Is a Dedicated Instance Worth It?
A dedicated instance costs more than a shared workspace and runs the same product. For some organizations that is money well spent; for most it is not. How to tell which you are, in four questions.
- Written by
- Washingtone AuraFounder, AWRA OpsHub
- Issued
- Build
- Initial
We sell dedicated instances, and the most useful thing we can tell you about them is that most organizations do not need one. A shared workspace runs the same product, gets the same releases and keeps your records apart from everyone else’s. A dedicated instance is worth paying for when somebody outside your organization needs a shorter answer than that.
What you pay for
A dedicated instance is quoted per organization. A one-off setup fee covers setting it up and loading your data. An annual fee covers hosting, updates and backups. There are two tiers: Dedicated, where your instance has its own database, application, queue, encryption key, storage and backups on a server shared with other dedicated instances, and Dedicated server, where the machine is yours as well.
What you do not pay for is anyone on your side to run it. There is no server to patch, no backup to check and no upgrade to schedule.
What you get for it
Not features. The product is identical. What you get is a set of sentences you can say truthfully:
- “Our records are in a database that holds our organization alone.”
- “They are encrypted under a key generated for our instance.”
- “Our backups are a set of our own.”
- “Our system is at our own address.”
- “Nobody else’s busy day queues in front of ours.”
You are not buying a better product. You are buying shorter answers.
Whether those sentences are worth the fee depends entirely on who needs to hear them, and how much it costs you each time they do not.
Four questions that decide it
Nobody outside the organization has ever asked where our records are held.
Stay shared
It is cheaper and serves you just as well. Revisit the question when someone does ask.
A funder, supervisor or board has asked, and the answer took a meeting.
Price a dedicated instance
Compare the fee with the time each of those meetings costs, and how often they come round.
A contract, grant or policy says our records may not share a system.
Dedicated
The decision has been made for you. Keep the clause to hand for the quote.
A reviewer will ask who else is on the physical machine.
Dedicated server
The tier where the machine runs your instance and nothing else.
The cost most organizations forget
The comparison people make is the dedicated fee against the shared fee. The comparison that matters is the dedicated fee against what the long answer costs: the extra round on every donor annex, the follow-up queries on the vendor risk assessment, the inspection finding, the deal that stalls in procurement. An organization that answers that question four times a year is paying for it already. It is simply paying in staff time.
If you are not sure which side you are on, shared or dedicated sets out exactly what changes, and ten questions for any vendor shows which of your answers would get shorter.
Count the cost of the long answer
How many times this year did someone ask where our records are?
Count
Donor annexes, questionnaires, inspections, board papers.
Then
Zero or one: stay shared.
How long did each answer take?
Count
Hours of staff time, including follow-ups.
Then
Multiply, and compare with the annual fee.
Did any of them delay money or a contract?
Count
A grant, a deal or a renewal.
Then
That delay is part of the cost.
Is it written down that we must be isolated?
Count
A clause, a policy, a finding.
Then
Then it is not a cost question any more.
Verdict
If nobody asks, stay shared. If someone asks often, or a contract or policy requires it, a dedicated instance usually costs less than the long answer you are already paying for in staff time. If a reviewer asks about the machine itself, price the Dedicated server tier.
Beyond the standard instance
The instance itself is ready to set up now. These are the additions organizations most often build into the same quote.
The mobile app on your instance
Staff phones connecting straight to your own address, with offline capture.
Your own domain
The system at an address on your organization’s own domain.
A hosting region of your choosing
Written into the contract, for an obligation that names one.
Your history, moved across
An existing shared workspace moved to your instance with its records intact.
How it works: tell us who is asking and what they need to hear, and we return a written scope and cost.
Get a quoteFind out what your short answer costs
Dedicated instances are quoted per organization, in two tiers. Available to set up now.
See the dedicated instanceFrequently asked questions
Is a dedicated ERP instance worth the cost?
It is worth it when someone outside your organization, such as a funder, supervisor or board, needs to hear that your records are on a system of your own, or when a contract or policy requires it. If nobody asks, a shared workspace is cheaper and serves you just as well.
How is a dedicated instance priced?
Per organization, on a quote. A one-off setup fee covers setting it up and loading your data, and an annual fee covers hosting, updates and backups.
Does a dedicated instance have more features?
No. It runs the same product and receives the same releases as the shared service. The difference is isolation, not features.
What is the difference between Dedicated and Dedicated server?
On Dedicated, your instance has its own database, application, queue, key, storage and backups on a server shared with other dedicated instances. On Dedicated server, the machine runs your instance and nothing else.
