What Does Analytics as a Service Mean?
Analytics as a service (AaaS) refers to the provision of analytics software and operations through web-delivered technologies. These types of solutions offer businesses an alternative to developing internal hardware setups just to perform business analytics.
Techopedia Explains Analytics as a Service
To put analytics as a service in context, this type of service is part of a much wider range of services with similar names and similar ideas, including:
- Software as a service (SaaS)
- Platform as a service (PaaS)
- Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
What these all have in common is that the service model replaces internal systems with web-delivered services. In the example of analytics as a service, a provider might offer access to a remote analytics platform for a monthly fee. This would allow a client to use that particular analytics software for as long as it is needed, and to stop using it and stop paying for it at a future time.
Analytics as a service is becoming a valuable option for businesses because setting up analytics processes can be a work-intensive process. Businesses that need to do more analytics may need more servers and other kinds of hardware, and they may need more IT staff to implement and maintain these programs. If the business can use analytics as a service instead, it may be able to bypass these new costs and new business process requirements.
Along with the appeal of complete outsourcing that analytics as a service provides, there is the option of going with a hybrid system where businesses use what they have on hand for analytics and outsource other components through the web. All of this equips the modern business with more choices and more precise solutions for changing business needs in markets that work largely on the availability of big data.
