cons of the security design must be weighed against the requirements of the customer’s business. Consideration of sensitive data and security features of the IaaS are very similar to the Platform as a Service model.

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More design work is required

for an IaaS design, yet there

is much more control over the final product.

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IAAS COST MODELThe IaaS model can differ depending on the provider. Most providers use one of two models to charge for the service:

• Flat monthly fee per user• Server usage per hour

These models may or may not include the cost of operating system and/or software licenses. The customer is advised to compare the costs of several providers. It is out of the scope of this document to compare all of the costs associated with the various cloud IaaS providers.

Typically, the IaaS approach will cost more than a Platform as a Service design. This does allow for more finer control over the final product.

IAAS ADVANTAGESThere are many advantages in a system designed with an Infrastructure as a Service approach.

Finer control of the solution Because the customer is in control of the server operating system, configuration and software applications, the possibilities for custom designing a solution to meet requirements are much greater. This means the IaaS model does not suffer from many of the same limitations as the Platform as a Service.

Usage of backup infrastructureThis feature may vary by the provider. When evaluating solutions, make sure to compare your backup needs with the provider’s offerings. Many providers offer on-site and off-site back-ups to meet the varying needs of customers.

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Reduced operational requirementsOperating a tiered data center is expensive. There are several tier definitions that fit the data center model. The tiers are described in the following table.

Tier Level Requirements

1• Single non-redundant distribution path

serving the IT equipment• Non-redundant capacity components• Basic site infrastructure with expected

availability of 99.671%

2• Meets or exceeds all Tier 1

requirements• Redundant site infrastructure capacity

components with expected availability of 99.741%

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• Meets or exceeds all Tier 1 and Tier 2 requirements

• Multiple independent distribution paths serving the IT equipment

• All IT equipment must be dual-powered and fully compatible with the topology of a site’s architecture

• Concurrently maintainable site infrastructure with expected availability of 99.982%

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• Meets or exceeds all Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 requirements

• All cooling equipment is independently dual-powered, including chillers and heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems

• Fault-tolerant site infrastructure with electrical power storage and distribution facilities with expected availability of 99.995%

(source: Wikipedia.org)

The requirements of maintaining the data center and infrastructure are not needed with an IaaS solution. This allows for some significant cost savings.

REQUIREMENTSTIERLEVEL

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IAAS DISADVANTAGESIaaS moves the needle a little between cost/features and advantages/disadvantages. It’s important to discover the disadvantages of IaaS solutions and weigh them against the customer’s requirements.

Still have to maintain staff.The IaaS approach still requires staff to operate the application software and operating system. Patching the application and operating system falls on the customer of the service. Therefore, the customer must still maintain some staff locally within the enterprise.

The hardware for the servers is still maintained by the provider, so there is some cost savings. If the servers are virtualized, the servers may be quicker to provision and recover in the event of a failure. Again, this depends on the offerings of the IaaS provider.

Some possible environment size limitations.The hosting plans and pricing information may not go into very much detail on what exactly is offered. This produces the concern that the project could suffer budgetary overruns if the features of the plans are not well understood. The customer should pay particular attention to what features are provided and whether or not hours of consulting are included. There may also be a limit to the number of users (typically the number of users and the concurrency is a factor in scaling a SharePoint deployment and can impact hardware cost) or a limit to the storage that is not provided in the sales information on the provider website.

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Hosting plans could suffer budgetary overruns.

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ON-PREMISES DEPLOYMENTAn on-premises deployment of SharePoint refers to an instance of the application deployed on servers owned by the customer in a data center operated by the organization or contracted out to a third party. This approach offers the most flexibility in a SharePoint solution yet it is the most complex and expensive. The decision to deploy an on-premises SharePoint solution carries a great deal of dependencies and “satellite work” on the infrastructure. The rewards are great and offer the ability to customize the solution to meet almost any requirement.

Most on-premises SharePoint deployments consist of multiple Windows servers configured into several roles. Microsoft offers a vast amount of scaling guidance and industry best practices to design and implement a SharePoint solution. Along with the implementation of an on-premises SharePoint solution, the following elements must be considered. These elements must be integrated into existing infrastructure or operations or designed from scratch.

Standard operating proceduresA custom deployment of SharePoint on-premises will require skilled staff with a defined set of standard operating procedures. The customer should review existing standard operating procedures and align the SharePoint infrastructure with these SOP’s or create new ones.

IT staff and trainingOperating SharePoint in a local data center will require dedicated IT staff to support and maintain SharePoint servers. A highly skilled IT staff armed with well-defined SOP’s can support and maintain a SharePoint farm.

