Step three to becoming a data-driven organization: deliver data-as-a-service

In the third in a series of blogs focusing on the six steps organizations should take to become data-driven, we will look at the value of delivering data-as-a-service (DaaS).

In the first blog, we defined what we mean by a data-driven organization and examined the importance of a modern data architecture as a foundation for providing business users with immediate access to relevant insights. In the second blog, we looked at the role of automation in data integration.

Over the last ten years, the analytics market has seen a huge rise in the use of desktop data discovery tools, a trend driven by business user frustration with the slow pace of delivery and lack of agility of centralized analytics. Although this frustration is understandable, it has led to many unintended consequences, the most serious of which are the creation of many analytical silos that, due to human error or out-of-date data, create the potential for bad and potentially business-damaging decisions.

The answer to providing a centralized, well-governed single version of the truth combined with the flexibility and agility often associated with decentralized approaches is Data-as-a-Service. DaaS is another core component of a modern data architecture because it provides a means to replace the complexity of connecting to and preparing multiple data sources, making it easier to expand the use of data.

The key to the delivery of DaaS is the multi-tenancy inherent in cloud environments. It allows for the creation of virtual data and analytics tenants that can be related to one another. This set of interconnected virtual data sources can now become a data fabric that spans the entire organization where decentralized teams can connect to and use centralized, governed data sets while connecting their local data and spreadsheets without impacting other groups.

A further benefit of the DaaS approach is that this network of data, which is continually being enhanced and enriched, allows for organic growth in the use of data, essentially crowdsourcing intelligence and insights with the organization. Discover more about Infor Birst’s approached to networked analytics here.

Learn more about how DaaS can drive data democratization in our best practice guide on the six steps to becoming a data-driven organization. Discover how you can transform your business by ensuring every person who makes decisions has access to the data they need when they need it.

In the next blog on the topic of becoming a data-driven organization, we look at the importance of making analytics easy to consume.