Cloud Computing Enables Powerful, New Data Use Cases

Grazed from ITBusinessEdge. Author: Loraine Lawson.

Cloud integration is generally viewed as a pain point, but maybe it’s time to look at how the cloud can support new and exciting integration use cases. That’s the view that Don Rippert, IBM’s general manager of Cloud Strategy, promoted at IBM’s Insight 2014 conference. When we look at managing data in the cloud, it’s easy to focus on the problems or the applications, but Rippert focused on cloud computing’s utility for data integration, access and replication, reports a recent Dataversity article.

“Arguably the most essential aspect of the Cloud is its ability to provide an integration of nearly limitless numbers of data sources involving structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data,” Dataversity’s Jelani Harper writes. “Such integration spans geographic location and includes both on-premise and Cloud sources, and is frequently typified by a speed of access that comes in real time or close to real time.”…

Obviously, that’s not something that would be cheap or easy or maybe even possible with traditional data management tools, she adds. The article includes three sample use cases that show off cloud computing’s mad data integration skills. Oddly enough, two involve boat racing. It’s a surprisingly useful way to illustrate how much of a game changer the cloud could be for data management and integration. In both yacht and speedboat racing, you’re dealing with data sent from different boats, at geographically different locations, and then disseminating that information to racers, judges and viewers…

Read more from the source @ http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/integration/cloud-computing-enables-powerful-new-data-use-cases.html