Compliance

One of the first challenges faced by software organisations transitioning to a SaaS business model is the need to securely deploy tenants' applications on their own infrastructure. This change means that the SaaS provider takes responsibility for securely operating and maintaining the software. The following architectural dimensions are worth considering when designing for compliance.

Tenant identity management plays a important role in compliance for SaaS businesses by controlling how users are authenticated, authorised, and audited. It powers tenant isolation measures to ensure that only the right users from the right tenants can access the right resources, and that their actions are traceable and secure.

Tenant data isolation often operates hand in hand with tenant identity management to make sure that each user or organisation can only access the data and resources that belong to them. This separation is fundamental for maintaining trust, as it prevents data leakage between tenants and protects sensitive information. It also plays an important role in regulatory compliance, which is particularly critical for SaaS businesses serving diverse customers across industries.

Tenancy model allows organisations to structure how and where tenant's data and other resources are hosted. Defining the physical or geographic location of storage and compute helps address issues such as data sovereignty, privacy regulations, and cross-border data flow restrictions. This model is particularly important for industries that handle sensitive information, as it provides control in meeting legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations.

Tenant decommissioning governs data protection to ensure organisations handle customer data responsibly. It includes securely deleting or archiving all information linked to a tenant once their contract ends. This reduces security risks and demonstrates adherence to legal and industry obligations.

A secure and trustworthy application assures customers that their data is protected, thereby increasing their confidence in using the service. This trust directly influences adoption rates, as users are unlikely to commit to a platform that feels risky or unreliable. Consequently, without a strong security foundation, a SaaS business cannot maintain a loyal customer base.