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Application
and Data Hosting
There
are many options for application and data hosting, but the majority of hosting
scenarios fall into one of the following four options:
1. ASP (Application Service Provider) - In the ASP scenario,
the application and claims data resides at your vendor's site. A vendor
who provides this service is called an ASP (Application Service Provider).
The facility housing the data is called a data center. All database work
is done at the data center. All upgrades are performed at the data center.
The vendor performs all support and maintenance, so you are relieved of
the burden of hosting data and applications and dealing with your internal
IT department. This can ultimately save time and money for many risk management
departments. Some IT departments will not allow outside vendors to host
their organization's data, so this may not be an option for you. Check
with your IT department to determine if using an ASP is a viable option
for hosting your risk management information data.
2. Mainframe - Vendor hosting can also be accomplished using a
mainframe computer at a vendor facility. The application is loaded on
each user's machine but the data resides on the vendor's mainframe. The
difference between mainframe hosting and the ASP model is the location
of the application. With mainframe, the application must be loaded on
each user's machine. Again, check with your IT department to determine
if mainframe hosting is an option for your organization.
3. Client hosting - In this hosting scenario, the database server
resides at the client site. This is the solution for you if your IT department
will not allow outside vendors to host your risk management data. In this
architecture, you must buy and maintain all hardware and server licenses.
Your IT department will be responsible for back-up and disaster recovery
of the RMIS data. Make sure you know all of the expenses associated with
hosting your data if you decide that client hosting is the RMIS solution
for you.
4. Web-based - The newest breed of involvesrisk management information
system is fully web-based. In a true web-based environment, users launch
a website, enter a user ID and password, and they are logged into the
RMIS application. Web-enabled systems provide flexibility and ease of
entry, because there is no software for the end user to load, very little
server configuration, and the cost of hosting a web-based application
is significantly lower than mainframe hosting and client hosting. Security
of web-based systems varies greatly. If you choose a web-based RMIS, make
sure you review the security features in detail.
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