Does Dual Code Offer a Multi-site / Multi-Tenancy Option?

Owned by Luc Richard
Last updated: May 07, 2024
2 min read

Question

Our organization represents a larger group of smaller organizations. Does Dual Code offer a multi-site / multi-tenancy solution?

Answer

Yes. Dual Code offer a multi-site solution that allows a parent organization to act as the keystone for other organizations.

Apartment buildings are often used as a metaphor to describe multi-tenant architectures in information technology. In an apartment complex, individual units are separated by thick walls, yet share certain services such as cleaning, concierge, and plumbing. Similarly, in the IT world, the term "multi-tenant" refers to a system where a single infrastructure supports multiple businesses. Salesforce is a prominent example of a platform that popularized multi-tenancy. It utilizes a large, shared database where tenant data is isolated using a specific table column called 'OrgId'. Implementing a multi-tenant architecture offers significant cost savings and streamlined management benefits. These efficiencies can be transferred to customers, enhancing the competitiveness of a product.

Multi-tenancy Trade-offs

The advantages of multi-tenant architecture, while substantial, also introduce a range of challenges, particularly in healthcare. Hosting multiple tenants within a single infrastructure necessitates meticulous management of data security, privacy, and performance. These demands often result in a complex architectural framework that can be delicate to modify and maintain.

Multi Single-Tenancy (MST): A New Perspective for Multi-Tenants

To harness the advantages of traditional multi-tenancy while maintaining the superior isolation and configurability of single-tenancy, Dual Code has adopted for an architecture known as "multi single-tenancy" (MST).

In an MST architecture, each site is deployed as a single tenant. This approach provides the conventional benefits of a single-tenancy, including:

  • Security: Utilizing a single database per site ensures that no site can access another’s data, even in the event of software or API vulnerabilities.

  • Performance: Each client enjoys a dedicated environment, ensuring that resources are plentiful and always available.

  • Customization: Complete control over their environment allows clients to tailor and enhance functionality as needed.

MST also allows us to discern commonalities across sites, enabling the development of tools that align most instances more closely with a standardized blueprint. Thanks to MST, we can create tests for categories of systems rather than individual ones. Moreover, MST fosters the creation of more universally applicable tools due to the increased uniformity between instances, and it decreases the number of unique scenarios that administrators have to manage.

Who Needs MST?

MST is a must have if your organizations needs to :

  • Customize the look and feel of each site

  • Control the maximum number of users each site can have

  • Connect each site to its own Microsoft Entra ID (formerly known as Azure AD)

  • Grant web services and API access to the sites so their can integrate their learning environment with their OSS/BSS and back office systems

 

The Dual Code MST option is a secure alternative that is currently used by hundreds of healthcare organizations. The systems vary in size from as few as 5 sites to as many as 500+ sites. For more information on MST or to convert your single system to an MST architecture, please contact us.