Cloud Analytics

Definition - What does Cloud Analytics mean?

Cloud analytics is a type of cloud service model where data analysis and related services are performed on a public or private cloud. Cloud analytics can refer to any data analytics or business intelligence process that is carried out in collaboration with a cloud service provider.

Cloud analytics is also known as Software as a Service (SaaS)-based business intelligence (BI).

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Techopedia explains Cloud Analytics

Cloud analytics is primarily a cloud-enabled solution that allows an organization or individual to perform business analysis or intelligence procedures. These solutions and services are delivered through cloud models, such as hosted data warehouses, SaaS business intelligence (BI) and social media analytic products powered by the cloud. Cloud analytics services work like a typical data analytics service, providing similar features and capabilities. The only difference is that cloud analytics integrates some or all of the service models of cloud computing in delivering that solution.

Although cloud analytics is mainly a SaaS-based solution, it can also be a hybrid cloud solution. For example, hosted or cloud data warehouses not only provide the infrastructure to store massive amounts of data, but they also allow data analytics/business intelligence software to retrieve useful information when and where it is required. Moreover, some solutions also may be delivered through Platform as a Service (PaaS), where the end users/organization can create proprietary data analytics software to run on the cloud storage infrastructure.