The right data at the right time in the right way

The period of recovery after a pandemic might not seem the best time to start modernizing your data estate and business intelligence. But I bet you’ll change your mind once you find out how rapidly the cost reductions and operational benefits can be realized, and how valuable they are to your organization, both now and in the future.

Data issues hamper adaptation

We all know that data is the key to dealing with constant change, but the pandemic has shown many organizations that their existing IT landscapes and processes are not responsive enough, primarily because of the way data is managed.

These organizations experience a range of problems in using their data. Often, it is siloed and inconsistent, and can be of poor quality. Sometimes, too, it breaches privacy legislation. Scaling up data access rapidly can be difficult, with the result that website transactions may slow to unacceptable levels. This made it hard for some organizations to switch from bricks-and-mortar to online retailing at the start of the pandemic.

All this means that business teams can’t always access data as quickly and efficiently as they need to, and therefore struggle to adapt during and after a crisis.

Realize the power of cloud

Most of us also know that such challenges can be overcome by modernizing the data estate and business intelligence. This transformation requires a platform that helps the organization to move away from operations-focused, limited-value AI initiatives towards an enterprise-wide, “data-first” approach – a platform typically based on a hybrid cloud architecture, or even hybrid multi-cloud.

By leveraging the power of cloud, it becomes possible to ingest, transform, and consume real-time data to drive action. Cloud provides flexible costs and ultimate scalability, both up and down.

The current crisis has highlighted the importance of speed and adaptability. Even so, many boards feel that a crisis is not the time to undertake modernization because of the effort involved.

Now, not later

In fact, by modernizing and moving to cloud now, you can get back to business faster and more effectively. As a fit, resilient and active enterprise, you can then seize the opportunities of recovery, for example by optimizing the supply chain and tuning customer experience for new buying channels.

This need not be a lengthy process. One of our clients, an IT company, recently achieved rapid, affordable migration to hybrid cloud as part of a wider modernization exercise. Decision makers can now access data in hours, not days or weeks. The new hybrid cloud platform, with AI integrated into its processes, makes it possible to process live data on the fly and translate it into immediate action. As a result, the supply chain is more adaptable, customer experience has improved, and TCO has reduced, leaving the company much better equipped to navigate the recovery.

Contact us to discuss how your company could benefit from undertaking Data & BI Estate Modernization now. This blog has been co-authored by Eric Reich and Fiona Critchley.

Eric Reich

Expert in Big Data, Cloud, Enterprise Content Management, IOT

I advise my clients in cost-effective approaches to transform their information strategy so as to leverage the value of this key asset.