The highest level of security
Ultimo has chosen to use the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Annually, Microsoft invests 1 billion euros in security, for example by employing 3500 cyber security experts. The Azure platform meets over 90 compliance certificates, including ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and the GDPR. Ultimo uses Azure datacentres in Western Europe so the data always remains in the EU.
In addition to the integrated security of the Azure platform, we also spend a lot of time and attention on security in our software itself. Every year we have an independent external company perform a security assessment of our software and infrastructure. Computest: ‘The infrastructure and web application of Ultimo are of an excellent security level’. With regard to the data we can say that every customer has their own database.
Continuity guaranteed
Our uptime is very close to 100%. Applying a so-called container architecture is one of the ways in which we realise a higher availability of the Ultimo application. The software runs in these containers, which automatically restore in case a problem occurs. The data and environments are backed up to another Azure datacentre in near real time. This also guarantees the continuity in the unlikely case that an entire datacentre becomes unavailable.
Always up to date with the latest features
We took making the Ultimo software architecture suitable for Azure as an opportunity to start releasing the software more frequently. The term for this in Continuous Delivery. This means that we automatically update all Ultimo environments to the latest version at least every week. This allows us to make new functionality as well as bug and security fixes available for all environments quickly. Minor problems are fixed before you even knew they existed and, more importantly, you can enjoy new functionality and features immediately and no longer have to depend on an annual or biannual major release.
Predictable costs and cost reduction
The cloud fee is predictable and includes the use of the software, continuous updates and the same high-quality infrastructure. You no longer have to invest in servers, database management systems, operating systems, separate updates or the management time to keep all systems and knowledge up to date. You get rid all these investments of time and money.
Easily make data available on mobile devices and for external parties
From the cloud, you can safely work anywhere and at any time with the Ultimo software. The same goes for mobile applications and making data available for external parties.
Business Intelligence
You can conduct smart analyses using Power BI in Ultimo’s cloud platform. This BI tool and its integration in Ultimo add so much value and are constantly being developed further so you can make the right decisions based on the right information.
Everything must come to an end
Cloud is the future. We will continue to develop Ultimo’s On-Premises version for the time being, but we will stop adding new features to it from 2023 onward. This will allow us to fully focus on continuing to develop the latest technology to offer you, the client, the best possible user experience. From 2023 onward, we will continue to support the On-Premises version for a few more years and even offer extended support, but it will be coming to an end.
If you want to stay ahead of the curve, stay up to date and prioritise security, we recommend you switch to the cloud. If you would like to know more, you can read the whitepaper Ultimo in the Cloud.
Other blogs written by Ewout Noordermeer
