The features and benefits of Data as a Service (DaaS)
Today digital strategies mainly depend on the use of data present in online platforms (such as e-commerce, social networks, CRM, etc.) or within the Business Intelligence function of companies.
To make truly effective decisions, it is necessary to analyze the available data in detail, going beyond the simple display of reports and dashboards. Increasingly, it is necessary to extract only the data that is really useful to help companies offer targeted services for their customers.
This article will describe and deepen the advantages offered by the Data as a Service data model for an entrepreneur or a company that wants to have the right business information.
Contents
Introduction
Today, digital strategies heavily depend on the use of data present in online platforms (such as e-commerce, social networks, CRM, etc.) or within the Business Intelligence function of companies.
To make truly effective decisions, it is necessary to analyse in detail the available data going beyond the simple view of reports and dashboards. More and more often, it is necessary to extract only the really useful data to help companies offer targeted services for their customers.
What is Data as a Service
Since SaaS (Software as a Service) products were introduced in the 1990s, many companies have appreciated using cloud services and applications at lower costs than installing locally on their servers.
A recent addition to cloud service offerings is a service known as Data as a Service (DaaS). It is a web service belonging to cloud computing technology, which makes the data of online activities available to the company, making them available for management in different formats as if they were present locally.
While the SaaS model has been popular for over a decade, DaaS is a concept that is only recently starting to see widespread adoption.
As summarized in Figure 1 in the simplified flow, data services transform raw data sources (on both physical and virtual devices) into a report or dashboard format that contains specific metrics and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
The information is provided through the cloud to company areas in a secure and convenient way. Users can access it via the Internet to read it using any browser as an interface.
The benefits of data as a service
Compared to storing and managing data locally, adopting a DaaS solution today offers several key benefits in terms of speed, reliability and performance; including:
Skills: When using a DaaS platform, organizations do not need to maintain specialized internal staff with specific skills in configuring and managing tools from different source platforms. These activities are managed by the service provider.
Simplification: They make data accessible through simpler and more intuitive interfaces, they allow the reduction of complexity, thus giving the possibility of access and processing even to less experienced users.
Sources: As shown in figure 2, the service allows connection to data sources of different types both online and offline:
- structured data sources (databases),
- semi-structured (data warehouse),
- unstructured (data lake).
Hardware: Using a DaaS service guarantees having the correct information of your processes regardless of infrastructural limits and with IT budgets not tied to hardware infrastructures.
Source consolidation: Grouping and consolidating different data structures generate greater speed and simplicity in their use. It is possible to rationalize and consolidate the data sources that can be very different from each other.
Data transformation: They allow data to be available in the most useful formats (pdf, images, excel, CSV format, etc.) depending on the contexts of use with accurate metrics and KPIs, forgetting the on-premise operational complexity to obtain them.
Automated maintenance: Tools and services on DaaS platforms are managed and updated automatically by the vendor, eliminating the need for end users to manage the tools themselves.
Transfers: The service can include automatic data movement across different networks other than the source by creating specific Extract Transform Load (ETL) flows.
Reliability: Cloud infrastructure is less likely to fail, making DaaS workloads less prone to downtime or interruptions.
Conclusions
The adoption of Data as a Service (DaaS) is of strategic importance for any type and size of online business; especially for long-term activities. This service amply repay the investment in a reliable way and respond to new analytical and reporting requests to implement effective digital strategies.
To start taking advantage of this service, contact me directly from the Contacts section, it will be a pleasure to provide you with further useful information for your business.
To start taking advantage of these services, read the article How to start using DaaS services
Published by Nicola Lapenta
Credits Gartner
Photo by Luke Chesser on Unsplash
