Shaking up the storage industry

Data is the only commodity that has increasing returns to volume, so it gets more valuable the more you have. Up until the 20th century, the doubling of human knowledge used to take approximately 100 years, technology was slim and insight was scarce. Fast forward to 2013 and technology captures data in unimaginable ways, accelerating volume growth and revealing the path for the future of innovation. The increasing interest in data is driven by the fact that as it grows, it becomes a vast repository of business value. As an executive, you quickly learn that everything is data-based and we’re spending increasing amounts of time, money, and resources to monetize and uncover that data.

It’s time to start the conversation
The question is how to capture information and use it to improve your bottom line. On the surface of what appears to be a technical conversation is, instead, a business discussion. It takes intuitive technology to cash in on the data gold rush but it requires a big picture view from executives to understand the profitable opportunities. The CFO is looking to cut costs whilst driving improved performance, the CRO is looking for increased information governance under a tightened budget; and the CEO sees ceaseless data growth and recognizes both challenge and opportunity.

Unfortunately, most organizations don’t begin engaging until the opportunity has been missed and it has become an escalating challenge. This trend is here to stay; new technologies are constantly being developed that continue to accelerate this data growth and as such are driving the need for new ways to manage the massive amounts of information being generated. There are a plethora of solutions that can ‘address the data challenge’ but in every challenge lies an opportunity… and the same is true for this information age. Instead of just applying a quick fix or adding another piece of media or hardware to satisfy the increasing demand of data, organizations need to readjust their business objectives and develop a data centric approach that capitalizes on the influx of data.

Where does data define value?
Where data defines value is of strategic importance; it is the gateway to untapped business potential. Enterprises have long focused on the size, type and location of data but as the marketplace evolves and traditional storage platform capabilities do not, there becomes a distinct disconnect. Modern business pressures are requiring a new architectural approach to IT, one that focuses on content, meaning and value, providing a broader view of data as strategic enabling information. Data without understanding, analysis and actionable insights is just a long list of ones and zeros.

The key to transforming data into information is simple when deploying a Data Defined Storage solution. Data Defined Storage platforms take a holistic approach to data management by consolidating the application, information and storage tiers under a single data centric architecture, bringing all organizational metadata together to make it easy to extract information and generate intelligence about what that data means and what conclusions it suggests. This approach helps organizations gain a better understanding of the business environment, and how to improve the information flow to and from customers, investors, and the marketplace as a whole.

Leveraging the knowledge and insights gained from this data centric approach is essential in a world where data is piling up by the second, transparency across an organization is crucial and the rate of information flow drives competitive advantage. In what has become a truly global marketplace for goods and services, the volume, variety and velocity of today’s 24/7 business environment is significant. When information silos are centralized and data barriers are broken down, all business units gain on demand data access, a big picture view and enhanced understanding of the market position across the organization.

Simplified data management
Aside from these benefits, security, risk and privacy concerns are managed more effectively when all data is consolidated into a central infrastructure. With a data centric approach, this newfound capability to access, understand and utilize information can mitigate the challenges that enterprises are facing from increasingly stringent regulatory mandates and increased security risks associated with large volumes of data. Additionally, with an accelerating rise in mobility and “BYOD” initiatives these concerns are exacerbated when companies are trying to provide an entire workforce with the right data to the right person at the right time. Maintaining a central data repository with a focus on content and meaning over location and type makes these data concerns less troublesome.

Information is power
The massive scope of this proposition emphasizes data content - the what, how, where and why information is created, stored, accessed, maintained and retained over time. Information is power and fuel for making better and more informed business decisions and, ultimately, is the most valuable asset you can control. Simply put, when you take advantage of stored data, you are in a better position to seize opportunities before your competition, achieve faster time to market and gain sustainable competitive advantage. Recently, a major healthcare organization in the UK that was faced with regulatory demands including data encryption, access authority, and retention and disposal policies, implemented a Data Defined Storage solution that transformed their IT infrastructure and strategy. Hospitals have sensitive requirements that must satisfy various different information policies and schedules for data from diagnostic imaging systems, document management systems, and patient information systems.

Additional concerns of medical malpractice lawsuits involving complex and lengthy discovery processes garnered the need for a comprehensive solution that emphasized data value. With the ability to categorize, filter, and index file content, file metadata, extended metadata and even custom metadata, the hospital was able to meet their objectives, automatically set policy controls for efficient search and data management and gain better understanding of their patient data. The healthcare organization not only addressed their current tactical data challenge but they applied a solution that provides strategic value with the scalability to accommodate the big data opportunity and, ultimately, enhance their patient outcomes. In addition to healthcare, the benefits from the use of Data Defined Storage can be utilized by a number of industries, including financial services, oil and gas, education or life sciences.

Think long term
The business environment is difficult across all organizational units, and, with balance sheet constraints, companies are rarely allocating investments for the future. Unfortunately most organizations implement a data management strategy after they’ve begun to feel the pain points of traditional storage platforms and strategies. The future of data growth is uncertain (except that it’s going to continue to accelerate) but the future of information doesn’t have to be. This new era of Data Defined Storage addresses storage and introduces new rules for success. Applying a data centric approach to your organization’s data management strategy will address your pain points today and position you to optimize your resources and separate yourself from the competition, tomorrow. When taken in aggregate; block, file and object storage information is united for the global enterprise, allowing for the hyper scalability of storage to accommodate future demands.

Understand what’s important
Technology isn’t slowing down anytime soon; don’t let it impede your success. The traditional systems and methodologies that were designed to manage gigabytes of data housed at a centralized repository are now woefully inadequate to manage hundreds of terabytes or petabytes of storage, globally distributed across multiple data centers and cloud locations. As the world becomes more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent, don’t fail to understand the importance of keeping your data managed properly. Data
Defined Storage is shaking up the storage industry in more ways
than one; if you haven’t considered a data centric approach, it’s time
to take a look!