Cloud adoption is at an all-time high, and an overwhelming majority of organizations run at least part of their business in the cloud. A 2020 report from IDG found that only 8% of respondents claimed their total IT environment was on-premises, meaning that for 92% of companies, part of their infrastructure or applications are hosted in the cloud.
The benefits of moving data to the cloud are clear: increased flexibility, cost savings, scalability, and self-service capabilities that allow anyone in the organization to access their data from anywhere. But of course, moving all of this data from on-premises, legacy solutions isn’t without its challenges.
For one, there are stringent standards surrounding data in certain industries, such as government agencies and healthcare, explained Jerod Johnson, technology evangelist at CData Software, which provides connectors for data warehousing, SaaS applications, and more. Certain regulations that affect those industries require that organizations have full control over data, and on-premises solutions make it easier to do things like set user access policies, install firewalls and antivirus programs, and protect against cyber attacks.
“So moving completely to the cloud isn’t a possibility for those orgs – at least for now,” said Johnson.
Another challenge is that data has become increasingly fragmented. Part of this is due to the increase in the adoption of SaaS applications, which causes data to both grow and become fragmented. Getting all of that fragmented data into one cloud location can be difficult, but it is necessary in order to allow for full access to the data, which is needed to provide accurate and actionable insights across different business units of a company.
Finally, there is a need to modify data architecture to suit cloud services. It usually costs a lot of time and resources to implement a cloud storage solution, and rewriting the data architecture can result in delays.
Adopting a platform that has already addressed these challenges is a good way to avoid unnecessary cost and frustration.
CData has a number of solutions that can help companies as they move their data from on-premises locations into the cloud.
For those organizations that rely on a hybrid data ecosystem, CData Sync is a hybrid cloud integration solution that allows users to easily traverse the cloud firewall. Organizations can leverage CData Sync to replicate data and move it anywhere using ETL or ELT protocols. For example, data can be moved from cloud to cloud, on-premises to cloud, on-premises to on premises, etc. This capability allows companies to move data securely without needing to create a VPN or open up a hole in the firewall that could potentially risk data security.
CData Drivers are another offering from CData that enable cloud adoption. CData Drivers provide direct, real-time data connectivity to over 250 SaaS applications, databases, APIs, and other data sources. Without having to custom code an integration solution for each of their dozens of business applications, organizations can easily connect disparate data across the entire enterprise – whether on-premises or in the cloud.
Office Depot was helped out by CData in their journey to the cloud. In their process of migrating from their legacy, on-premises database to Snowflake, they also needed to move their Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) analytics cubes. Snowflake didn’t have a native connector, meaning that Office Depot would have had to reprogram those cubes, which could have taken years.
In came CData, which was able to provide an out-of-the-box solution that Office Depot was able to set up in four weeks and didn’t require the company to re-configure its data architecture.
“In a very short amount of time we had the drivers installed, working, and building our cubes on a daily basis,” Terry Campbell, senior IT manager of the Office Depot Enterprise Intelligence team, told CData. “We installed the driver, we pointed the cubes at Snowflake using the driver, and we were up and going.”
Office Depot used the CData ADO.NET Snowflake Provider, an out-of-the-box connectivity solution that allowed them to quickly and easily move their analytics cubes to the cloud without needing to re-architect.
By leveraging common standards for all CData Drivers, CData provides trusted connectivity software that eliminates the need for companies to keep up with constant API updates and security standards. Out-of-the-box, standardized data connectivity allows modern organizations to quickly and easily migrate their data to the cloud and keep their business agile.
CData also provides a comprehensive integration platform built in the cloud to allow IT teams to create a centralized data hub for their organizational data – no matter where it lives. CData Connect provides organizations with a simplified access to hundreds of applications, databases, and APIs, all within one secure and accessible location.
No matter what approach an organization takes to cloud adoption, effective data integration software can help ease the burden on IT teams to provide connectivity across an increasingly complex data ecosystem.
