Benefits of cloud hosting exam software

With Speedwell’s eSystem exam software, there are two options when it comes to hosting; Cloud hosting, where we host it for you in the Cloud or you can host locally on your own network.

The eSystem is available to purchase as a software as a service (SaaS) solution. Which allows you to operate the software entirely from the Cloud on a recurring annual subscription basis. Choosing this route means that the eSystem is hosted through Amazon Web Services (AWS) remote Cloud infrastructure.

We’re often asked about the benefits of Cloud hosting, so here we’ve collated the top reasons where it can be advantageous.

Efficiency and Speed

The chances are your IT department are already extremely busy with countless competing priorities. They probably won’t have much spare capacity to focus on installing new software. With Cloud hosting you won’t need to engage your IT department (outside of the initial discussion on self-hosting or not) or add additional resource into the process.  We’ll make getting you up and running with the eSystem our focus, removing any stress or hassle.

We’re committed to running updates and upgrades as soon as possible so, you can be confident that you’ll always be using the most up-to-date version of the software. And, since we’re constantly adding improvements, you’ll be one of the first to benefit.

Cost Effectiveness

This is an important one. Like many higher education institutions, your resources and budgets are probably already tight. In fact, shrinking budgets, rising costs and in many cases aging facilities all have an impact. Cloud hosting the eSystem can help here. If you chose to self-host, investment and management of physical infrastructure are likely to be required. None of this is necessary with Cloud hosting.

In addition, there are no maintenance costs. These are all covered within the subscription. So, you get peace of mind in knowing what you will be paying up-front.

Scalable and Dynamic

Should your needs dramatically grow, Cloud hosting can quickly adapt. It’s scalable quickly, so it will give you more space, as you need it. It’s dynamic too, meaning that if your needs later change, it’s also easy to scale down. This flexibility (or speed) would be hard to achieve with physical infrastructure.

Security and peace of mind

We use Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centre in London to host the eSystem for most clients. However, using AWS also gives us the flexibility to select a server and host the software in multiple locations close to our clients if required. Furthermore, AWS are industry leaders in providing cloud hosting infrastructure for organisations both large and small. Not only does this mean that we have the reassurance of the Amazon service level agreements and the up-time guarantee, but it gives us the ability to upscale quickly should the demand arise.

If you decide to host with us, you’ll have your own instance of the eSystem hosted on a dedicated virtual server. With our assurance that we never share server resource between customers. Plus, you’ll benefit from a regular, closely monitored, back-up schedule.

Importantly, we monitor performance and availability for you. Our support team can watch the eSystem and virtual servers in real time, so we can address any issues promptly. All communications between our team and the virtual servers are secured using SSL. You can be reassured that we comply with all applicable requirements of the data protection legislation (GDPR) full details of which are detailed in our hosting agreement.

Medical Schools and Higher Education Institutions who already use our Cloud hosting services find it gives them greater local control. We take care of all updates and maintenance and there is no waiting to go through internal testing environments or IT departments.

Finally, it removes any burden or stress – by deciding to Cloud host you can have confidence that we’re taking care of the software leaving you free to focus on the exams.

Get in touch

Please contact us if you would like to find out more about our eSystem, moving to Cloud hosting or how we can assist you. Call our sales team on +44 (0) 1223 851703 or email info@speedwellsoftware.com