Cloud analytics facilitates the ability to add search and analytics to the existing cloud infrastructure using a data analytics process through a public, private or hybrid cloud.
By Timo Selvaraj
Cloud has made data consolidation easier. It allows the organisations to bring together data from various sources like devices, applications, social networks etc., in a large scale. This collection of data can be as large as big data and without cloud the information gathering can be exorbitant in nature. Unlike the in-house big data deployment, it doesn’t demand constant maintenance, involve significant operational risks and expensive infrastructure, due to which organizations are embracing cloud technology into their system.
As businesses are moving on to the cloud, they haven’t missed to concentrate on the strategic asset – data. Precisely, they value the massive volumes of available corporate data and the insight they develop after processing it. Businesses want to utilize this collection of data blocks in leveraging their competitive advantage. But, the concern for the decision makers can be how to utilize the data existing on a cloud. Certain parameters like proper implementation of analytics and correctness of data can be some real challenges while considering data access on a cloud.
Interestingly, Cloud platform comes with a combined advantage of minimizing time-to-value. Keeping up with the pace of business, companies can quickly take new, data-driven decision with reliable data to give relevant insights. As there is no need to setup infrastructure and create new integration, cloud-based analytics can improve businesses scalability and elasticity.
Today, cloud technologies provide businesses of all sizes with opportunities to use big data along with analytics. It helps to take better, smarter, real-time, fact- based, data-driven decisions. Thus bringing in together the new-generation platforms like a cloud, big-data and analytics to combine the operational system and analytics, businesses can demonstrate impressive ROI. Cloud analytics facilitates the ability to add search and analytics to the existing cloud infrastructure using a data analytics process through a public, private or hybrid cloud.
Following are some benefits of cloud data analytics deployment over on-premise that can help decision makers to understand cloud analytics better.
Promotes easy Collaboration
Deploying analytic tools in the cloud enhances collaborative ability of an organization. Data curation and sharing insights become easier across departments and the globe, helping the team members to share views and learn from each other. Cloud deployment also promotes easy collaboration with partners and customers, improving business agility.
Strengthens Data Roots
Scattered, outdated, and incomplete data are not appropriate for analytics. Thus, drawing reliable data for analytics is a challenge. When most of the data sources are on cloud, it is not a best practice to create an on-premise data store. A cloud-based data management platform can index enterprise content from all such sources to prepare data that is complete, recent and organized.
Reduces Operational Cost
Looking after an on-premise analytics platform can be a little chaotic for organizations as it requires maintenance, upgrades, and migrations. Quite often, while upgrading to a newer version, a considerable amount of effort and money is put in. In case new version isn’t backward compatible, companies often end up struggling to redesign reports, redefine analysis, and redo integrations. Cloud-based data management platforms along with big data analytics can ease this fuss as there are no upgrade issues, and enabling new capabilities requires minimal IT intervention.
As analytics facilitates visualizations, it allows businesses to see and understand their data easily, and in real time. After all it is way too convenient when data can be easily visualized and readily analyzed. Organizations get actionable insights which help them to improve their businesses on-premise as well as on the cloud.
The author is Co-Founder & VP Product Management SearchBlox Software, Inc.
