Is DMaaS the Answer to Your Data Problems?

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Data management as a service (DMaaS) is an emerging practice whereby a range of data-based services–including file and object serving, governance, security, backup/recovery, archiving, and dev/test provisioning–are delivered by a single vendor. But is it the answer to our problems? According to the results of a survey conducted by DMaaS provider Cohesity, it may definitely be part of the solution.

The main thrust of Cohesity’s DMaaS market study, which is based on a survey of 500 IT decision makers in the United States, is that IT professionals are overburdened with data management tasks. Nearly three in four organizations are seeing their IT budgets cut, including 40% of survey-takers who are seeing budgets reduced by at least 10%.

The survey, which was conducted by Vanson Bourne and released last week, found that IT professionals spend 40% of their time every week managing data infrastructure (i.e. installing and updating storage and servers, working with databases, maintaining file or object systems, and managing backups and archives). For nearly one-quarter of the respondents (22%), they spend between 50% and 75% of their time on these tasks.

The top benefits of a DMaaS, according to Cohesity’s report

The consequence of this busywork is lost opportunities, particularly for midsize companies, Cohesity says. The company claims that 27% of survey respondents claim to have lost 25% to 50% of potential deals to larger companies “because larger enterprises have more resources to manage and derive value from their data.” What’s more, 18% of survey-takers say they have lost half to three quarters of deals to larger enterprises for the same reason.

Cohesity says DMaaS is a potential solution to this dilemma. By automating many of the core data management tasks and exposing it as a service, the argument goes, companies have more time to devote to value-added tasks.

With a DMaaS in place, the vendor says:

• 61% of survey participants report an ability “to focus more on deriving value from data;”
• 52% report reduced stress levels for IT teams;
• And 47% say it may reduce turnover within the IT team.

Cohesity CEO and founder Mohit Aron 

Cohesity, which completed a Series E round of financing worth $250 million earlier this year at a reported $2.5 billion valuation,  offers a software-defined storage system called Helios that includes object and file access. The company, which runs on all four clouds as well as on-prem, received an honorable mention in Gartner’s recent Magic Quadrant for Distributed File Systems and Object Storage.

“As 2020 comes to a close, it’s clear that IT teams are facing significant challenges in 2021,” Matt Waxman, Cohesity’s vice president of product management, said in a press release. “Research shows IT leaders are anxious for comprehensive solutions that will enable them to do more with data in ways that will help boost revenues and provide competitive advantage at a time when they are also facing budget cuts, burnout, and turnover.”

You can access the report at Cohesity’s website.

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