Cloud computing has already made a significant mark on the business world. As the technology has advanced, new capabilities have been created, giving businesses more options in how they choose to utilize and deploy the cloud. As a result, numerous cloud-based services have been developed, leading to a sizeable cloud market filled with hundreds of providers, each with different offers and features. To look at the cloud market is to see a wealth of differing choices, but they mostly boil down to certain categories most often represented in the form of a pyramid. At the base of the cloud pyramid is Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), followed by Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) at the top. These are the most common services offered by various providers both large and small, but as can reasonably assumed, they’re not the only cloud-based services out there. As the cloud continues to mature, the cloud pyramid continue to expand, and more services are quickly coming to the forefront.
While there are many services that can be detailed to great extent, one that many companies are focusing on in particular is Big Data-as-a-Service (BDaaS). This should come as little surprise considering how much big data has grown in just the past few years. Big data use cases have multiplied, and the amount of data being generated in the world has exponentially increased. Put simply, big data is where it’s at, and many organizations are scrambling to become part of the phenomenon. At the same time big data was growing, the cloud also reached new heights of popularity. Perhaps it was inevitable that the two would eventually cross paths. It wasn’t long before providers hit upon the lucrative idea of offering big data analytics services through the cloud, resulting in an expanding cloud pyramid.
BDaaS is pretty much exactly as the name describes — a big data service available via cloud computing. Big data essentially takes information collected from various sources and uses the subsequent analysis to come up with valuable insights intended to help a company grow. A BDaaS provider can essentially take over certain roles in the big data analytics process. Some providers may help supply data to a company, or they may offer special analytical tools, or some may even consult and advise their clients. Whatever specific services offered, they all center around big data and helping organizations gain value from both structured and unstructured data.
Needless to say, this use of cloud computing leads to a lot of benefits for companies. For one thing, businesses don’t need to invest large sums of money and resources into constructing new infrastructure and analytical components. Using BDaaS also helps them avoid the sometimes complicated task of storing and managing data. As should be clear, these benefits save businesses on the costs of using big data. At the same time, organizations don’t have to worry about protecting data as much, since that falls within the domain of the cloud provider. Big data’s versatility is another beneficial factor since it can be used for so many different purposes, from more effective marketing to streamlining business operations.
While the cloud pyramid may be expanding due to Big Data-as-a-Service, BDaaS itself is also expanding as businesses figure out how best to utilize it. There are basically four different types of BDaaS, each building on and combining the different layers of the cloud pyramid. Core BDaaS remains on the platform level, leaving it on more generic footing. Performance BDaaS combines PaaS and IaaS, creating the capability to work well with Hadoop’s performance demands. Feature BDaaS mixes PaaS and SaaS, allowing computing and storage to be fully scalable. And finally, Integrated BDaaS combines all three levels of the cloud pyramid, from infrastructure to platform to software.
The cloud pyramid is a good starting point for understanding the cloud and its capabilities, but as can be seen, that pyramid is rapidly expanding as more services continue to be offered. BDaaS is only one example of how this expansion is helping companies realize new possibilities and potential. The more the cloud matures, the more unique services will be discovered and developed. As big data advances, both it and the cloud will continue to prove to be valuable assets to any organization.