What is data management as a service?
Data management as a service (DMaaS) applies the software as a service (SaaS) model to data management. Just as SaaS functions by providing software online and from the cloud on a subscription basis, so does DMaaS provide its data functions.
The services offered by DMaaS can include backing up data, archiving data, testing data, data governance, data security and data analysis. DMaaS providers offer the cloud services necessary for its data management functions, or can place infrastructure in the subscriber’s location that would perform the functions, although this is rarely done. The cost of DMaaS can vary depending on how much work the subscriber requires. Generally, DMaaS saves its users the cost of data management software and equipment.
DMaaS handles data throughout its lifecycle, from collection to storage to analysis. It ensures a secure, fast connection to data management services for the subscriber.
Why do I need it?
Today’s volumes of data have gotten so large that it’s become, if not impossible, at least a significant challenge for any enterprise to manage on its own. With data dispersed in the cloud or also among different locations of a company, the result is a fragmentation that makes it harder to see all the data and draw accurate conclusions from it. DMaaS organizes this spread out data into a coherent format to give a subscriber a clear view of the whole scope of their information.
Aside from just being able to handle the basic demands of data management, DMaaS can generate other benefits. DMaaS can include business intelligence and data dashboards that will make data managers for the enterprise more efficient and make it possible to find more business opportunities using the data. DMaaS can tap new data sets, such as data generated by IoT and social media, making it possible for the business to innovate or generate more revenue. Such data is often unstructured, and the power of DMaaS is needed to take it all in and make sense of it.
Overall, DMaaS is becoming indispensable to companies reckoning with a world of advanced data and higher volumes of key business data. DMaaS accomplishes its tasks and reaches its potential at a lower cost than most subscribers had to pay to manage their own, less powerful data management systems themselves.
What should I look for in data management as a service?
When choosing a DMaaS, the most important aspects include the ease of use, the cost and the flexibility allowed to adjust or change the service. Since DMaaS is, as it says in its name, a service, it should be predictable for users and its database functions should optimize data management, help manage risk and provide efficient data processing and handling.
It’s a good idea to look for a DMaaS provider that will act like a partner in your enterprise and seek to provide the best technology that will enhance your firm’s results. A DMaaS provider that dedicates a staff person to manage its engagement with your company shows that they are invested in your success and satisfaction with the service. An engagement manager can help you figure out how to apply DMaaS resources to your projects and measure result to make you’re getting the most out of the DMaaS being applied.
A growing number of our established clients are migrating to data management as a service.
More and more financial markets organizations are adopting cloud strategies and policies. Most of our new clients use services from GoldenSource OnDemand, our dedicated team that provides data management as a service.
Prior to 2015 there were few financial markets firms that trusted the cloud. The shift in acceptance has been rapid. Data security in the cloud, a key initial concern, has been proven, and the efficiencies of having applications managed and maintained by a provider rather than by an in-house team make business sense.
However, in conversation with practitioners on both the buy side and the sell side, we’re told that they’re often confused by the terminology used by various providers of data management as a service (DMaaS) or software as a service (SaaS). So, to help ensure clarity, we’ve put together this blog and a number of short explainer videos – look in our video library for videos titled GoldenSource 101: Intro to OnDemand.
In the video library on YouTube you’ll find our videos covering:
- Data Management in the Cloud
- Production Monitoring
- Business Assistance
- Production Change Requests
- Hosting Services & Oracle License Support
- Achieving SLAs Through Help Desk and Ticket Management
- Getting Started with Investment Data Management as a Service
From the videos and the brief explanations below, you’ll see that data management as a service from GoldenSource OnDemand provides services and service level agreements that fit the individual needs of each client.
Test Automation Management
Test automation is an element of data management as a service where the GoldenSource OnDemand team takes responsibility for the test harness, used in the development phase, to do regression testing. This test harness, an automated testing framework, can include test scripts for loading, publishing, end-to-end processes or the UI. As part of this service, GoldenSource will continually update the test harness as the software configuration and evolves, to maintain ongoing testing integrity and efficiency. With GoldenSource managing the testing and also crystalizing the configuration of the system, the client is insulated from any loss of knowledge when its people leave, as is common and normal. With test automation, the client can benefit from increased proficiency, better early detection of defects and the acceleration of the time to market and time to value.
