Whether it’s available on premises or in the cloud, a Translation Management System (TMS) creates efficiencies when localizing content for global audiences. A TMS inherently makes project management more efficient, speeding up processes with automated workflows while making linguists’ work easier by providing access to translation memories and glossaries. However, there are other aspects to consider to ensure you get the best out of your tech-stack.
To make sure localization managers can work with the tool best suited to their company requirements, XTM can be installed on our Public or Private Cloud instances, as well as on premises. This gives our users the power to choose the right deployment option for their organization. Some companies have policies which restrict multi-tenant Public Cloud deployments, others do not want to have to manage their own instance with an on-premise solution.
To tackle these two big considerations, XTM developed a Private Cloud solution which provides power, control and security without the overhead expense. We were one of the first, and still are one of the few TMSs who can provide clients with secure Private Cloud hosting. Over the years, our Private Cloud hosting has evolved, with the introduction of our premium solution, providing more data center options and locations, a dedicated backup solution as well as full drive encryption.
First, we’ll look at what XTM Private Cloud is, before exploring the benefits it offers compared to XTM Suite and XTM Public Cloud. Lastly, we’ll look at all the features offered by XTM Private Cloud.
What is XTM Private Cloud?
XTM Private Cloud is a single-tenant cloud instance, which means a cloud server fully and only dedicated to one company. Private Cloud allows you to manage where your data is hosted and stored. For instance, governmental agencies are likely to want their data to be kept in a specific country or location.
This results in a faster connection as well as heavy workload readiness, perfect for bigger projects requiring fast turnaround times, making it the ideal choice for enterprises managing a high volume of translation projects. Plus, it is perfect for cases where many different users may need to be using XTM Cloud at the same time (from 30-50+), as it can provide access to unlimited concurrent licenses if needed.
A Private Cloud subscription also gives users exclusive access to their own complete UAT/DEV/Test instance. This test environment can be used to validate new versions of XTM Cloud before they get installed on the Production instance, or used for training, investigation or experimenting purposes. As such, new versions are given to Private Cloud customers on a pre-agreed date, after they have had a chance to validate it on their Test environments and confirm the need for the upgrade – keeping organizations in full control over what they deploy and when.
XTM Private Cloud gives companies the possibility to request custom server and hardware configurations based on their specific usage and needs. These are reviewed with a dedicated account manager on a quarterly basis, who will check that our system is optimized to meet users’ requirements, ensuring they are always getting the most out of their tech stack.
We worked with XTM Public Cloud for 3 years before switching to Private. We found that as we honed our automated localization delivery processes, the teams that we were serving became accustomed to speed and predictability. And as more and more projects were coming our way, we found ourselves needing more control over the complete XTM pipeline than the Public Cloud could offer. So we switched to a Private Cloud with a lot of expectations around performance and I am glad to say they were met. We haven’t looked back since!”
Stephanie Bouyer, Localization and Documentation Lead at Talend
To find out more, join our webinar on October 12, where Stephanie Bouyer from Talend will tell us more about the improvements they saw after they migrated. We’ll also compare the XTM Cloud types in detail and cover the migration process.
Let’s now look at what a Private Cloud option offers compared to an on-premise or cloud solution.
Comparison of XTM Suite and XTM Private Cloud
On-premise users often require a very high level of security, which can be matched by our Private Cloud solution. Private Cloud ensures data confidentiality, offers a dedicated backup solution, a centralized log system, antivirus protection, full drive encryption, security scans and forensic analysis, as well as enhanced performance tracking and monitoring, making it our most secure solution. And just like an on-premise solution, it is heavy-workload ready while providing faster connection due to exclusive system resources with no impact from other XTM Cloud users. As processing queues and servers are exclusive to a single organization, projects and files can be processed faster, eliminating the risk of the server’s load increasing because of projects from other companies.
XTM has a dedicated Content Delivery Network (CDN) system that is part of every Private Cloud instance. CDNs allow the distribution of application content across multiple geographic locations located close to the XTM end user, allowing for a faster user experience. We are currently working on improving our CDN system further for both static and dynamic content, making XTM Private Cloud even more powerful. In addition, a single tenant solution is easier to scale to suit your organization’s needs: we can easily add more memory, disk space or migrate the server to a more powerful one. There’s more flexibility in planning any maintenance or enhancement tasks.”
Jan Magnuszewski, IT Director at XTM International
On top of all these great features, another benefit is that our Private Cloud solution doesn’t require any input from users to run smoothly. Unlike an on-premise solution, which requires the company to have its own IT architecture in place, as well as the sole management of that team, a Private Cloud solution ensures we’re the ones taking care of maintaining the TMS, so you don’t have to.
