What is cloud data development?
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Definition of cloud data development
Cloud data development is the process of migrating your data storage solution onto a central, cloud-based resource upon which analytical environments and business intelligence tools can be built. In practice, this means moving data out of scattered local databases, spreadsheets, and on-premises servers and into a managed cloud data platform (such as Azure SQL Database, Azure Data Lake, or a data warehouse service) where it can be secured, backed up, queried, and connected to reporting and AI tools consistently.
Cloud data development is broader than a single migration project — it’s an ongoing discipline covering how new data sources get connected, how schemas evolve as the business changes, and how access is governed as more teams and tools need to reach the same underlying data.
Executive view
Cloud data development can transform your organisation’s approach to storage and analysis of data by creating a central hub that is secure, efficient and flexible enough to suit your organisation’s growing and changing needs. Hosting this resource on the cloud allows your organisation to make use of your provider’s security features and confer access to up-to-date technology without the costs associated with setup and updates.
Cloud data development helps businesses:
streamline processes by making actionable insights available to people at all levels of the organisation.
build an environment in which more can be done with data to meet business goals and to define a strategy for growth.
make use of cloud computing to access up-to-date technology without upfront costs.
Business function leader view
Cloud data development helps teams break away from data silos and create a central, accessible repository from which data can be accessed, analysed and used to meet your business goals. A data platform encompasses both secure cloud data storage and - via your cloud vendor - a suite of business intelligence and analysis tools that allow teams to gain valuable, actionable insights from data and improve performance in all areas.
You may need this service if:
data comes from disparate sources so that gaining insight is time-consuming.
you want to build AI features into your products.
your business suffers from data silos due to friction between departments or technological factors, which prevents teams from seeing the bigger picture.
your business lacks the resources to maintain on-site data storage facilities.
you lack a central, secure repository for your business data.
KPIs you should consider measuring for this are:
Reduced time spent analysing data from disparate sources.
Improved conversion rates and reduced overspend from acting on data insights.
Reduced costs updating technology after shifting to cloud computing.
Technical view
Cloud data development provides access to a central service in which data can be securely stored and analysed. The data platform encompasses a data warehouse, data analysis platforms and business intelligence tools that make actionable data insights available to all relevant teams in your organisation.
Cloud data development helps deliver:
a single repository of integrated data from one or more sources.
a single source of current and historical data.
storage of the data for reports/analytics.
actionable insights and feedback.
tiered availability of data and results of analyses to different stakeholders.
insights that are tailored to the user.
Get this service if you encounter:
difficulties aggregating data across your organisation.
high demand from different departments to understand the data your company holds.
lack of resources to maintain an on-site data storage facility that meets your organisation’s security, fidelity and up-time requirements.
difficulties aggregating data from disparate sources.
a need to offer tiered security access to data and insights.
Key criteria to consider are:
What are the cost implications of migrating to a cloud data solution?
What are the potential savings after migrating to a cloud data solution?
How will you ensure that data is accurate?
How will you ensure that data is stored securely?
Which cloud vendor is right for your needs?
Cloud data development in metals manufacturing
Manufacturers often accumulate data infrastructure the way a factory accumulates machinery — piece by piece, as needs arose, without an overall plan. An ERP database here, a spreadsheet-based cutting log there, mill certificates saved as PDFs in a shared drive, inventory counts tracked on a whiteboard or in a separate legacy system that predates the ERP. Each piece works in isolation. None of it talks to the others.
Cloud data development for a manufacturer typically means consolidating these into a single, queryable platform: order and inventory data from the ERP, certificate and heat traceability data from incoming goods processing, and production data from the shop floor, all landing in one place where they can be joined together. That consolidation is the precondition for almost everything else a manufacturer wants from its data — accurate scrap and yield reporting across the whole business rather than one saw at a time, AI-assisted certificate reading that can cross-reference incoming material against open orders, and cutting optimisation that has visibility of the full available stock rather than just what’s on one spreadsheet.
The security dimension matters too. Mill certificates and customer specifications are often commercially sensitive, and cloud data platforms (Azure SQL Database with managed identity authentication, for example) provide access control and audit trail capabilities that a shared network drive or a collection of local spreadsheets simply cannot.