Page 38 - EngineerIT November 2021

DATA MANAGEMENT

Data, both an advantage and a barrier?

A Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Dell Technologies
uncovers what’s preventing businesses from turning data into
actionable insights to better prepare themselves for the data era

or most businesses, data has become 2. The ‘want more than they can handle’
their most valuable business asset, but paradox
Fthey are overwhelmed by the sheer According to the research, 68 percent
volume, velocity and variety of data. These of South African businesses say they are
are the findings of a globally commissioned gathering data faster than they can analyse
study conducted by Forrester Consulting and use it, yet 77 percent say they constantly
titled ‘Unveiling Data Challenges Afflicting need more data than their current capabilities Doug Woolley
Businesses Around the World’. provide. This could be because:
Based on a survey of 4,036 data • 66 percent are guarding a significant struggling with some or all of the following
decision-makers from 45 locations amount of their data in data centres barriers to better capture, analyse and act on
including South Africa, the findings build they own or manage, despite the known data:
upon the biennial Dell Technologies Digital benefits of processing data at the edge – • High storage costs
Transformation Index (DT) study, which where the data is generated. • A data warehouse that is not optimised
assesses the digital maturity of businesses • An IT strategy that doesn’t scale: 41 • Outdated IT infrastructure
around the globe. The 2020 DT Index percent are bolting on more data silos, • Processes that are too manual to meet their
revealed that ‘data overload or being rather than consolidating what they have. needs
unable to extract insights from data’ was
the prime barrier to transformation, up Consequently, the explosion in data is making Light on the horizon
from twelve places in 2016. it challenging to meet business requirements, Although businesses are struggling to adopt robust
Dell Technologies commissioned the with 64 percent of respondents stating that data management strategies, many have plans
study to understand why and how we can their teams are already overwhelmed by the to create a better tomorrow: 70 percent of South
stop data from becoming one of the key data they currently have. African businesses intend to deploy machine
barriers to transformation. “In a digital economy, data is one of the learning to automate how they detect anomaly
These findings were revealed at the most valuable business assets, yet today it data, 52 percent are looking to move to a data-
Dell Technologies Forum South Africa stands to be a significant barrier to growth. as-a-service model and 58 percent are planning
2021, the company’s flagship event that Navigating this modern day paradox and to look deeper into the performance stack to
brings together senior decision makers and turning vast amounts of data into actionable re-architect how they process and use data.
industry think tanks to discuss emerging outcomes can seem daunting, especially
trends, challenges and new growth when on a path to digital transformation. Three ways businesses can turn their data
opportunities in South Africa’s dynamic At Dell Technologies, we empower regional burden into a data advantage:
technology sector. organisations to tackle these concerns by 1. Modernise their IT infrastructure so it
offering tailored end-to-end infrastructure meets data where it lives, at the edge.
The study identifies several data paradoxes solutions that not only support a data-driven This incorporates bringing businesses’
hindering businesses today, including: work culture that is capable of predicting the infrastructure and applications closer to
future, but is also equipped to harness data where data needs to be captured, analysed
1. The perception paradox to achieve better business results, faster,” said and acted on – while avoiding data sprawl
Fifty eight percent of South African Doug Woolley, MD of Dell Technologies South by maintaining a consistent multi-cloud
respondents say their business is data- Africa. operating model;
driven and state ‘data is the lifeblood 2. Optimise data pipelines so data can flow
of their organisation’. However, only 11 3. The ‘seeing without doing’ paradox freely and securely while being augmented by
percent treat data as capital and prioritise While economies have suffered during AI/ML;
its use across the business. the pandemic, the on-demand sector has 3. Develop software to deliver the personalised,
To provide some clarity, Forrester expanded, igniting a new wave of data-first, integrated experiences customers crave.
Consulting created an objective measure of data-anywhere businesses. However, the
businesses’ data readiness. number of South African businesses that have Data management is central to an organisation
The results show that 89 percent of moved the majority of their applications and and its growth. Therefore, a solution should
South African businesses are yet to progress infrastructure to an as-a-service model is still provide the global scale that businesses need as
their data technology and processes and/or small (11 percent). their application workloads and data volumes
their data culture and skills. Only 11 percent increase exponentially in the coming years. n
are defined as data champions: companies The report also states that an on-demand
that are actively engaged in both areas model would help the 83 percent of South Read the full results here: http://
(technology/process and culture/skills). African businesses that are currently delltechnologies.com/dataparadox

EngineerIT | November 2021 | 36