What is provisioning?
Set up each client by hand and no two end up the same. Run one definition instead and every new client starts out alike.
Want to see it first? Book a demo
Provisioning — Provisioning is the automated creation of a new customer environment, database, application instance, domain, credentials, initial configuration, from a definition. It is what makes "one instance per client" workable at scale.
Why it matters
Provisioning turns "spin up a new customer" from a hand-run project into a step you can repeat. It covers everything a new instance needs to exist and work: a database, a copy of the app, a domain or subdomain, logins, and whatever setup it starts with. When one definition drives all of it, you add a new customer by running that definition once. You skip the multi-day setup project.
Provisioning is also what makes one instance per client work at scale. Running a separate copy for each customer sounds costly by hand. It would be, if someone built every copy by walking through a checklist. Automated provisioning removes that cost. Each new instance comes out of the same definition, applied the same way every time. Watch for a checklist dressed up as provisioning. Any step a person still does by hand can be done a bit differently, or missed, next time. Over time, that drift is what sets one client's instance apart from another's.
SalesCrew provisions one instance per client, each with its own database, so an agency adds a client without a setup project. The agency plan shows how client instances are run, and the pricing page lists every tier.
What provisioning typically creates
- 1
A definition is written
You choose the settings for the new instance, such as which client and which setup.
- 2
A database is created
A separate or scoped database is set up for the new instance.
- 3
A copy of the app goes live
The software is stood up and linked to that database.
- 4
Domain and logins are set
A domain or subdomain and access logins are created.
- 5
Starting setup is loaded
Any starting setup, such as a snapshot, is loaded in.
The mistake to watch for
Questions
- How is provisioning different from onboarding?
- Provisioning builds the instance itself: database, app, domain and logins. Onboarding is the wider work of getting a new customer using the product. It counts provisioning as one step, next to training, data import and setup.
- Why does manual provisioning cause problems at scale?
- Every manual step in a checklist can be done a bit differently, skipped, or forgotten the next time. Client instances drift apart over time instead of staying the same.
- Does provisioning require single-tenant architecture?
- No. But it's what makes one instance per client practical at any real scale. Automation keeps the cost of each new instance low.