Knowledge is power
With IDC estimating that the data mountain has now reached five zettabytes, it is not a case of a business not having enough data to make business decisions, but arguably knowing too much. For many, it is the old adage of not being able to see the wood from the trees. Armed with all this information, businesses should be able to operate more efficiently and accurately than ever before, but many simply don’t have the key to unlock valuable insights from the data.
Data science technology is evolving to allow companies to create insights, predictions and automated prescriptions out of the growing data mountain. Yet, it is not a case of one size fits all. The technology needs to be available in everything from a free downloadable solution for developers to play around with on their laptops, to high-performance on-premise systems that can be housed in an organisation’s secure data centre.
They want answers
The highly-regarded 2018 Global Dresner Market Study for Analytical Data Infrastructure (ADI) revealed that on-premises deployments of ADI platforms was leading in priority over cloud deployments but that the deployment option varies wildly by use case. It did, however, note that respondents’ priority for hybrid deployment (a mix of on-premise and cloud) has increased year-on-year.
Wherever the ADI platform is deployed, one thing that all respondents agreed upon is that performance is a top priority for any embedded analytics. This is not surprising. Businesses today operate in rapidly shifting marketplaces, so agility is imperative to not just surviving, but thriving. To facilitate this, they not only want answers, but want them now.
The other consideration respondents cited for an ADI platform is its inherent security. With the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) just around the corner, the consequences of not properly securing data are bigger than ever. Due to come into force May 2018, the GDPR will mean that firms that suffer a subsequent data breach could face a potential fine of €20m or 4% of annual turnover – whichever is greater.
Horses for courses
While the popularity of the cloud has gathered pace in recent years, it is still horses for courses. Each organisation is different. Whether they prefer to host their data on-premise, in a private cloud, public cloud or prefer a hybrid solution, organisations need the right architecture for their specific data eco system. It should facilitate data storage, standard reporting and data processing, artificial intelligence and a flexible way of adjusting to future trends in an open, extensible platform.
With the siloed nature of data, the likelihood is that it will increasingly reside both on-premise and in the cloud. Therefore, it is important for businesses to be able to integrate and transparently access data sources in such hybrid environments. They need a solution that will allow them to set up one database cluster in the cloud, another one on-premise and connect both systems using virtual schemas, so that they have a 360-degree view of their data.
Tapping into insight
ADI is becoming a significant topic within business intelligence and analytics. Businesses have woken up to the fact that there is value in their data. We are now seeing organisations move to a place where business-oriented data strategies are a major focus. With that shift comes the need for sophisticated data science approaches that deliver swift results back to the business. With the right tools, they can tap into insight that improves their customer offerings, streamline business processes or reduce costs.
To better compete, businesses need to be proactively reactive. They are moving from an era of descriptive (looking at past trends), to predictive (looking to the future) and even to prescriptive (finding the best course of action to meet key performance indicators). To facilitate this, businesses need a powerful combination of the latest artificial intelligence tools and standard SQL analytics to create more agility and efficiency in finding the right insights out of data. The good news is that there are now platforms available that combine any data science language within the same system and combine it with standard database technologies.
Don’t leave your data behind
Savvy organisations today are transforming how they use their data, to unlock the power within. Whether that’s a multi-national retail business bringing together disparate data sources to mine for actionable insights to drive profitability, or a hand-to-mouth charitable organisation wishing to spot trends that could ultimately save lives.
As more and more organisations move towards a hybrid cloud concept that combines on-premise systems with public cloud deployments into one seamless IT landscape, it is important that they don’t leave their data behind. It is time for businesses to make an about turn and ensure that technology follows their data strategy, not the other way around.
