Data, in itself, is nothing

BY: HT Brand Studio, Published: Nov 13 2019

A recent report by Oracle India reveals striking statistics which show that data holds no value

Data is powerful. However, its true significance can only be realized by the select few who are able to extract and use it effectively. Data management is not only important, but also essential for any business wanting to leverage this insightful tool.

Srikanth Doranadula, Senior Director and Head-Systems Business, Oracle India, believes that for organizations wanting to break into the world of managing and securing data, the opportunity lies in understanding the key reasons as to why a large chunk of the industry hasn’t yet adopted these practices.

Sharing some interesting insights, he further explains, “In today’s digital world, data is an economic factor of production and a kind of a capital asset provided it’s put to good use. There are 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created each day at our current pace. What’s even more fascinating is that more and more use of emerging technologies will further accelerate this growth.”


‘50% organizations not confident of utilizing data’

India leads in data management in the APAC region, with its business leaders faring better than their counterparts. According to Oracle's report, only 50% of organizations in Asia Pacific region are confident of utilizing data with tangible results.

However, according to a new report by Oracle on data management trends, only 50% of organizations in the Asia Pacific region are confident of utilizing data with tangible results.

The scenario looks promising for Indian businesses when it comes to data literacy and empowerment, but as for other business from APAC countries, there’s a lot more to be done: only 40% of all the business leaders surveyed are ‘highly confident’ in their organization’s ability to manage data and unlock meaningful insights, the report further says.

Doranadula feels that this issue needs to be tackled and tackled fast. He notes, “Even with so much data existing, companies still seem to lack a clear data strategy. Responsible use as well as effective management of data are key elements for success in the digital economy.”


Why data security matters

With more and more businesses moving their sensitive information or workloads to the cloud, data security is hard to ignore. In this regard, Oracle’s second-generation cloud infrastructure stands apart.

In order to ensure smooth functionality of an enterprise, it is important that businesses not only collect data, but also secure the same. India shows more confidence in this regard (80%), followed by Japan (63%), while China, Korea and Singapore are the least confident.

Even though data security remains one of the biggest concerns plaguing organizations today, only 58% of all decision makers agreed that managing data security was very important to their organization, the report notes. This is especially of concern, considering they’re increasingly moving their business-critical workloads or sensitive data to the cloud.

According to the report, one-third of the companies surveyed agreed that the willingness to manage data through mobile devices or social platforms is a primary concern. Data access also remains convoluted along with attention to data confidentiality.

“In such a scenario, businesses should think of an autonomous approach to IT,” he says. “To begin with, a business needs to cultivate a security-first mindset. Good data management practices which require basic protocols to reduce uncertainty and make data more manageable, are the need of the hour,” he mentions.

In this regard, Oracle’s second-generation cloud infrastructure stands apart.

The world’s first and only ‘self-driving, self-securing, and self-repairing’ autonomous database makes data management simpler, through machine learning and artificial intelligence, and is available only on Oracle’s Gen 2 Cloud.

According to Doranadula, when ownership of ