Data as a Platform

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What Does Data as a Platform Mean?

Data as a platform (DaaP) is a relatively new concept in the cloud computing paradigm where data itself – rather than applications – is the commodity being sold. Some analysts say that no longer will we simply view the cloud through applications, but that the concept has evolved to a point at which processing speeds, and quantity and distribution of data are key to a competitive business.

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Platforms are core technologies that developers may use to create programs using APIs. Product ecosystems become more valuable when they are associated with a platform. Core data can become a platform when there is enough of it that it is actually of relevance to many people, and applications and services begin to be developed around that data core. Instead of products and technology as a commodity, data itself therefore becomes the commodity.

Data as a platform may also be called big data 2.0.

Techopedia Explains Data as a Platform

Data as a platform requires stockpiling vast quantities of unique and valuable data and then providing them to partners and third-party systems in order to attract critical business. Once data accumulates enough mass, all other things like applications and services will gradually be attracted to it and will then be developed and marketed around it. This is called data gravity. This is another side of cloud computing that has bee gaining ground, but data as the basis for business and enterprise is totally new. Usually, data is only considered a part of the system rather than the core of it.

For example, information is now being traded regarding different trends and statistics of customer purchasing habits. Correlated with similar data from other retail establishments, seasonal data, and other trending statistics, this allows a better view of the market and will inevitably lead to a better and more informed decision.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.