Google Cloud on Tuesday announced the launch of its new BigQuery Omni multi-cloud analytics tool, which it says will enable customers in healthcare and elsewhere more easily query data stored in Google Cloud – but also with Amazon Web Services and (soon) Microsoft Azure.

WHY IT MATTERS
Google Cloud says BigQuery Omni is a response to the fact that the vast majority of organizations leveraging public cloud are doing so with multi-cloud environments. The BigQuery Omni tool enables more flexibility to gain actionable analytics insights across what might previously have been siloed data sets.

The tool is built around Google Cloud's Anthos technology – a hybrid application platform that enables consistent development and operations across cloud and on-premises environments.

It enables a more seamless connection between Google Cloud and the other public clouds, according to the company, allowing healthcare clients to more securely run queries across Google, AWS and Azure, via a single interface, without having to move or copy datasets.

"By using standard SQL and BigQuery APIs the tool can help customers 'break down data silos and gain critical business insights from a single pane of glass,' said Debanjan Saha, Google Cloud's general manager and VP of engineering. "And because BigQuery Omni is powered by Anthos, you will be able to query data without having to manage the underlying infrastructure."

THE LARGER TREND
Google Cloud points to recent Gartner research that shows more than 80% of respondents across industries using the public cloud were using more than one cloud service provider. That has them seeking less complex technologies, more consistent user experience and lower cost to manage data across multiple different CSPs.

"The cost of moving data between cloud providers isn’t sustainable for many businesses, and it’s still difficult to seamlessly work across clouds," said Saha, who explained that BigQuery Omni, by separating compute and storage, is able to offer a scalable approach where data can "reside in Google Cloud or other public clouds, and stateless resilient compute that executes standard SQL queries.

"Until now," he said, "in order to use BigQuery, your data had to be stored in Google Cloud."

ON THE RECORD
"Moving data across different clouds is both cumbersome and expensive," said Saha in a statement. "With BigQuery Omni, customers will get a multi-cloud analytics solution that enables them to gain critical data insights, in one unified experience. We continue to invest in multi-cloud in an effort to democratize access to the best technologies for our customers, no matter what cloud provider they're using today."

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
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