Key functions supported within the cloud databases include analytics and business intelligence, core business functions such as finance and production, and IT operational data. Database cloud users cite the greater flexibility cloud provides as a key advantage, followed by cost savings and the ability turn around more rapid deployments.
Advantages of Running Cloud-Oriented Databases
Greater flexibility - 62%
Cost savings - 49%
More rapid deployments - 43%
Faster response times/reduced latency - 41%
Easier to manage - 27%
Easier for end users to access - 22%
Open source/easier licensing terms - 19%
Other - 3%
4. Everyone Loves Mobility
Along with changes on the back end, the front-end client is also getting a major makeover. End users no longer rely solely on PCs or terminals to access applications and data, they also turn to a range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, and now, wearable devices. With the rise of “bring your own device,” or BYOD, enterprises must be able to respond with mobilized access.
Vendors have been responding with a range of capabilities. Mobile apps, for one, provide simple and easy access to back-end data, and these front-end features are increasingly becoming an integral part of solutions being rolled out. Similarly, many enterprises seek to build or make available mobile websites—built on the HTML5 graphic rendering protocol—to effectively display needed information on a small screen, without the tweaking required for various mobile apps.
Ensuring a consistent experience between back-end applications and mobile devices is another area being addressed by many data vendors. For example, there’s been a focus on the ability to store application state locally on mobile devices in the event a connection isn’t available, which can be synced as connectivity is restored.
5. Business Users Have Their Day
With the rise of mobility, comes greater demand from end users for instant access to data and applications, any time they want it, on any device. Putting data functionality into the cloud means a range of databases and applications are quickly available to end users. User accessibility and self-service is the holy grail of data analytics tools, and the industry continues to make strides in this direction.
Today’s tools and platforms open up analytics, and enable decision making at all levels, including front-line customer service representatives, production personnel, and knowledge workers. Data visualization tools provide highly graphic, yet relatively simple, interfaces that help end users dig deep into queries. This represents a departure from the ubiquitous spreadsheet—rows of numbers—as well as static dashboards or PDF-based reports.
There is also a growing trend among enterprises to enable end users to build or design their own interfaces and queries. Self-service may take the form of enterprise mashups, in which end users build their own front ends that are combined with one or more data sources, or through highly configurable portals.
Beyond self-service, there are analytics that just happen automatically. Pervasive BI and analytics will run behind the scenes in systems or applications, providing insights while the end user remains oblivious to the software and data sources feeding the applications. Analytical applications are being embedded into processes and applied against business rules engines, to enable applications and machines to handle the more routine, day-to-day decisions that come up—rerouting deliveries, extending upsell offers, or revising purchase orders.
6. The Database World Opens Up—With More Choices Than Ever
Choose your database. Do you need relational rows and columns? Do you have a lot of sensor data? Are you looking for a place to store social media data?