17,000 users access the Enviance System from 49 countries including most demanding Fortune 1000 companies and government organizations.

Very easily! Enviance has worked with a number of clients to automate the flow of data from their process historians into the Enviance System. The data is sent over the Internet using web services. Web services is a standard method for computer to computer data transmission that is secure, reliable, and requires minimum set-up. The set-up consists of identifying the data you want to send and setting up Enviance to accept the data. The actual data transmission is handled by an application that is configured by Enviance and installed on your network.

In addition, the Enviance SDK makes it easier than ever for you to leverage your existing investments in IT and software solutions by connecting them to Enviance and extending your centralized compliance system.

Enviance recognizes that your compliance data and processes are proprietary to your organization, which is why we guard that information using a defense in depth strategy. Many information systems - whether they are internally or externally developed - are protected by the use of firewalls, digital certificates, and SSL with 128-bit encryption. Enviance does this, and more, by using layered security architecture.

−	Stringent physical security policies restricting access to our servers
−	Government standardized network access controls
−	Complete one-way encrypted passwords to prevent unauthorized system access

Implementation can take as little as a few weeks or longer depending upon the scope of your project. Working with your Enviance account team and using a proven process and methodology we will provide you with an estimate for your specific project.

Because of its compelling business model, there are many client-server vendors professing to offer an on demand, or ASP solution. These companies take their fixed technology, outsource the IT infrastructure hosting offsite from a customer’s premises, and expect the look and feel of the Internet to sell the application. However, the benefits of true software as a service computing cannot be delivered unless the application has been designed from inception to be scalable across multiple companies and tens of thousands of users over the Internet as well as interoperable with various other corporate systems.

Offsite hosting of a client-server solution actually adds cost and risk by moving the network servers to another location and adding a third party to manage maintenance, upgrades, and implementation that would otherwise be done by the internal IT department. Furthermore, the financial model of offsite client-server hosting still requires a large up front investment. Using offsite hosting to simulate a SaaS application is nothing more than a return to the ASP model that failed a few years ago.

The Enviance System offers an unparalleled level of availability in the industry, 99.97% uptime, not including scheduled maintenance. This level of availability ensures access to our system 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.

The Enviance System was engineered and designed with care to make sure it could seamlessly handle the growing, and changing, needs of our customers. Three specific methodologies were followed to make sure that the application would scale:

−	All components of the application are load balanced. This means that if any part of the application reaches its capacity limit, Enviance adds more hardware to pick up the load, without having to re-design or even reconfigure the application.
−	Operations that are time consuming and expensive to execute are performed asynchronously. This means that the user does not have to wait for the operations to complete, and the Enviance System can intelligently execute the operation in a manner that does not overload the systems.
−	Care has been taken to optimize read-only operations (such as reports) by using a separate set of servers for these operations. In this way, read/write operations such as editing records or re-calculating data do not block the read-only operations.

This combination of load-balanced components, asynchronous operations, and read-optimized servers provides for an application environment that can be scaled to handle the largest of customers as well as addressing the ever changing needs of most organizations during times of mergers and acquisitions. This added business value is unprecedented and not available through client-server or ASP software providers.

Increasingly, companies realize a greater return on investment by selecting a service provider whose core competency is providing information management software, implementation services, and IT infrastructure support in a one-stop-shop. This significantly reduces implementation and development costs as well as ongoing support and training costs, while at the same time enhances business performance through best-in-class functionality. Benefits of true SaaS include but are not limited to:

−	Reduced implementation costs: no hardware or software to buy
−	Rapid setup and deployment: all you need is a secure User ID and password
−	Accessible from any location with Internet access
−	99.97% uptime
−	Ongoing support and real-time product enhancements

In fact, Timothy Chou in The End of Software quotes Gartner, Inc., a global analyst firm, "Customers can spend up to four times the cost of their software license per year to own and manage their applications." With SaaS, these out-year IT costs, which are often ignored or hidden in the sale process, are completely avoided.

At least as important as any of the other advantages described is the fact that SaaS has fundamentally improved the ability of customers to enforce software vendors’ promises. In the SaaS world, the customer purchases and seamlessly accesses usage incrementally. If the application does not perform as promised, the customer can cancel the subscription and move on, having avoided the handcuffs of making a big enterprise purchase up front. This fundamental shift creates substantial protection and makes customer satisfaction job one. To avoid cancellation, SaaS providers have to satisfy customers every single day - from the time the system is purchased throughout implementation, adoption, and ongoing use.

Absolutely.

An Internet approach based on Software as a Service (Saas) delivery marks a significant advance over less interoperable client-server alternatives. The upfront costs are dramatically reduced and implementation times are significantly shortened because the customer does not need to purchase or install hardware, operating systems, database applications, server applications, and system software.

SaaS also offers significant cost savings versus client-server upgrades as there is less reliance on IT professionals to travel site to site and struggle with systems, servers and installation discs; there are no system configuration or compatibility problems and no budget issues.

Because on demand systems are run by offsite, highly secure, centralized servers, SaaS providers are able to perform upgrades ’overnight’, seamlessly, without burdening internal staffs, and at no cost to the customer. The reduction in maintenance and upgrade costs is passed to customers, who use the software application to solve issues related to their core business without having to become involved in software maintenance or support.

Allowing companies to avoid the very significant internal IT costs that would be incurred in out years just to maintain a client-server system is another advantage of SaaS. In fact, Timothy Chou in The End of Software quotes Gartner, Inc., a global analyst firm, "Customers can spend up to four times the cost of their software license per year to own and manage their applications." With SaaS, these ongoing IT costs, which are often ignored or hidden in the sale process, are completely avoided.

In addition, in order to keep pace with technological trends in the industry, most client-server systems are re-engineered and/or re-architected every 4-7 years. When these updated systems are released, you will often be required to repurchase your license for the system because the older version will no longer be supported by the vendor. And, you would also need to re-implement the updated system as considerable cost.

Enviance follows industry accepted best practices to ensure that all your compliance data and information are secure and safeguarded by multiple layers of security. Some Enviance security features include:

−	Stringent physical security policies restricting access to our servers
−	Government standardized network access controls
−	Complete one-way encrypted passwords to prevent unauthorized system access

Because Enviance is Internet-based, there is no hardware or software installation and maintenance or time-consuming system upgrades. All you need is a computer with Microsoft® Internet Explorer 5.5 service pack 2 or above. As soon as you have an Internet connection, you can start working in the Enviance System. It’s that simple.

With Enviance, System maintenance and upgrades are included. Because Enviance is Internet-based, you are free from the headaches of hardware and software maintenance and time-consuming system upgrades. We manage the entire system, so your staff stays focused on your business.