As we go into the year 2022, businesses are evaluating various solutions, past and future, that should help them in staying competitive and moving forward.
Investors will also look at the analytical tools and assets that can lead to better-informed investment decisions.
Among the solutions that have arisen in recent years and is more than likely to go on strong this year is data as a service or DaaS.
Thus, now is as good a time as ever to take a closer look at what makes this feature so important for business today.
The Rise of “As a Service” Solutions
Data as a service is a part of an ever-growing family of “as a service” technological solutions for business and research needs.
So, how is this approach different from the previous ways of getting data or other necessary assets?
The answer is in the name. When you get data on something as a service it means that you are not buying it as some commodity but rather renting access to it.
This is convenient for the company accessing the solution as means that they do not need to store and maintain it themselves.
Thus, for example, in the case of data, businesses can use large volumes of it for their purposes without having to store it in their own databases or take care of data quality themselves.
The “as a service” approach was enabled by the developments in cloud computing, which utilizes the network to make various computing resources available on-demand.
The trend to make use of cloud computing gains momentum as businesses saw the advantages of software as a service, or SaaS.
Getting their software tools on-demand, instead of buying and maintaining or developing them made the newest and best software much more accessible for many firms.
Naturally, this led many to wonder what other digital resources could be provided and accessed on-demand instead of being constantly maintained by a business.
And as data is the foundation of all such resources, DaaS was one of the most important developments within these on-demand services.
Now data as a service is an umbrella term used to refer to not only the data points themselves but also all data management and analysis tools that can be provided on demand.
Thus, DaaS encompasses all that businesses and investors might need when creating a data-driven approach to decision-making.
Use Cases for Data as a Service
The on-demand data framework enabled by cloud computing is extremely useful for various purposes in business and finance.
Let us look over a few more general use cases for DaaS.
1. Data for Investment Decisions.
Investors and financial analysts need a lot of fresh data to make the best moves at the right time.
Naturally, it is not always possible to have all the necessary information in possession or gather it themselves.
DaaS can be of great help here as data on various industries can be accessed immediately on demand.
Furthermore, tools for analysing this data are also there to be requested when necessary.
2. Cooperation from Multiple Locations.
DaaS as all cloud computing-enabled services is great when users from many different locations need to work on the same task.
And this is increasingly the case in a globalized world not to mention the lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The accessibility provided by DaaS is exactly what this globalized world needs right now.
3. Planning for Growth.
Companies need more data than ever when they are looking into opportunities for growing or entering a new market.
Such decisions have to be well-considered and based on robust and up-to-date information. This is where data as a service steps in.
Firms that have never stored large amounts of data themselves can get in immediately to ensure a smooth transition to new horizons.
4. Competitive Intelligence.
Competitors come and go. Those that used to be minor players can quite quickly rise to prominence. Businesses need to keep track of all of these shifts and changes in their field.
DaaS is a great way to stay on top of all the rising competition since as soon as relevant changes are noticed, firms can get the data on-demand and access it immediately.
What to Expect in the Future?
Cloud computing-enabled services clearly have a spot in the future of business.
We can safely expect the service-oriented architecture to become even more prominent and even more service-oriented, so to speak.
Companies that do not specialize in data gathering and providing will want to get as much as possible as a service so that they can concentrate on their main sources of revenue.
Thus, both the variety of software and its components and the volume of data available as a service will rise increasingly.
