Cloud Software V Hosted Software

Don't be fooled by the quick talking salesman in a poorly fitted suit from ancient technology companies. Hosted dental software solutions are not the same thing as a cloud dental software solution. Don't let them pull the cloud over your eyes.

If you squint your eyes, turn your head sideways and the light is shining just right, they might look like the same thing but upon closer inspection you can see the difference.

Packaging a hosted solution as a cloud service is disingenuous at best. There are some distinct and important differences between a cloud based dental software solution and a hosted one.

How can you tell true cloud solutions from fake ones?

Hosted services are solutions where provider hosts the physical server running the service elsewhere. Access to this service is usually provided through a direct network connection over the internet.

Strictly speaking, a cloud service is similar in that it's a service accessible over the internet. But that is where the similarities end. A cloud based solution is software that is born in the cloud, built to be accessed by the internet from the ground up. Cloud based software solutions tend to capitalise on collaborative tools and interconnectivity that is inherent to the cloud.

Cloud based dental software lives in multiple servers, stored on multiple sites. This is called multi-tenancy, and despite what hosted vendors will tell you, it really matters. In a true cloud solution, all customers are accessing the same software from the same cloud. This allows vendors, like Dentally, to give customers instantaneous access to the latest product upgrades.

Subscribing to a hosted solution, while taking away some of the hassle of hosting a server in your own practice still leaves you with many headaches. Access is often slower than if you had it installed on-site and if there does happen to be an issue then you have to depend on someone else to fix it - this can take hours.

True cloud based solutions make sure you don't have to endure painful upgrades and gives you more reliable, secure access to your systems, anytime, anywhere.