Compare To Traditional SaaS

Overview

Traditional Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has become the dominant model for software delivery due to its ease of deployment, continuous updates, and reduced infrastructure burden for customers. However, traditional SaaS has limitations, particularly for customers in regulated industries or with stringent data sovereignty requirements. Tensor9’s Any-Prem approach reimagines SaaS to address these gaps while preserving the best of cloud-native experiences.

TL;DR

Traditional SaaS forces customers to send their data to the vendor’s cloud, which can be a deal-breaker for regulated industries. Tensor9 allows vendors to deliver their SaaS product directly into the customer’s environment, keeping data local and secure while preserving a cloud-native experience

Differences Between Traditional SaaS and Tensor9

Category	Traditional SaaS	Tensor9
Deployment Model	Centralized, vendor-controlled cloud environments.	Flexible: Supports Kubernetes, BYOC (Bring Your Own Cloud), air-gapped, or hybrid deployments with no vendor rework.
Data Control	Data is sent to the vendor's cloud.	Data stays entirely within the customer's infrastructure—no external data exposure, even in cloud-like environments.
Customer Data Sovereignty	Limited compliance for sensitive or sovereign data.	Full control and compliance, enabling adherence to national and industry regulations.
Managed Services	Vendor-managed with services like S3, DynamoDB, etc.	Automatically replaces managed cloud services (e.g., S3 with MinIO, DynamoDB with ScyllaDB) to fit the customer's infrastructure.
Software Updates	Continuous deployment with vendor-initiated updates.	Controlled deployment: Customers can review, approve, and apply updates—Tensor9 handles the packaging and delivery.
Form Factor Flexibility	Limited to vendor’s cloud environment.	Supports multiple form factors (e.g., Kubernetes + air-gapped or AWS + connected) without vendor re-engineering.
Observability	Full vendor access to telemetry and logs from the cloud.	Private telemetry: Vendors observe performance metrics, but only what customers explicitly allow.
Support Model	Vendor-managed with cloud-based support.	Secure, supervised support: Tensor9 enables secure vendor troubleshooting with audit-logged remote access.
Air-Gapped Environments	Unsupported or highly limited.	Fully supported with offline updates and secure, audit-logged debugging workflows.
Customizability	Limited by vendor’s cloud environment and policies.	Full customizability within the customer’s infrastructure, powered by open-source alternatives to managed services.

Why Choose Tensor9 Over Traditional SaaS?

No Vendor Rework Required: Tensor9 automatically swaps managed services (e.g., S3, DynamoDB) with open-source equivalents (e.g., MinIO, ScyllaDB) so that vendors can deploy their software across multiple form factors without additional engineering effort.
Enhanced Data Control: Traditional SaaS solutions often struggle to meet the requirements of regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and government. Tensor9 ensures data never leaves the customer’s environment, simplifying compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and FedRAMP.
Seamless Observability: Tensor9 mirrors the vendor’s cloud-native observability experience by providing telemetry within customer environments, while respecting data sovereignty.
Operational Resilience: In traditional SaaS, an outage in the vendor’s cloud could affect all customers. With Tensor9, each customer’s environment operates independently, increasing resilience against external disruptions.
Air-Gapped Compatibility: Traditional SaaS cannot serve air-gapped environments. Tensor9 fully supports air-gapped deployments, unlocking highly secure markets.

Summary

Tensor9 enhances the SaaS model by removing traditional data privacy and compliance barriers. Its Any-Prem approach allows vendors to build once and deliver anywhere—empowering them to serve new markets and customers while keeping their products secure, compliant, and performant in any environment.