Is SaaS Office Worth the Risk?

Interest in Software as a Service (SaaS) office is extremely high. IT professionals are particularly interested in quantifying the risk associated with moving to online office solutions from Google and Microsoft. Risk is the primary concern holding back adoption of these solutions. This is justifiable since a move to SaaS office carries risk. But, so does operating an in-house email system. To successfully assess risk of SaaS office requires a careful comparative analysis of SaaS office versus in-house solutions. Several key factors makeup this analysis, including compliance, availability, vendor lock-in, and breach notification. To aid the process, Nemertes characterizes risk-management requirements as low, medium or high assurance. SaaS office is a viable alternative for low assurance, a potential alternative for medium assurance and never an option for high assurance organizations.