Gartner defines the market for cloud database management systems (DBMSs) as the market for software products that store and manipulate data and that are primarily delivered as software as a service (SaaS) in the cloud. Cloud DBMSs may optionally be capable of running on-premises, or in hybrid, multicloud or intercloud configurations. They can be used for transactional work and/or analytical work. They may have features that enable them to participate in a wider data ecosystem. Must-have capabilities for this market include: Availability as SaaS on provider-managed public or private cloud systems; Management of data within cloud storage — that is, cloud DBMSs are not hosted in infrastructure as a service (IaaS), such as in a virtual machine or a container managed by the customer.
The market for ESP platforms consists of software subsystems that perform real-time computation on streaming event data. They execute calculations on unbounded input data continuously as it arrives, enabling immediate responses to current situations and/or storing results in files, object stores or other databases for later use. Examples of input data include clickstreams; copies of business transactions or database updates; social media posts; market data feeds; images; and sensor data from physical assets, such as mobile devices, machines and vehicles.