What is DBaaS (Database-as-a-Service)?

Before we dive into what DBaaS (Database-as-a-Service) is, first we should explain databases. A database is an organised collection of data stored in a computer system controlled by a database management system (DBMS). They hold massive amounts of data and allow multiple users to quickly and securely access and query the data for usage. This can be anything from email lists to employee information.

The term “Database-as-a-Service” (DBaaS) refers to software and/or services that enables users to set up, operate and scale databases without the need for setting up physical hardware, installing software or configuring for performance. All of the administrative tasks and maintenance are taken care of by the service provider so that all the user or application owner needs to do is use and access the database. Of course, the level of control can vary, depending on what the user prefers and that the service provider offers.

What is Database Management?

Database management is a dedicated system that controls data. As data grows, businesses have found that database management is a necessity in manipulating this influx to prevent poor application performance and reduce any impact to compliance and continuity.

Within database management, there are several techniques and actions that an organization can take to reduce or prevent the negative impacts of exponential, uncontrolled data growth. Below is a list of some common, protective database management tasks:

Monitoring the performance of applications and their data and tuning as needed
Planning for storage and capacity growth requirements
Establishing a powerful backup and disaster recovery solution
Archiving, partitioning, replicating, and masking data

How does DBaaS work?

DBaaS is a service that is added to your databases that can streamline your day-to-day tasks. With automated one-click operations to simplify database management, DBaaS can eliminate tedious and time-consuming administrative tasks. It helps organizations accelerate business performance for DB admins to start their projects and run their workloads without delay.

Once you move your database to the cloud, you have the option to add software-as-a-service deployment. Doing so simplifies the processes required to make information available through internet-based connections. Storage consolidation can also be a benefit of moving a company's databases to the cloud. Databases in multiple departments of a large company, for example, can be combined in the cloud into a single hosted database management system.

Why should I use DBaaS?

Like all the other service-based products, the idea behind DBaaS is to ease the deployment of database instances. If a business department wants to start up another application that needs a back-end database, they would be able to do that without having to worry about the storage, network and other infrastructure concerns. The key value of DBaaS include:

Managed Database Service
Quick Agility for application teams
Reduced database management overhead
Lifecycle management is reduced and simplified
TCO benefits

What are the benefits to DBaaS?

One-Click Management Operations

DBaaS consolidates disparate and siloed databases under one roof for easier management. It eliminates tedious, time consuming tasks like submitting tickets for new database requests and providing role based access as a self service capability, thereby saving a lot of time and helping accelerate time to value.

Scale According to Business Needs

Get faster performance from databases to access key data stored for business insights when you need it. DBaaS can also provide the option to scale rapidly to meet fluctuating business demands like end-of-quarter reporting or for seasonal e-commerce companies that require high transactional processing on-demand but then scale back down after season without the overage costs.

Safeguard Your Data

By utilizing a cloud-based infrastructure, security is often integrated and applied across the entire platform - including your database. No more siloed security practices that are applied piecemeal across compute, storage, networking, and virtualization environments which can cause gaps and inconsistency leading to vulnerability and attacks.

Increase operational efficiency

Since DBaaS is a service, you can start small with one node at a time and scale bigger without disrupting the business. Organizations can scale as they grow which is far more cost-efficient; by adding one or more nodes at a time and then spinning down resources that are no longer needed, IT teams can prevent costly overages.

Increase Productivity

DBaaS offers one-click patching and upgrade options and automates the steps needed to perform these tasks. Intelligent database operations means that you no longer have to bring the system down to perform these tasks. Users can continue to work while the upgrades are happening thereby maintaining user and database productivity so you can focus on more business-enhancing tasks.

What is lacking in traditional DBaaS?

Compliance

The key to not only database health but an organization's health as a whole is database compliance and security. Identifying potential threats in the environment is key to protecting both customer and organization data. Data breaches are costly in that they damage the trust between their customers and the company and can hinder future business. Confirming the environment falls under regulatory compliance such as Sarbanes-Oxley, PCI, and HIPAA/HITECH is important so that auditing and reconciliation actions can be taken to remediate any mandatory regulation shortfalls.

Company Standards

Orgs discard their best practices because they are consuming a fully managed environment with traditional DBaaS. This one size fits all approach removes the customization that is required for most organizations to fit their business approach. DBaaS is typically hosted in the public cloud, which is a single vendor & single cloud model (i.e cloud lock-in) which is not ideal for hybrid cloud scenarios.