Backup and recoverySharePoint must be integrated into existing backup solutions if they exist. If not, a backup solution and strategy must be engineered into the final deployment. This strategy should also provide the capability for offsite backups in case of a site disaster.

ON-PREMISES DEPLOYMENT SECURITYThe on-premises approach offers the utmost security and flexibility for storing sensitive data. Since all of the servers are local to the customer’s data center, it is completely up to them to what lengths they will go to store the data securely and what kind of data should or should not be allowed. The data center is must also guarded by physical access controls.

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The on-premises approach offers

the utmost security and

flexibility for storing

sensitive data.

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ON-PREMISES DEPLOYMENT COST MODELA locally-deployed SharePoint solution would be subject to regular IT solution costs models and project lifecycles. This includes hiring knowledgeable IT staff, hardware procurements, software licensing and data center infrastructure costs.

IT StaffAn on-premises SharePoint deployment must be supported by information technology staff local to the machines or working with them remotely. It is not uncommon for large enterprises to hire dedicated staff for an on-premises SharePoint deployment.

In addition to the hard costs of maintaining staff, the customer should also consider the soft costs of training and certification on a regular basis.

Hardware procurementOf course, SharePoint will require hardware in some form or fashion. An on-premises solution offers the maximum in flexibility for hardware. SharePoint can be virtualized or placed on dedicated servers as long as the minimum system requirements are met. It is expected that the customer would maintain a support contract with the vendor from which the equipment is purchased. In addition, networks must be procured and maintained. Storage hardware will likely have to be procured as well. Again, this offers the maximum in terms of budgetary flexibility as the customer can weigh the options to balance price vs. performance.

Backups will also be a concern. Backing up SharePoint is a must. The customer will have to consider the use of dedicated backup infrastructure and software or something that is integrated with an existing service inside the data center. The customer must also consider offsite backups for the service as well. This may mean the purchase of a contract for offsite backup placement with a third party provider of offsite backup services.

Software licensingA locally-deployed SharePoint solution means software licensing must be procured. These licenses include:

• Windows server Client Access Licenses (CAL’s).

• SharePoint server SharePoint for Internet License for either the Standard or Enterprise version• SQL Server

Infrastructure and data center costsMaintaining the servers locally will cost the user money for power and cooling in the data center.

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ON-PREMISES DEPLOYMENT ADVANTAGESOwning the hardware and software licenses provides the ultimate in flexibility for a SharePoint deployment, yet it is the most expensive approach. If the customer requires a deployment of SharePoint that is to be highly customized, an on-premises SharePoint deployment makes the most sense because the features that enable customization will be available and configurable. For an out-of-the-box approach to SharePoint, the costs of an on-premises SharePoint deployment may be prohibitive.

An on-premises SharePoint deployment provides more control over the entire environment and end-user experience. If deep integration with the desktops is to be achieved, an on-premises SharePoint deployment may make more sense.

In the event that the SharePoint deployment will have unique security requirements, an on-premises SharePoint deployment makes the most sense. Security requirements for a cloud solution must be carefully scrutinized. HIPAA and PII data that will be stored on SharePoint should be used very carefully (if at all) if a cloud solution is chosen. The on-premises approach would alleviate security concerns with storing this type of data in the cloud. Additionally, user objects will not have to be synchronized with an outside source and the customer can maintain complete control over the user security boundaries.

ON-PREMISES DEPLOYMENT DISADVANTAGESThere is one main disadvantage to an on-premises SharePoint deployment: cost. This is by far the most costly approach to implementing SharePoint. However, the rewards can often be greater, especially if the security requirements are unique and heavy customization is desired.

Another possible disadvantage to realize is that maintaining IT staff can have an impact on the deployment. If members of the staff leave the employ of the organization, there is the concern that valuable knowledge about the local environment could be lost.

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On-premise deployment is the

most costly approach.

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SUMMARYCloud computing offers many opportunities to cut costs on licensing and operations of SharePoint deployments. These cloud opportunities can be leveraged in a variety of ways and with varying degrees of investment. As this document illustrates, solutions that cost more generally offer more control over the configuration. Cloud-based solutions excel at offering flexibility in this cost model, but the customer must be educated on the tradeoffs.

With these considerations you should be adequately informed to communicate further with cloud providers on the services they offer. Keep in mind that every provider is different and many of them offer features at additional cost. Gather requirements for your solution so you can plug them in to the offerings and discover what would be most beneficial to your organization.

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Cloud computing offers many

opportunities to cut costs on licensing and operations of SharePoint

deployments.

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