With XTM Private Cloud, our team of experts will take care of everything while still working hand-in-hand with our users to ensure upgrades are scheduled at a day and time that suit their needs. This results in users saving time and money, as they won’t have to manage the upgrades, but also added peace of mind knowing the TMS is monitored 24/7 and that our team is on hand to ensure everything is running smoothly, at all times.
Want to find out more?
Comparison of XTM Public Cloud and XTM Private Cloud
Let’s now look at the differences between public and Private Cloud options. XTM Cloud was built with enterprise needs in mind, making it the solution of choice to process a high number of projects quickly, and securely. However, as companies grow, translation needs increase too. For those which require at least 30-50+ concurrent users and even better performance, on top of enhanced security, then Private Cloud is the optimal choice. Having a Private Cloud instance means that the server isn’t shared with anyone else, resulting in faster delivery of translation projects. Plus, those using our XTM Connect for their integrations would benefit from the enhanced performance provided by a standalone integration. Private Cloud also comes with additional options to tailor the hardware and server location to the users’ needs.
In addition, it comes with the added flexibility to choose when the server gets upgraded, at a date and time that suits the company, while Public Cloud gets deployed to everyone automatically once it’s ready. Private Cloud also offers access to additional instances that can be used for testing before deciding to upgrade. On top of this added flexibility and enhanced performance, users also benefit from added peace of mind, knowing the XTM team will take care of updates, upgrades, maintenance and performance monitoring, leaving them to focus solely on localization tasks.
Let’s now look at the full list of features and benefits offered by Private Cloud hosting.
What are the benefits of XTM Private Cloud?
Flexibility, personalization and performance
- High performance: the server is dedicated to one organization only, which means the processing queue only includes projects from a single company, no one else. This results in translation projects being processed faster, allowing for faster turnaround times
- Tailored solution: the dedicated hardware infrastructure can be more tailored to customers’ requirements (e.g. more storage can be provided, or adjustments to queue allocation)
- Complete control: all updates and upgrades are scheduled according to users’ needs, in slots that are suitable to them, and after any post release fine tuning has taken place. Plus, users can choose where the servers are located e.g., Ireland, France, Germany for AWS
- Additional instances: get up to 10 user non-production TEST system for UAT / Development / Training
- SSO configuration: the single sign-on (SSO) login method leverages a third-party authentication service to confirm the user’s identity before they attempt to log in to the service they want to use. By authenticating users before they access XTM, they are not asked for credentials when opening XTM (optional)
- Unlimited licenses: get as many concurrent users as required (cost varies depending on number of users)
- Quicker updates and upgrades: capability to perform maintenance automatically on XTM Private Cloud instances, with minimal human interaction
- Content Delivery Network: CDN can be added to ensure reduced latency for global users
Increased reliability and support
- Peace of mind: all maintenance tasks are undertaken by XTM, at the users’ preferred time slots
- Dedicated resources: single point of contact from our sales and customer success team, and possibility to get assigned a dedicated XTM Xpert
- Increased support:
- Hardware support: XTM will take care of all maintenance, including replacing outdated hardware
- Operating system updates covered by XTM tech team
- Operating system settings performed by XTM
- Hosting provider uptime SLA at 99.95% – as XTM Public Cloud
- Monitoring for critical issues 24/7 – as XTM Public Cloud
Reinforced security and monitoring
- Backup option: dedicated backup solution based on AWS S3. We store 12 daily snapshots and 3 taken every 2 hours. Archived projects are stored in AWS S3 buckets (XTM Private Cloud Premium)
- Encryption support: AWS server provides SOC2/full drive encryption at rest (XTM Private Cloud Premium)
- Centralized log system: dedicated safe place where critical logs are stored, accessible only to limited XTM personnel.
- Antivirus protection: for all XTM instances
- Security scans: all uploaded files are constantly scanned against viruses by clamav mechanism. If any suspicious file is detected, the XTM team will conduct further analysis to discard any potential false positive occurrences before notifying the client.
- Forensic analysis: every production XTM Private Cloud instance is attached to a centralized logging cluster (ELK) that stores all server activity. This allows us to pinpoint any issues and get them resolved, such as slow servers or queues
- Enhanced tracking: the internal XTM SRE team has a DataDog license installed on every production XTM instance to track the performance and act if there is any danger, even before it actually occurs. This could be a CPU spike for an extended period of time, meaning the server is using too many resources
- Enhanced monitoring: every production XTM Private Cloud instance is being monitored 24/7 by Icinga monitoring application, this system alerts our team of any issues or potential issues that occur. This means that if something gets flagged, we are alerted straight away and get it fixed as quickly as possible