SEI Cloud Version
SEI fers two ways to deploy your environment: cloud and on-premises. This page focuses on the cloud version, what it includes, how it works, and where its boundaries are so you can plan accordingly. Most features available in the on-premises version are also available in the cloud. The sections below cover what is managed for you and the few areas where the cloud version behaves differently.
In the cloud version, your data reaches SEI through DataSync, a synchronization layer that keeps your databases up to date. DataSync runs in one of three modes: cloud-to-cloud, on-premises-to-cloud, or hybrid. The diagram below illustrates how DataSync connects your databases to the cloud environment.
Advantages
One of the main reasons to choose the cloud version is that the infrastructure work is handled for you. The table below describes what is automatically taken care of.
| Advantage | Details |
|---|---|
| Availability management | System availability is continuously monitored. Real-time status is published on the public status page. |
| Application maintenance | Updates, patches, and fixes are applied automatically. You do not need to schedule or manage upgrade windows. |
| Capacity management | Infrastructure is managed automatically, including performance and load monitoring, performance tuning, and capacity planning for storage, software, and connections. |
| Licensing | SQL Server licensing is included and does not require separate management. |
| Backup and restore | The internal SEI database supports point‑in‑time restore to the minute for 35 days. The data warehouse supports point‑in‑time restore for 1 day, with weekly backups kept for 2 weeks and monthly backups kept for 2 months. All backups are geo-redundant. Disaster recovery is available with an RPO of 4 hours and an RTO of 24 hours. |
| Incident monitoring | Centralized logging is used to detect and track incidents. |
Limitations
Because the cloud environment is closed and shared across tenants, certain features are restricted or unavailable.
| Limitation | Details |
|---|---|
| Distribution module | Distribution to a network folder is not supported. |
| Environments and data sources | Only the cloud data warehouse is accessible. All data must go through DataSync before it is available in SEI. Administrators and ADMCA users can add environments beyond Production, copy and paste data source details, and set a data source as the data warehouse. |
| Security | Active Directory authentication is not supported. Use OAuth2, SAML2, or user accounts instead. |
| Central Point Configurator | Direct access is not available in the cloud. Configuration changes must be submitted through support. This includes disabling product notifications (available since Version 2022 R1.5), enabling SQL Execution Logging or View Usage Logging, and adjusting dashboard export resolutions for PDF scenarios. |
| Cloud DataSync | The Excel, Access, and ODBC connectors are not available when using DataSync in SEI Cloud. This is because the cloud is a multi-tenant environment, and installing external ODBC connectors directly is not permitted. If you need one of these connectors, install DataSync on a separate server (on-premises, Cloud Sage, or a partner server) and upload the data to SEI Cloud from there. The ODBC limitation is permanent for the cloud version. |
| Cloud environment | Since the SEI Cloud is a closed and multi-tenant environment, you cannot connect to a machine using Remote Desktop. This means that you cannot look at internal logs to investigate issues. |
| Web server behavior | For Send Comment and Email features, the sender address is fixed to: "FirstName LastName" <noreply@nectari.com> |