When the Lights Go Out
 
Due to hosted versions of ManageUDA, users are able to operate the system during power or electricity failure fairly easily and cost effectively.

Rent Magic is primarily in the SaaS (Software as a Service) business due to the popularity of our Hosted versions of ManageUDA. As such, it always gets my attention when I see articles on the pros and cons of hosted software. Of course these articles all promote the ease and low cost of entry, universal access and minimal IT requirements associated with committing to a SaaS environment.

It was interesting to me that no one mentioned that your office and business can also operate during a power failure for minimal cost compared with conventional in-house server environments.
 
Let’s start from the beginning. During an electrical blackout, most often, the phone lines remain powered. The same is true for internet systems whether cable or DSL. The reason they function is because they are powered separately than the main electric power lines and have dedicated power back-ups for emergency use. So, if you can maintain power to your modem, router and computer, you can have access to the internet and thus your data.
 
Now, to be perfectly fair, you can have a similar setup for your in-house server/data center. However, these servers require huge amounts of electricity to run and thus require very large and expensive battery backups. They typically cost a few thousand dollars and go up from there. Not to mention that you will still need separate battery backups for each workstation and the internet. Conversely, a small business can have a very low cost battery backup for their modem, internet switch and wireless router so that everyone can get internet. If everyone is running laptops, these have their own power to last a few hours, and can run wirelessly as if it were a regular day. 
 
If the business has their employees running desktop computers, the solution is similar; you just need to have battery backups for the desktops. Most business desktops are relatively low power consumers and non-expensive battery backups would certainly suffice to provide a few hours of up-time.
 
Now, regarding the structure of the software provider’s server setup that will maintain a continuous service to all its customers is subject to another article. However, suffice it to say that Rent Magic users have experienced a 99.95% uptime since 2007 - or since we began offering the online experience that is ManageUDA Online.
 
(This Article was originally printed in Building Blocks Magazine, December 2010)
 
Yisrael Kopstick is Senior Vice President at Rent Magic Software, that develops complete property management and maintenance solutions that are powerful, yet easy to use. He can be reached at yisrael@rentmagic.ca or 416-238-7989 ext. 204. Find Rent Magic Software on the web at www.rentmagic.ca.