The Essential Guide to Cloud Database Management for the Modern Enterprise

Managing On-Premises Data

In many ways, data is the new currency used by companies to define the value of their products and services. Information is therefore critical and must be managed accordingly. The logical first step is to keep your data close to you and secured with a firewall and perimeter security.

An on-premises model works very well for small, localized systems. If your audience is internal to your employees, then it’s often faster and cheaper to set up a data service inside your firewall. You can leverage the investment you’ve established for security as well as your server environment.

The challenge for on-premises data becomes visible when the following scenarios present themselves:

• Data must be shared with people outside of the company and beyond the firewall
• The data is growing too fast for internal systems to support
• Information needs to be accessed quickly by clients that are remote from the company (such as on a different continent) 
• New methods and services are required (such as AI) that can’t easily be supported on internal on-premises systems

The bottom line is that the on-premises storage of data is handy for specific teams, but the ever-increasing globalization of companies requires a different approach to information.

Managing Data in Cloud

The term “cloud” for data has been around for many years, with references going back to the late ‘90s. However, the general acceptance for what cloud means today was defined by Amazon in 2006 with the release of its AWS S3 Cloud Storage service. For the first time, the word “cloud” was tightly connected to an internet-powered service. Since the launch of AWS, the cloud has come to mean services that are powered by systems running over the internet.

Today, the cloud can be split into two main categories:

• Public cloud: Services, tools, and compute power accessible by anyone from any computer
• Private cloud: Systems built on the public cloud model but with restricted access through enterprise security

It’s hard to lock down the tools and services for public/private cloud, mainly due to the rapid adoption of devices from companies such as AWS. As a frame of reference, Amazon initially launched AWS with three services (S3 Cloud Storage, SQS, and EC2) but today there are more than 1,600. Cloud services now offer the promise of internet-powered systems that are right-sized for your needs.

Hybrid Cloud

A complicated third option for storing data is to apply a hybrid cloud approach. Companies are moving to this model as it allows data stored on-premises to mix with public/private cloud services. The challenge is that you must employ orchestration and management tools between the platforms.

Becoming a Data-Driven Company

The challenge for many IT organizations is that the ability to activate a cloud service is effortless. For this reason, the emergence of shadow IT—the purchase of traditional IT services by teams outside of IT—has grown exponentially throughout corporate IT. 

In one way, you can look at Shadow IT as a challenge that makes it increasingly hard to do your job. Or, you can pivot and see that there are now more opportunities to access data that can drive sales and revenues. 

The goal is to become a data-driven company. Data is the new currency that powers profits by validating business decisions with hard evidence. Data can also expose new opportunities that were previously hidden by the massive amount of data.

To be successful as a data-driven company, you must:

• Embrace cloud as part of your data strategy
• Implement strong security 
• Leverage AI and visualization tools to rapidly mine your data
• Feed data into an expanding digital ecosystem

You will find all these essential guides and more in our latest eBook. Get the essential starter kit with a complete overview and loads of great tips for managing cloud databases for your modern enterprise. Click here to read the report now.