Using the cloud to quickly and easily deploy and “turn on” applications for use by the enterprise is turning into a tidal wave of adoption. Applications like CRM are being deployed using cloud as-a-service providers at a rate of over 40% of the total market for those applications these days. Other ERP applications are not far behind either. Who can blame these adopters: not having to worry about infrastructure, data centres, licensing, technical support etc. is a huge weight off the shoulders of organisations that just want to get on and do what they do best.
"the ability of the cloud to bring highly specialised capability and execution into the fabric of the organisation is a big part of the cloud revolution."
In fact, software-as-a-service (which wraps up the application with the platform, infrastructure and network) accounts for a far greater proportion of the cloud market than generic infrastructure (IaaS) and platform (PaaS) in the cloud.
At the SaaS level organisations can more easily leverage the most effective, best-of-breed solution and provider in each application domain – and they do. Specialisation is key here – the ability of the cloud to bring highly specialised capability and execution into the fabric of the organisation is a big part of the cloud revolution.
As this specialisation intensifies, so does the distribution of data throughout the cloud. Also, underlying IT technology and standards used proliferate. This is alright it just calls for even more focus on integration.
Application real-time integration has long been solved in the cloud using web services and similar technologies which enable applications to “talk” to each other. But what of the ongoing need to integrate data and retain a single view of business operations from these application silos? That need does not go away just because your applications are implemented somehow or somewhere else. You still have back office strategists and planners needing to be informed. You still have customer service representatives needing a full view of a customer’s interactions and product portfolio to effectively service them.
The need for the integrated data warehouse does not go away. In fact, the need normally intensifies because of the following:
- a need to fill the data gaps left between the disparate applications;
- more focus on strategies aimed at securing the organisation’s data assets;
- more specialised cloud applications = more silos of data.
Also, the effort required to achieve an integrated view can sometimes increase due to data sourcing and translation challenges.
Therefore, organisations need to think carefully about their cloud footprint and architecture when they start migrating applications to the cloud to ensure their data integration capability is not compromised or the costs do not spiral upwards. Some of the factors to consider are:
- Network bandwidth and costs: remember data warehousing generally requires the transport of large volumes of data from/to the cloud applications – the network resources to get to/from/between cloud assets needs to support these requirements on top of your application requirements.
- Open standards: can the cloud application provide ALL its underlying data to the IDW? Does this data come in a standard, defined structure/format? What are the hidden costs of the cloud provider delivering on these requirements?
- What are the performance and service-level impacts to the cloud applications?
So the Data Warehouse must stay, but where to put it when the organisation doesn’t own data centre space any more due to the “cloud mandate” ? Answer: the cloud of course. Database Management Systems are one of the least popular things to put in the cloud currently. However, databases are the 2nd fastest growing category of software and platforms being delivered in the cloud. More about that in my next blog.
Additional source for this article: Forbes
Greg Taranto is a Senior Pre-Sales Consultant at Teradata ANZ. Greg specialises in designing and tailoring Data Warehouse solutions for organisations across many industries. Greg's extensive background in Data Warehouse Architecture, Design and Implementation along with his business solutions experience allow him to bring many worlds together to achieve optimal results for Teradata's customers and prospective customers. You can also connect with Greg on Linkedin
