Frequently Asked Questions
How does Centah work?
Centah is a Software as a Service (SaaS) company. We provide online service to our customers and clients. We ensure that your system is up and running, without you needing to download any programs. Centah takes care of updates automatically, and our support team is always ready to answer your service questions or help you.
How do you bill customers?
Centah uses a pay-as-you-go system. Customers pay a monthly subscription fee. Getting started is easy.
What is the advantage of SaaS?
Software as a Service (SaaS) allows a lower cost of entry. You can cancel or change your subscription without losing a large initial investment. And you can leverage our 24/7 support at a fraction of the cost you would pay internally.
How can Centah and Software as a Service (SaaS) affect my IT costs?
Your monthly subscription costs are lower than if you invest in software, because of economies of scale—with larger numbers of subscribers the costs go down. Software as a Service (SaaS) also offers varied configuration options—you pay for the solutions you need, not bundles that you won’t ever require.
Is Software as a Service (SaaS) faster than implementing our own software?
Yes, and safer and more efficient too. A typical software implementation involves purchasing and maintaining servers, housing them securely and installing and maintaining software. With Software as a Service (SaaS) deployment time is much shorter - average Centah deployment is two hours to three business days compared with months or years for ordinary software.
How hard is it to use Software as a Service (SaaS)?
There’s a short learning curve for users of SaaS, because you can use your own familiar interface via your usual web browser. Bugs are fixed and upgrades and patches and new releases are delivered seamlessly—you don’t have to download or update anything.
Will Centah’s SaaS interfere with my system?
No - because the software is delivered via a browser there’s no chance of that. Centah provides a world class 99.9 per cent up-time on all of its systems.
Is my data safe?
Yes - all of your data and transactions are encrypted. Centah servers are located inside a Tier 1 data centre, with redundant Internet and power connectivity that ensures a continued up-time even in the event of a critical network or power failure.
The data centre hosting the Centah servers follows strict security procedures in regard to physical security—ranging from armed guards to biometric security measures.
Centah operates its servers on a high-availability Linux platform specifically tooled to our application needs and implements redundancy and fail-over facilities allowing us to minimize or in some cases entirely eliminate downtime due to hardware failure, enabling 99.9 per cent uptime.
What is your backup plan?
All of Centah’s web applications are protected by 1024bit SSL encryption, including the demo environments. We also perform periodic internal security audits of the template and business logic implementing code.
For full details see our service level agreement.
How private will my data be?
Your privacy as a user is very important to us. We are committed to protecting the confidentiality of all information you entrust to us. Centah is in compliance with the requirements of the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Centah maintains the toughest safeguards, including physical safeguards to protect against unauthorized access.
For full details see our service level agreement and our privacy statement.
What is Centah’s disaster recovery plan?
To ensure the integrity and security of your data Centah has a number of systems and processes. All or our Centah servers (web and database) are located inside a climate-controlled, Tier 1 data centre, with redundant power connections, backed by UPS and a diesel generator. The servers are monitored continually by the data centre staff, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Centah also monitors the data through software located on the servers and at two different locations. The servers are also continually backed up to fallback machines that can assume the role of the failed machines within an hour or less.
For full details see our service level agreement.
Who owns my data?
You do. Customers can pull up their data at any time simply by exporting to a CSV file.
How will Centah support my business?
Clients can access support by telephone, e-mail or through our ticketing system - support hours are included in your monthly fee. Our dedicated and experienced IT department - onsite developers - will make sure you receive unmatched technical support and results. Centah also is able to integrate with your current system - you get the best of both worlds (your own system and SaaS solutions).