There are enough statistics and research to show that global cloud adoption is on the rise. Whether it is this report from Statista or even this one from techjury, they all talk about the increased role of cloud in businesses around the world. With the ever-upwards trends in cloud adoption, one also sees an increasing adoption of Cloud Native Warehouses. But, what are Cloud Native Data Warehouses?
Simply put, it is a Cloud Native Data Warehouse that is built entirely off the cloud and cloud services, without using any on-premise aspect. An on-premise warehouse (like Netezza, for instance) has several components deployed on physical servers you manage. There is a case for deploying those to the cloud, but here is the catch- if they are not built up from the cloud (i.e. not cloud native), you will still end up short of utilizing the full power of Cloud Native. The below are some points why that would happen and why Cloud Native is the way forward for Data Warehousing.
Why cloud native is the way forward?
Let us look at a few points on why cloud native is going to be crucial for data warehousing.
Flexibility
Cloud Native DWs bring the same flexibility to the table that cloud is known for. It is the flexibility to do ETLs, deploy, analyze, find and fix Data Quality issues using a cocktail of existing services that YOU choose. Without that flexibility, it becomes cumbersome to decide which tools to go for as tools don’t usually give you just one service. You would need to choose a tool and tweak it to suit your purpose.
Agility
With flexibility, cloud native warehouses also help you hit the market quicker. Some modern warehouses like Snowflake can set you up in a mater of minutes where as traditional warehouses have much longer cycles (both sales and setup) to get up and running.
Cost savings and lower total cost of ownership
This one will always be debatable and we understand that at EoV. There are many supporters of the traditional big data technology mix who would say that cloud can rack up costs far too quickly compared to doing a custom, on-prem/cloud deployment. However, a sound partner’s expertise can help you choose said right cocktail of services to save you money in the long run by always optimizing the total cost of ownership.
Business to the front
You can pretty much manage a modern warehouse like Databricks or Snowflake almost entirely writing SQL scripts. The entire business of writing complex functions, setting up elaborate orchestration, planning for different kinds of ingestion for streams, batches etc. is all gone with Cloud Native DWs. The whole idea is to get the data available and ready for business consumption, as seamlessly as possible. All the layers that the business does not care about really, go back into the background.
Improved data quality
Cloud Native Data Warehouses make it easier for you to track and manage data quality. Whether it is setting up error handling policies, enforcing integrity constraints, processing for duplicate records- you can do it easily once your data is non-siloed and accessible in a single place. That is something that Cloud Native Data Warehouses effectively fulfil.
Maintainability
Traditional, on-premise data warehouses can be extremely difficult to manage. Even to this day, we consider some of the skillsets required to operate the warehouses as rare talents to find. The skills to manage a modern Cloud Native DW is akin to finding a regular DBA with decent SQL skills. The platform owns the entire aspect of infrastructure management.
Support for advanced analytical initiatives (AI/ML)- One of the biggest barriers to effective AI/ML strategies is the presence of high-quality, quickly accessible data. Cloud Native DWs bring that the game thereby powering all our advanced analytical initiatives. There are also many further developments in this arena, the most recent being SnowSpark which add to the capabilities of existing warehouses to support the execution of complex statistical functions. These abilities make Snowflake even more equipped for advanced analytics.
Conclusion
Cloud Native is the most logical way to harness the full power of cloud. When it comes to warehouses, Cloud Native DWs are the most effective in achieving that, allowing you to manage and leverage your data with ease. If you are looking for a partner for your cloud native application development, please get in touch with us now!