The ‘perfect’ AWS SaaS architecture (with examples)

by Ned Hallett
As Digital Marketing Manager and JAM’s primary pair of lungs, I provide the JAM-y take on the ever-evolving worlds of DevOps, SaaS, MACH - and acronyms yet to be coined.
Published on June 2021

We’re thrilled to announce our latest report – The ‘Perfect’ AWS Architecture for SaaS Applications – is ready and raring to go.

This is for anyone with a SaaS product interested in getting the most out of AWS architecture – whether you’re looking to optimize, migrate or host for the first time.

Download the report for free here

What’s in the report?

  • Examples of SaaS architecture on AWS –  complete with diagrams and expert commentary
  • A dissection of the issues companies face provisioning AWS for SaaS – and how to avoid the common pitfalls
  • Experts speaking in their own words, delivering key insights 

Why’s this important?

We wanted to tackle some of the misconceptions that teams regularly face when provisioning AWS services for SaaS.

And we wanted to do it in a way that solution architects, engineers and business stakeholders would all be able to connect with.

So, we let the experts speak in their own words, and had them talk to us through their thinking.

The result is an honest, myth-busting and compelling read – even if we do say so ourselves!

The value of real-world AWS SaaS architecture examples 

  • All of the architecture diagrams produced here come straight from our engineers – and provide real-world examples of how to solve real-world SaaS/cloud problems
  • Each diagram is followed up by a commentary, in which our experts explore the deeper context of the issue and explain the decisions they’ve made
  • This can speak to problems you may be facing, but even if that’s not the case, hearing an architect’s perspective can be a great way to help business stakeholders see the full picture

Some of the AWS SaaS issues our examples explore 

While we don’t wanna give too much away…we can say this report touches on: 

  • When a monolith can be a better fit than microservices 
  • The difference between the best technology and the best technology for you
  • The relativity of hyperscale, i.e. do you actually need to go full serverless?
  • What an all-singing, all-dancing global SaaS platform would look like on AWS

Why this report? And why now?

SaaS is a growing market, set to reach 140 billion by 2022.

And for a next-gen managed service provider (and SaaS support specialist) like us, this is a very interesting time.

What we’ve seen, however, is that there’s a real rush to cloud-native and next-gen adoption without the forethought to make it pay off.

What we’ve done is to try and offer an alternative: see how people in-the-know think about it – avoid the same mistakes.

As for why it’s AWS and not Azure – because there’s only so much time in the day!

AWS have marked themselves as the go-to provider for SaaS with offerings like the SaaS-Enablement Framework and SaaS Factory Programme. So we thought it made sense to start there.

But we’re certainly not ruling out creating a similar resource for Azure and other providers in the future.

A teaser of the example SaaS AWS architectures in the report 

SaaS AWS Architecture Example

What are some next steps in the AWS SaaS journey?

After, of course, downloading the report, just get in touch with one of our engineers for a free consultation. 

What else we can do to help 

As well as building and consulting on cloud architecture, we have a great track record supporting and monitoring SaaS applications 24/7, recently working on the launch of App Store No. 1 app Joe Wicks’ The Body Coach.

So whether it’s cloud design, 24/7 support, or anything else, just get in touch.

Download the AWS SaaS report for free!

A bit more background 

If you’re still reading – and you haven’t downloaded our quite excellent and totally free report – you might be in need of a little refresher.

If you just want to find out a bit more about SaaS and how it connects with AWS, this section’s for you.

AWS (and cloud in general) for SaaS

SaaS stands for software as a service, and it’s a delivery model wherein software is delivered via the web from the provider’s server. 

This differs from the traditional software delivery model in which the program is installed on the user’s machine.

SaaS is a fast-growing and popular way of delivering software, with key players including Netflix, Google and Salesforce.

Where cloud computing and AWS come in is supplying SaaS businesses with the ease of management, scalability and flexibility necessary to compete in today’s digital landscape.

Many businesses – and particularly SaaS companies – find themselves having to meet huge swells in demand, for which the elasticity offered by cloud computing is vital.

Likewise, the managed nature of many cloud offerings offsets the recruitment side of this sudden need to scale, making it easier for businesses to reach new customers quickly.

Lastly, cloud technologies lend themselves to more robust and agile development approaches – like CI/CD – which means new features can be tested and deployed much quicker.

In short, cloud is a great fit for SaaS because it 

  • Scales in-line with customer demand 
  • Takes away the management and TCO of traditional infrastructure
  • Enables robust and agile development practices like CI/CD

What about AWS and SaaS specifically?

As we’ve already mentioned, AWS goes above and beyond with their offerings for SaaS when compared to other providers.

AWS SaaS Factory 

The most notable example of this is the AWS SaaS Factory, which is geared toward helping SaaS partners at any stage in their journey, whether they’re building a product for the first time, migrating an existing product to AWS or optimising an existing AWS SaaS offering.

The AWS SaaS Factory boasts access to a great community of peers, resources including in-depth guides and tools and direct engagement with SaaS experts.

AWS serverless for SaaS 

AWS has a broad serverless offering encompassing AWS Lambda, Fargate, Aurora Serverless and more. Serverless can be used to reach scaling potential beyond traditional VMs, which can be crucial for truly global SaaS products. 

On the other hand, serverless technologies also allows SaaS vendors to open their applications up to customisation, hitting back at one of the key advantages locally hosted software holds over SaaS.

Well-positioned to capitalize on key SaaS trends in 2021

With significant offerings in AI and ML, AWS is well positioned to help companies take advantage of one of the key trends likely to shake up SaaS in 2021, 2022 and beyond. 

ML and AI tools will be used to streamline interactions between businesses and customers and in some cases will even refine and improve the SaaS offering itself.

With one of the broadest AI/ML services on the market, AWS is a sure bet for getting ahead of the curve.

Anything else?

Hopefully, you now have a clear picture of what cloud, SaaS and AWS have to do with each other. 

And you’re ready to download the report.

However, if you have any other questions at all, just get in touch.

One more thing!

Why not read our nice and sassy guide to SaaS architecture while you’re at it!

SHARE

CONTACT US

With partners across the USA, Europe and APAC, we provide a truly global service. So wherever you or your clients are based, contact us today to find out what we can do.