FirstSpirit Cloud vs. Self-Hosted
FirstSpirit hosting models
FirstSpirit is available in two hosting models: Cloud and Self-Hosted (sometimes referred to as On-Premise) to support different organizational requirements and technical strategies. In a Cloud environment, Crownpeak provides and manages the infrastructure, platform services, and updates for you. In a Self-Hosted environment, organizations are fully responsible for their setup, including the installation, configuration, and maintenance of all FirstSpirit components.
| Area | FirstSpirit Cloud | FirstSpirit Self-Hosted |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting responsibility | Crownpeak takes care of hosting, infrastructure, runtime environment, and maintenance. | All infrastructure setup, configuration, and maintenance are handled internally by your team. |
| User and access management | Managed via an external identity provider (Keycloak). Crownpeak oversees provisioning and identity. | Managed internally, using FirstSpirit’s built-in administrator concepts and authentication systems. |
| Patch and maintenance schedule | Platform-level patches are managed by Crownpeak. Regular Patch Days include scheduled downtimes. Urgent fixes are deployed immediately. | Patching and maintenance of your On-Premise instance are handled by your team. Crownpeak offers the newest FirstSpirit and module versions in the Download Portal. |
| Installation and setup | No installation required. The environment is fully provisioned by Crownpeak. Sign in and begin configuration and development. | Requires manual installation of the FirstSpirit server, modules, and configuration by your server administrators. |
Module availability
The modules available depend on the hosting method you choose: Cloud or Self-Hosted.
Modules available in all environments
The following modules are available in both Cloud and Self-hosted environments:
- API-Access
- AppCenter and AppCenter-Slot
- Basic Workflows
- CaaS
- CaaS Connect
- Connect for Salesforce
- Connect for SAP Commerce Cloud
- CorporateContent
- CorporateMedia
- E-Mail Marketing (Pinuts)
- EnterpriseBackup
- FS-CLI
- DynamicYield
- Omnichannel Manager
- SFTP Deployment
- SmartSearch
- TranslationStudio
- VideomanagementPro
- Formcentric
FirstSpirit Cloud modules
The following modules are designed and optimized for Cloud environments:
- Navigation Service*
- S3 Deployment
- URL Redirect*
- SmartSearch Connect*
- Connect for Commerce
- RSYNC Deployment
* These modules can only be used in the cloud environment.
FirstSpirit Self-Hosted modules
The following modules are available for Self-Hosted deployments:
Cloud-specific considerations
FirstSpirit Cloud provides a fully managed platform designed for scalability and security. Because of its managed nature, certain operations that are possible in self-hosted deployments are handled differently or are not available in the Cloud environment. The following section provides an overview.
- File system management: The underlying FirstSpirit file system is fully managed by Crownpeak and can therefore not be accessed.
- Custom WebApp deployment: Custom WebApps are restricted to a local level.
- Server configuration: Server properties are centrally configured and optimized by Crownpeak and can therefore not be manually adjusted.