Rolling Patch Baselining
Rolling Patch Baselining is a service which builds change into the platform that underpins our data management as a service offering. The changes are usually for compliance, data quality or as a prerequisite to a new development. GoldenSource will perform maintenance such as installing an operating system, data base, application server or some GoldenSource critical patches, depending on the scope of the hosted service. To de-risk and facilitate deployments of the latest software configuration to support a client’s data management as a service, GoldenSource OnDemand maintains a separate testing environment on behalf of the client and can quickly spin up temporary cloned environments in the cloud for even more focused testing on the patches. Rolling Patch Baselining ensures that patching is an agile process, maintaining compliance, ensuring zero regression and reducing the time to value for the users.
Custom Configuration Management
Custom Configuration Management provides premium support and remediation services for a client’s custom code and software configurations. This ensures that firms that have had custom code added to the platform can still take advantage of data management as a service. Separate code repositories are maintained on behalf of the client, with code from each developer or integrator managed within. In addition to the management of the code, the custom configuration management service provides bandwidth for the GoldenSource OnDemand team to understand the code and the business impact. Custom configuration management allows tighter SLA’s, de-risking downtime of the GoldenSource software, giving users immediate support for any batch processes that breach thresholds, and ultimately higher availability on the platform and tighter control on the batches.
Data Quality within Data Management as a Service
Data Quality is a light service leveraging automation and domain expertise to provide oversight and insights into data quality. This includes exceptions analysis, for example, checking issues due to lack of data on the record, duplicate data or similar data causing flip-flop of values or even domain value issues not being up to date. This The data quality service might also include corporate actions analysis, such as match key analysis, de-duping or establishing vendor hierarchy and quality. As an important element of data management as a service, data quality oversight is delivered through a suite of dashboards which provide a real-time view into the quality of the data. Completeness and exception dashboards, among many others, take the pain out of analysing the data for the user. When the data quality service is used in conjunction with CR (Change Request) days, it can be used to change starter set data, domain data or to deploy additional rules to solve any exceptions found, such that straight through processing improves over time, minimising exceptions and increasing the quality of the data for the end users and consuming systems.
Lower Environment Management
Lower environment management is a service which consists of periodic environment refreshes, from production into lower environments. This element of data management as a service ensures that when testing is performed, with a view to promoting configuration changes into production, the test environment is a true reflection of the production environment. This includes running the schedules on the environment to ensure that it continues to mirror production as closely as possible over the course of the testing. The test outcomes are reported through data comparisons and sent automatically to folders or mail addresses for approval. Lower environment management also involves managing the patching, up through the environments, ensuring that all code is thoroughly tested, documented and understood, with the client signing off before it all goes in the production environment.
There is a clear demarcation of duties between change teams and BAU teams that preserves the integrity of the promotions through to production and ensures that all relevant documentation, handovers and sign off are completed before changes hit production. Lower environment management ensures that even when adapting to change, the integrity of production is preserved.
Low Latency Cache Management
With the increasing data demands required by some clients, particularly sell side firms handling time series data for risk management, we have moved into HBase. This technology enables high frequency data transmissions and high volume data storage. Not all of our clients have HBase management expertise. To enable those clients to take advantage of the benefits of this technology, we launched our Low Latency Cache Management service, where we look at the clustering and memory management of our clients’ infrastructure to ensure real time optimisation of their risk data management.
More About Data Management as a Service (DMaaS)
Putting aside the terminology for a moment, the most important considerations for making a success of data management as a service include:
- Retaining control over the workflows and the rules/setting for data quality and data lineage
- Ensuring that all systems and colleagues that need to consume data can do so on their terms (in line with policies) with confidence.
- Knowing that updates and changes will be smoother than any inhouse process
To find out how GoldenSource can help you deliver on a cloud strategy or improve the nimbleness of your data management, please contact us.