Businesses are entering strategic planning for 2013 and it is no surprise that data quality is among the top priorities. Data is playing a more important role in businesses as they use intelligence and analytics for planning, marketing and targeting consumers.
There are several trends in data quality to look for over the year ahead. For today’s post, I’ll focus on the trend of software-as-a-service. To get everyone on the same page, SaaS refers to a software distribution model in which applications and any associated data are hosted by a service provider and stored centrally, away from the client’s network.
This deployment model is becoming more prevalent. According to a recent Experian QAS study, 60% of respondents cited that some or all software is hosted in the cloud. The majority of these organizations house both on demand and on premise solutions.
SaaS deployments are particularly popular for data quality. These tools require less deployment resources and little maintenance. With data quality, there is also referential data to consider, which can take up a fair amount of space on local servers. With hosted solutions, there is no need to worry about that space.
Before deciding on a deployment model there are several questions stakeholders should ask themselves:
- What is the company’s existing IT strategy and experience with SaaS?
- What is the immediate and long-term budget for installation and maintenance?
- What kind of response time does the company require?
- Are there regulatory or compliance restrictions to consider?
Check back tomorrow for the next data quality trend of 2013!