Any learning manager who researches the possibility of using a SaaS-based Learning Management System (LMS) to support their corporate training program is likely to come across the term “multi-tenant”, as it pertains to a SaaS deployment option. ‘Tenancy’, in cloud computing, refers to the exchange of computing resources in a private or public environment that is separate and kept invisible from other users, or ‘tenants’.
In SaaS, tenancy is characterized as either Single-tenant SaaS or Multi-tenant SaaS. A single-tenant architecture is one where the SaaS client is the tenant. In this approach, a dedicated server and supporting infrastructure is dedicated to the tenant. Single-tenant technologies cannot be shared among users, but buyer has the opportunity to customize the software to meet their requirements.
Multi-tenant SaaS is an architecture in which many organizations can share the same software and store data. In multi-tenant SaaS, there is a single instance of the software and its supporting information can be used by multiple customers.
Some of the benefits of a multi-tenant SaaS architecture include:
Decreased Costs
Because a multi-tenant architecture allows for the exchange of services, resources, and applications, it is usually far more cost-effective than a single-tenant structure. Scaling is more streamlined because new users can easily access the same software as existing tenants.
Streamlined Maintenance
A multi-tenant architecture allows for fast and streamlined maintenance since changes and updates, once implemented, are propagated across all client instances. This approach ensures that each of your tenants is working with the ‘latest and greatest’ version of the SaaS platform.
Efficient Resources
In multi-tenant architecture, all resources are shared, thus creating a greater opportunity for efficiencies. Because it is a dynamic environment in which resources are accessed simultaneously, multi-tenant SaaS software offers sufficient capacity for supporting multiple customers at once.
Leveraging a Multi-Tenant Functionality for Learning Management
The core technology that supports all type of eLearning programs, including corporate training and employee development, is a Learning Management System, or “LMS”. An LMS is the application that is used to build, deliver, manage, and track your corporate training program. While some companies choose to “stand up” an LMS on their own servers (self-hosted) they tend to be very large organizations that have the resources (both financial and labor) to implement and support this sizable project.
Today, more companies choose to work with a third-party SaaS vendor in order to access the LMS features and capacity they need. This approach eliminates the need for a large, up-front capital investment and shifts the responsibility for the ongoing management and maintenance of the system to the SaaS vendor.
A relatively recent development in SaaS-based LMS technology is in the availability of multi-tenant architecture. Multitenancy allows you to “spin up” new instances of the LMS application in order to create new, customizable learning portals for corporate training. Through multitenancy, you can offer each training audience a private ‘closed and private’ learning experience that supports the specific needs of that group.
LMS Portals: SaaS-Based, Multi-Tenant Functionality for Learning Management
LMS Portals provides our client and partners with a SaaS-based, multi-tenant learning management system that allows you to launch and manage multiple, private eLearning environments (portals) for each of your training audiences. Each portal you launch can have its own unique branding and includes powerful tools for course creation, user onboarding, learner collaboration, analytics, and more.
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