What the heck is DaaS?
January 28, 2010
DaaS – Data as a Service. This blog is all about DaaS, and how DaaS is going to transform the data model in exactly the same way that SaaS has transformed the software model.
First, let’s get really clear on how SaaS changed our mindsets. Ten years ago companies that utilized software were in the business of procuring and managing software. Companies had to first buy the software, then install it on one’s own servers, and finally manage that software over time.
- Image via CrunchBase
Many companies realized that procuring and managing software wasn’t a core competency – but ten years ago there was no other choice. Salesforce led the SaaS revolution by convincing companies that choosing to use software as a service was a better way to go. Interestingly, Larry Ellison is well known for both dissing SaaS as a model that will never make money, and at the same time proclaiming that Oracle will eventually dominate many SaaS offerings. My belief is that SaaS has fundamentally transformed the software model, and will continue to do so into the future. All the big enterprise software companies are making huge bets on SaaS.
Take a look at how most companies deal with data today. They spend a bunch of time and money buying lists, attending tradeshows, and having sales teams prospect for leads. After companies procure their records the data goes into its container (example: Salesforce) – and it usually just sits there and rots.
- Image via CrunchBase
Most SMB companies perform zero maintenance on their databases. Large companies spend a ton of money on the maintenance of their data sets, as well as on procurement. For companies of all sizes their customer and prospecting database is the lifeblood of their business. (SaaS got initial traction with CRM for a reason!). In short, companies spend a lot of time procuring and managing the records that drive the growth of their businesses. Why would they want to – given a choice to consume data as a service?
My first prediction for this blog is that the data industry is about to undergo a DaaS disruption. My intention is to make sure Jigsaw is leading the charge.
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Thanks for the explanation! Looking forward to future posts.
Well being No2 to comment is not too shabby!
“DaaS “- an Austrian word for “do it”??.
Seriously, I believe the P2P (peer to peer) sharing which the Gen Y’s (ie. Napster model) really perfected, will grow into all areas including more lead sharing, monetized sites, co-marketing/alliance services (ie. private collaboration sites so that sales reps/companies can share very specific info about certain “trigger events” pertaining to a specific company etc. Or centered around a specific companies immediate go-to-market goal (ie D-Link’s drive into larger enterprise networking).
jigsaw’s platform could provide the basis for such “private collaboration” as the existing 20MM data entries are proof positive of the P2P model’s success.
Pass the puck……….
The older than 45 crowd (ie I’m 55) has always been pretty skeptical about a jigsaw type model.(ie we were all brought up to hunt our own game, help no one and share zip about the jungle), BUT I see my 25 yr. old finding a new job on Facebook and you see the future.
“DaaS” It for now.
(why didn’t I think this idea up)
regards and best wishes from Canada.
Stuart
Thanks Stuart. Appreciate the shout out from Canada!
Great post! Thanks. Keep it coming.
I am Stuart’s age, and am also an “Old Dog Learning New Tricks.” The way to find, and potentially appeal to, prospects is through social media and CRM. Only then do we get to demonstrate our appealing personalities!
Concur, concur, concur.
There is another vital reason for DaaS coming of age – the absence of usage restrictions. Buyers of data content are often saddled with usage restrictions that oblige their firms to spend more money monitoring usage and then paying the vendor when the content is utilized by another department, office or system.
DaaS is different. Since clients of DaaS are embedded in the process of helping to maintain data quality, they quite reasonably feel a level of ownership over some of the content. That value can be ackowledged by providing value back to the contributor in terms of content, services, reduced usage restrictions or a combination of all three.
The lovely irony of this dynamic is that conventional data vendors are almost forced to ignore client feedback in case those clients demand value back in return for their help in improving the data.
Ken,
I agree with you. I think the mindset behind DaaS will be really difficult for the traditional data providers to adopt. Going to all all-you-can-eat buffet from a price per record model is tough. Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
Fowler
Many interesting angles to look at with this concept – I suspect one of the key factors will be data permissions. At the end of the day, DaaS will have the primary purpose of targeting high value customers.
As general education matures about the availability of data (particularly with the top decile), there will be some interesting dynamics emerging, for example a shift in influence from the marketer to the customer, which could translate to some different relationships developing.
There’s a similar/tangential line of thought in the CRM world which is called VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) which refers to the role reversal in which Customers manage their vendor information rather than Vendors managing customer information. They’re not mutually exclusive concepts, but add a significant layer of complexity to the relationship.
Looking forward to monitoring the discussion…
Love the term, DaaS. Consider it adopted
Have you considered Linked Data? Linked Data makes data into a first class citizen imbued with meaning and intelligence. The value of this data becomes much higher than before.
About 6 months ago, we worked on a prototype using Jigsaw data, and considered collaborating with Jigsaw. But we got a flood of project work & deferred the project.
In Linked Data we give concepts and entities (companies, industry categories) a URL. Machines and humans alike can consume the data. Unlike a CSV file, Linked Data can effortlessly combine facts from multiple sources.
We could take a Jigsaw company, and reference it’s related Wikipedia article to uncover it’s product portfolio, combine with GeoNames to locate the GPS co-ordinates for it’s head office.
We could cross-reference a Jigsaw contact with their LinkedIn profile, then uncover their blog, and retrieve all posts that mention a given topic.
We can do that today right? Not without manual effort, Linked Data allows a computer to not only find data but understand what that the data means. Compared with a CSV file that cannot be understood without a human placing it into context.
Think about this – if your data is authoritative & recombinable – then your URLs would become baked into the cloud of linked data – with Branded Meta Data you have another asset, a key market differentiator and your URL could be synonymous with the data itself.
Lee,
I think LinkedData is the holy grail for all kinds of data. The challenges is proliferating the URI (Uniform Resource Identifier – URL is a kind of URI) such that is it broadly adopted. The basic concept is “standardization”.
My firm, Avox, is working at this with the Avox ID (AVID) on http://www.wiki-data.com – a free company index with a URI’s (AVID) which is verified and maintained with a combination of manual data analysis and daily feedback contributed by our cliients (mainly financial institutions like Citigroup, Barclays, Nomura, Standard Bank of South Africa…).
Sorry if this sounds like a plug for my company. I’m primarily interested in shaking out ideas around how we can all work more efficiently together.
Ken
Lee and Ken,
I need to put you both in touch with my VP of BizDev. Pls shoot me an email and I’ll make this happen soonest.
Fowler
Jim,
Can I get someone on your sales team to respond to my request for your services?
Steve – I just checked with Bob Memmer, our VP of Sales. Bob said we got a hold of you today. Apologies for any inconvenience.
I have been interviewing at a company (rainmaker) that is an SaaS company and has taken the approach of taking the data and providing that extra service that others do not provide.
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