In this two-blog series, we’re examining how companies can solve for data residency depending on the type of app they have. In the first part, we’ve gone through internal apps, the options companies have, and what makes InCountry stand out. In this second part, we’ll have a similar dive into SaaS apps and focus on Salesforce.
Among the most significant trends of 2020 has been the explosive speed SaaS applications have been getting adopted and favored over on-prem and hosted ones. Gartner expects 80% of enterprises to shut down their traditional data centers by 2025. The mass exodus from private to public data hosting has been progressing for years, but the pandemic has accelerated that trend as companies had to make quick decisions to support their remote employees and customers. As a provider of data residency-as-a-service to both internal and SaaS apps, we are witnessing first hand this uptick in SaaS adoption. Global companies expanding into new markets are changing plans on the go, and the last thing they want to worry about is dealing with compliance, regulatory and legal issues. Our platform gives them the tools to comply with those requirements quickly.
SaaS architecture and data residency
SaaS applications, depending on their architecture, can be categorized into three types. A single-region app, a multi-region, and cloud-native, where it can be deployed on various hyperscalers. A cloud-native app gives customers the option to deploy wherever a supported hyperscaler is located, solving for data residency in that one country.
Salesforce and data residency
Let’s take Salesforce, one of the SaaS applications we provide data residency integration to, as an example. Salesforce is the category pioneer and the most powerful CRM and Sales suite a company can buy. We love working with Salesforce and helping customers use their applications without worrying about data residency and country-specific regulations. We love the power Salesforce gives to developers and the integration the platform provides. The partner ecosystem is friendly and supportive. Until recently, Salesforce fell into the multi-region category, where deployments were in a minimal number of countries and only on company-owned data centers and AWS.
Salesforce Hyperforce
Salesforce has recently announced Salesforce Hyperforce, a new architecture that will enable deployments on Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. This news shows Salesforce’s commitment to continuously be at the forefront of innovation and its geographically ever-expanding customers and needs. It’s also great news for InCountry, as the new modern data stack accelerates our Salesforce roadmap. However, it remains an inadequate data residency solution for global companies.
| Category | Salesforce Now | Salesforce Hyperforce | InCountry + Salesforce |
| Countries for data storage | 7 Countries | 2 Countries, 5 planned by 2020 | 90+ Countries |
| Manage data across multiple countries in 1 instance | No | No | Yes |
| Country for origin only viewing. Blocking Access from other Countries | No | No | Yes |
| Single-tenant option | No | No | Yes |
With Hyperforce, Salesforce can be deployed in more countries. However, regardless of the number of countries it will be available in, the challenge of solving for data residency in every country a company operates in remains unsolved. With InCountry, the same instance of Salesforce, no matter where it’s deployed, can be extended and regulated data can be distributed and localized in over 90 countries, all at the same time, based on the company needs and the regulatory environment. Data based on the country of origin or the type of data (PII, Healthcare, etc..) can be distributed and localized on the InCountry platform in different countries. The managed service is efficient and dynamic, adapting to customers’ deployments and customizations. Geographical access can also be limited for those types of data. Check out our Salesforce integration page to learn more.
Country-level compliance is becoming essential to achieving data protection compliance and win new markets. At InCountry, we’re empowering customers to use their applications in more countries or adopt new ones safely and without the disruption of data compliance.