Data As An Asset
The first hurdle associated with maximising the potential for business data is embracing the mindset of data as an essential asset for business continuity and growth - something with an assigned monetary value that can be depreciated on the books.
This is a concept Dan Linstedt, founder of Data Vault 2.0, often refers to as an underlying principle for his data modelling method. As Dan puts it:
“Data provides pure business value by demonstrating the gaps between the business perception (of the way they think their business is running) and the reality (the way the data is actually captured and processed through business processes and systems).”.
Understanding the value of your data is key to the successful implementation of operational strategies that facilitate agile and effective business growth.
Integration & Collaboration
In the past, we’ve seen data management and business analytics reside in different parts of an organisation. This has led to the inability to provide answers to complex problems or questions that have resisted analysis.
It’s time to break down these organisational boundaries and create a data ecosystem that fosters open collaboration and integration between the IT and business departments in your organisation.
Encourage continuous iterative exploration and investigation of past business performance, whilst allowing the business to generate new insights for future business planning.
Never Stop Learning
Rapid systems change means the way our technology operated this year, will not necessarily be the way it operates next year, or in five years. Because of this, placing an internal emphasis on proficiency with data mining and visualisation tools should be a prerogative for all IT departments.
This includes cloud solutions, iterative design tools, machine learning and Cognitive tools to build, test and deploy novel solutions to problems, quickly.
Dealing With Data Complexity
We all know enterprise data has been evolving dramatically in recent years, in type, volume and velocity. This rapid evolution, and the challenge involved in attaching a business context to the data, has made it very hard to turn data into the information we need to drive insights that can be trusted and used to drive change.
The complexity involved in accurately consolidating data with business context means organisations need platforms and methodologies that are flexible enough to adapt to new situations and requirements quickly. Organisations can’t afford to have innovation limited by their existing system or the time it takes to reengineer their information.
Invest In Data Architecture That Allows You To Be Adaptable
There are several roadblocks companies face when adapting to rapid change, including technology (legacy and proprietary systems), rigid or poorly understood processes and culture (people not wanting to change).
From my perspective, the ideal technology solution to overcome these challenges is one which can scale as your business grows, leverages existing technology investments and supports innovation so you can cut development time, try new things and achieve ROI faster.
Is there an approach that can help us all achieve this? – you betcha!
Data Vault 2.0 is a data architecture that has been built at the multi-petabyte solution level, so the engineering, design and processes of scale-free architecture are already embedded in it.
This means when you build a Data Vault solution, you don’t have to re-engineer in order to cope with new business demands. It’s a foundation that can be used to scale your business when you want to, without re-engineering your IT solution.
We’ve put together a high-level infographic which talks about Data Vault 2.0 – how it works and how we can help you get started using this awesome architecture. Check it out here.