Document management is no longer a purely technical topic: it now touches on operational performance, compliance and security for organisations. In this context, the way a company hosts and operates its business solutions directly affects its ability to evolve, manage risk and optimise costs.
This is why many organisations are now re-evaluating their On-Premise infrastructure in favour of SaaS models, which are more resilient, more flexible and faster to deploy. At Maarch, this balance between ease of use and security requirements is part of our DNA. Every year, we invest more than €400,000 in information security, carry out regular audits, continuously strengthen the robustness of our platforms, and rely on trusted partners. This approach is particularly reflected in Maarch Courrier, where the share of SaaS deployments keeps growing.
In this article, we look back at the differences between On-Premise and SaaS but, more importantly, we explain how and why you should choose the SaaS option with Maarch.
Quickly Understanding the Two Models
On-Premise: A Model Built on Technical Sovereignty
The On-Premise model, or « on-site » hosting, relies on hosting the software within the organisation’s own infrastructure, through the purchase of a software licence to be installed directly on its own servers. It involves direct control over the entire technical chain: servers, security, updates, backups, service continuity. This model suits organisations that want to retain full control over their environments, their data and their security policies.
In short, the company owns and manages the entire chain, both software and hardware.
SaaS: A Service Operated and Designed for Agility
Software as a Service (SaaS) relies on software hosted in the cloud, accessible via a web browser, through a monthly or annual subscription, and fully operated by the publisher, such as Maarch, or by a specialist provider. Infrastructure, maintenance, updates and security are handled by the provider, allowing organisations to focus on usage rather than technical operations.
Why Some Organisations Still Favour On-Premise
Despite the rise of SaaS, On-Premise remains relevant in certain contexts, particularly for organisations subject to strict regulatory requirements or that want to keep full control over their IT environment.
Among the benefits:
- Full control: the company fully controls its infrastructure, data and configurations
- Tailored security: internal teams can apply very specific security policies, adapted to the organisation’s own needs
- Independence from the internet: the software remains accessible even with limited or unstable external connectivity
- Single upfront investment: licence purchased under a CAPEX model, with no recurring subscription
The free, open-source nature of Maarch products allows this freedom to use On-Premise: we don’t force our clients into anything, and everyone chooses the mode that suits them best.
The simple architecture, built on widely proven low-level layers that are themselves open source, delivers the high maintainability that complex, proprietary product architectures often lack.
Why SaaS Is Becoming a Modern, Advantageous Standard
Better Cost Control
SaaS turns capital expenditure (CAPEX) into operating expenditure (OPEX). It removes costs related to infrastructure, energy, monitoring or breakdowns, and offers stable budget visibility through a subscription.
Immediate Adaptability
SaaS makes it possible to quickly adjust resources: users, storage, functional modules. This flexibility suits growing, multi-site organisations, or those engaged in modernisation efforts.
Continuous, Transparent Maintenance
Updates, security patches and functional improvements are deployed automatically. Internal teams are freed from operational tasks and can focus on high-value projects.
Enhanced Security
SaaS providers pool significant investments in cybersecurity, high availability and data protection, with a level of expertise often greater than what an SME can provide in-house. In addition, SLAs¹ guarantee contractual commitments on performance and availability.
¹ A SLA (Service Level Agreement) is a contractual document between a service provider and its client that precisely defines commitments regarding availability, performance and support. It also describes how this performance will be assessed and validated, as well as the measures planned if targets are not met.
The Added Value of SaaS with Maarch
Maarch’s SaaS offering stands out through a set of guarantees and services specifically designed to meet the expectations of CIOs and business teams. Choosing this deployment mode means capitalising on our expertise, while benefiting from an ultra-secure, high-performing environment that’s constantly enriched by open-source innovation. Our approach relies on a dedicated cloud infrastructure, guaranteeing high availability and full reversibility, including hosting, operations, 24/7 monitoring and automatic functional updates for our software solutions (Maarch Courrier, Maarch Digital Flow, etc.).
A Dedicated Team, Structured to Support CIOs
Choosing Maarch in SaaS mode means relying on a solid, specialised organisation:
- 12 Xelians professionals dedicated to server infrastructure
- 10 Maarch experts for the application layers
- 2 CISOs focused on security and compliance
This structure guarantees clear oversight, sharp expertise and a fast response capability, without drawing on your internal teams.
A Major Investment in Security
Security is a measurable commitment. Maarch dedicates more than €400,000 per year to protecting its SaaS environments, including:
- Regular scans and penetration tests
- 24/7 monitoring and supervision by a SOC
- Enhanced certifications
- Advanced antivirus solutions
- Bug bounty programmes to protect data
Performance Sized for Business Needs
Maarch’s certified infrastructure relies on a robust architecture including:
- 10 servers per site
- 140 GB of RAM combined capacity
- 32 CPUs
This capacity guarantees high availability, smooth scaling and response times suited to demanding environments (document volumes, activity spikes, complex workflows…).
Premium Services Included as Standard
Maarch’s SaaS offering isn’t limited to hosting — it includes high-value services, with no additional cost or economic constraints, such as:
- Automatic version management
- Grafana analytics dashboards
- Online editing via OnlyOffice Pro (shared)
- Built-in Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
- Automatic Document Reading (LAD) for mail
- A Pro signing platform included
These features boost team productivity and reduce the number of integrations the IT department needs to manage.
IDP: A New Generation of Document Automation
SaaS also makes it possible to quickly roll out Maarch’s innovations, particularly around IDP (Intelligent Document Processing). We’re going to enrich our SaaS services with this intelligent processing tool:
- Automatic extraction of the mail’s subject and date
- Intelligent matching with an existing contact
- Mail tone analysis (e.g. neutral, complaint, satisfaction)
- Generation of mail summaries
- Suggested automatic routing to the right departments
- Identification of mail type (complaint, administrative, information request…)
These features speed up qualification, make processes more reliable and reduce low-value manual tasks.
IDP, which requires significant computing power due to its AI engine, becomes accessible at a moderate cost thanks to the resource pooling offered by the SaaS model.
SaaS… But Open Source: The Guarantee of Reverse Reversibility
Unlike proprietary SaaS solutions, Maarch keeps its open-source DNA. This approach offers a major, rare advantage: reverse reversibility.
You can move from On-Premise to SaaS, or go back to On-Premise on the core Product, without disruption, without technological lock-in and without necessarily changing solution.
For a CIO, this is the guarantee of staying in control of their architecture, their hosting choices and their long-term independence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, SaaS lets you focus fully on your core business, while Maarch ensures your information management tools remain high-performing, secure and constantly up to date. Migrating from On-Premise to SaaS goes beyond a simple hosting question: it involves performance, security, budget control and the ability of your information system to evolve.
With Maarch, you benefit from a robust, secure and scalable model, backed by expert teams and ongoing investment in cybersecurity. And because our DNA remains open source, you keep a decisive advantage: freedom. The freedom to adopt SaaS, but also the freedom to return to On-Premise if your needs change, without disruption or lock-in.
Choosing SaaS with Maarch means adopting a modern, sustainable and reversible solution, one that supports your organisation today while opening up strong prospects for tomorrow.
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