It comes as no surprise that most people, who don’t work in the IT industry, think everything in the world of IT is getting absorbed into the cloud. Well, they are not wrong, but they are not right either.  

You might think I am clueless as the number of companies adopting cloud-based services has grown so rapidly ever since the pandemic or way before than that. However, the statistics show a different number that would change your view on the cloud and its adoption in the mainstream business sectors. 

Since AI and machine learning have become the silver bullet for many enterprises across the globe, the need for big data is evident and indispensable. Most importantly, the way big data can be leveraged is the next big challenge for many business-decision makers out there. This blog throws some light on why traditional data warehouse is better than the Cloud data warehouse.

Looking for Data Management

Traditional Data Warehouse Management Vs. Cloud Data Warehouse

In simple terms, a traditional data warehouse is a database management system that is used to store and manage an organization’s data, physically located within an organization managed by their own employees. On the other hand, as the name suggests, the cloud data warehouse is a modern Data Warehouse Management system, which is deployed in the cloud. Unlike on-premise data warehouse, the cloud data warehouse is mostly outsourced to a third-party and accessed over the internet.  

Data Warehouse Management

Four reasons why traditional data warehouse is still a good choice for data management:  

Speed and Latency: 

Imagine you want to watch a feel-good movie on a Saturday evening when you just logged from work. Now, your internet becomes unstable, making you already give up the very idea of watching the movie you wanted to watch in the first place. Wouldn’t you wish you had that movie downloaded on your computer, given that was one of those weekends you have no errands to run or deadlines to worry about?  

This is exactly why still many companies, even though they know the cloud has some really lucrative features that they wouldn’t want to miss out on, prefer traditional data warehouses to the cloud. Companies that depend on on-prem data warehouses, access and locate data faster compared to the cloud data warehouses.  

However, cloud data warehouses, may cause delays when an organization tries to get access to the data it is looking for. This is because most cloud data warehouses are based on online servers that are very far from the user, resulting in disruption of connectivity from time to time.  

Safety and Security: 

One cannot emphasize enough how crucial data warehouses are to an organization, since from marketing analysis to most operations a business deals with at present is stored in it. On-premise data warehouses offer a higher level of security, as they are not connected to and relied on the Internet. Moreover, data stored in a cloud-based data warehouse is more likely to get breached by anonymous ransomware attackers and vulnerable to malicious cyber-attacks. 

When data is especially sensitive, such as health related or financial data, a traditional data warehouse is better suited than the cloud in terms of security. This is because the traditional data warehouse is maintained in a secure environment, with access strictly controlled and monitored. 

Cost-Effectiveness:  

On-premise data warehouses are usually cheaper than cloud-based alternatives, as there is no need to pay for additional storage and hosting fees. Recently, as most companies are migrating from on-prem to the cloud data warehouses for many reasons, the annual subscription charges of most popular cloud platforms are in constant flux. 

Traditional data warehouses can be more cost-effective than cloud-based solutions for certain applications, such as when there is a need for large amounts of data storage and high-performance computing. Having said that, the cloud data warehouses can also be more cost-effective in other scenarios, especially for smaller start-ups with less data storage needs. 

Scalability: 

Customization and optimization play a critical role when it comes to scalability and control of data warehouses in general. Most entrepreneurs believe their business needs are entirely different to their competitors. So, the need for data warehouses that can be customized as to the business needs is greatly expected and indispensable in today’s business world. 

With an on-prem data warehouse, companies can have more control over the data, as they can easily customize the technology used, configure the system to their specific needs and have direct, seamless access to all of their data whenever they want.  

Every human is unique, so are organizations. Just because most companies implement the cloud data warehouse, it does not mean it is the only solution out there for all the data management challenges as we speak today. 

Performance:  

On-prem data warehouses are known for offering better performance than the cloud due to the physical proximity of the hardware and the data. This way, there would be better latency and increased bandwidth, allowing for faster data access and easy data management. So, on-prem data warehouses are capable of faster performance, as they don’t have to rely on a third-party cloud provider, who may suffer from bandwidth or latency issues.  

It’s worth noting that the performance of an on-prem data warehouse is highly dependent and related to the quality of the network infrastructure and the distance between the data warehouse and the users accessing it. However, the cloud data warehouses can only be accessed from anywhere with the help of a secure, stable, and fast internet connection.

IT is a hybrid world, and everything comes with options…   

According to SpiceWorks, 98% of companies still reply on traditional data storage and other IT infrastructures to conduct most business operations. Regardless of size and type, data warehouses are gaining traction among various organizations that need to collect, store and process huge amounts of data for business intelligence (BI) and data analytics applications. Though the concept of data warehouses first emerged in the late 90s, it grew so rapidly and managed to dominate most of today’s business operations as a mainstream technology.  

As data warehouses play a vital role in modern enterprises, organizations need to choose the best form of data warehouse, which can be either on premise or the cloud-based data warehouse, or sometimes hybrid of both, as per requirement. If a company has a highly qualified IT team and state-of-the-art hardware, a fully internally controlled data warehouse is a winning choice.  

Now that you know the differences between a traditional data warehouse and the Cloud data warehouse, it all boils down to choosing the right data management system for your business. Aspire Systems has been partnering with some of the leading cloud data warehouse platforms across the world and helping companies decide the best type of data warehouse management for their businesses.

Take The Next Step
Latest posts by Gokuladhasan Ramani (see all)