back
A Guide to Location as a Service (LaaS)
Technology

A Guide to Location as a Service (LaaS)

By Mainak Biswas January 23, 2017 - 7,659 views

Cloud data delivery models have introduced several new terms in enterprise IT jargon. Some of these include the ever omnipresent Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). These delivery models have helped cloud vendors to bring the most advanced IT services to clients over the cloud. As people have begun to use mobile devices as their primary computing devices, the data that is generated and stored with respect to location is growing very rapidly.

Location as a Service (LaaS) is a data delivery model that brings privacy protected physical location data to enterprise customers. Data that is collected via carriers, Wi-Fi, landlines and even IP addresses are made available through APIs to clients.

Why should you use location-based data?

  • Every location is different
  • Marketing is heavily dependent on demographic data
  • Marketing is also dependant on geographical data, as culture and demographics are intertwined with location
  • Merchandizing requires location data
  • Hyperlocal marketing campaigns have better ROI
  • Helps you to save money and time, by sending location-appropriate messages
  • eCommerce is heavily dependent on localization
  • Helps you design better social strategies, using location data
  • Adds context to everything that you do

Let us take a look at how LaaS helps you, and what you could probably do with it

      1.  LaaS provides location data, which can be used to enhance

  • Operational efficiency
  • Ensure privacy and security
  • Increase customer engagement
  • Reduce costs
  • Achieve better ROI

      2. Location data is important for both businesses and governments.

     3. Location specific data provides insight about activities that are taking place in real time

    4.  Location data provides spatial patterns, which help in leveraging various relationships between variables       

      What does LaaS entail?

  1. Subscription-based and scalable
  2. Insight and analytics are available on demand
  3. Combine business intelligence and automation tools with location data
  4. Software as a Service (SaaS)
  • Location-based data is served via apps and software via a centrally hosted cloud
  1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
  • Manage and store location specific data
  1. Platform as a Service (PaaS)
  • Develop and run embedded apps and analytics

   Summarizing LaaS’ current status

As we can see, location-based data is becoming increasingly important and is being used across industry verticals. While location data finds use in retail industry the most, it is used in finance services, security, governance, and various other verticals. This data is now being delivered via cloud on an on-demand PaaS, SaaS and IaaS model. This synthesized cloud delivery model of location data is also termed as LaaS. Location as a service is going to change the way clients are going to use location data, making it accessible for even smaller and medium sized companies.

Page Scrolled