BDaaS: The next big thing in town

BDaaS or Big-Data-as-a-Service is a term that refers to big data tools based on the cloud and offered for use as a service.

A large number of companies have shown up in the recent years, offering big data analytics tools on a cloud-based platform to other companies who want relevant insights generated from their large databases. Either these services can provide to the clients a dashboard that takes data and performs analytics, or the provider can accept data from the client over the cloud and then offer her insights. Providers can also offer advisory consultations to the client, based on the data. This trend of providing different kinds of big data services over the cloud is referred to as Big-Data-as-a-Service or BDaaS. Depending upon the nature of service, Big-Data-as-a-Service is classified into four types.

1. Core BDaaS

Core Big-Data-as-a-Service services offer a bare minimum platform for clients to build their applications around. These services have to be flexible in order to suit the need of the client that could range from building a simple analytics tool to an entire predictive algorithm around the platform. Core BDaaS services are currently offered by Amazon Web Services as Elastic MapReduce, which is the most prominent core Big-Data-as-a-Service currently.

2. Performance BDaaS

The infrastructure requirement for big data applications can vary significantly depending on the type of project undertaken. Performance Big-Data-as-a-Service services offer the clients an understanding of the scale of infrastructure required so that they do not end up underspending or overspending the resources. These services offer data centers configured with Hadoop and other big data frameworks with dedicated connections to Amazon Web Services, to the clients. SAP acquired Altiscale, a startup by former Yahoo CTO Raymie Stata, is offering performance Big-Data-as-a-Service to its customers.

3. Feature BDaaS

Apart from infrastructure, the task of building applications around big data frameworks that offer suitable insights is also a complex programming task. Companies like Qubole, founded by the team that handles Facebook’s data infrastructure, is offering web interfaces and applications on cloud that take data from the client and supply them with actionable insights. These kinds of services are covered under feature Big-Data-as-a-Service. The providers can view the computing and storage consumed by the client and bill accordingly with a pay-as-you-go model.

4. Integrated BDaaS

Integrated BDaaS offers the benefits of both, performance and feature BDaaS. While currently there hardly any players in this sector, it can provide a complete big data solution for a company that is looking forward to outsourcing entire big data projects. Integrated BDaaS looks like a suitable option for non-technical companies that are wary of managing a technical team. Since both feature BDaaS and performance BDaaS are at an initial stage of development, we can look forward to integrated Big-Data-as-a-Service options coming up soon, as both of them grow in the coming years.

When software was introduced as a tool to manage tasks, software consultancy companies were quick to make a business out of it. Looking back, some of the top SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, Oracle among many others are now clocking $22.4 Billion in SaaS revenues. BDaaS is likely to emerge as a business model in the same fashion, which is why BDaaS is to be watched closely as the next big thing in town.