Data Warehousing as a Service for the Government, Explained

What is Data Warehousing as a Service (DWaaS)? Why is it useful for companies?

Data Warehousing as a Service (DWaaS) refers to storing, organizing, and analyzing your data in the cloud. More specifically, it’s outsourcing the management of your cloud data so that you don’t have to take on the overhead associated with running your own cloud data warehouse (an overhead that can be steep). By allowing an industry expert to handle your cloud data for you, you get all of the same capabilities with a better performance, all at a lower cost. You act as the source of the data and recipient of the analytics; the service handles everything in between.

DWaaS for sensitive government data is unique in its restrictions; given the inherent risks of breach associated with any amount of internet connectivity, the threshold of capabilities for businesses to enter into this field is high. As cybersecurity becomes a more and more pressing priority, it’s becoming more important to choose tech companies and services with demonstrated capabilities and staying power. That’s where GovCloud comes in.

What is GovCloud?

GovCloud is an isolated web service designed specifically for sensitive United States government data. Amazon’s service, AWS GovCloud, for example, is lauded for its compliance with numerous security and regulatory requirements, including (but not limited to): the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and, perhaps most prominently, the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

The essential crux of ITAR is the prevention of United States military technologies from falling into the hands of unauthorized non-U.S.-citizens; in this case, the technology in question is highly sensitive government-owned data. This compliance program spells out a clear set of guidelines on both managing data classification and managing access permissions such that data is only being handled by cleared individuals inside the United States.

While ITAR is not associated with any official certifications, a GovCloud service’s compliance with ITAR is regularly verified through accredited Federal Risk Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) processes. This verification ensures that the data hosted on a GovCloud service is only ever available to companies operating inside the United States, run by United States citizens.

PVM Does Data

Among other projects, we primarily work with large data sets for state, federal, and private organizations to help them solve problems and extract necessary information. From law enforcement to public health to military operations, when we handle data, security is critical. Having a secure data system is crucial for any business, but even more so for sensitive user data. Our ability to meet the regulatory needs of our public sector clients has never been more important, and we intend to rise to every technological challenge along the way.

If you have need for a data warehousing service, especially (but not necessarily!) involving sensitive government, data, contact us to find out more about how we can meet your needs.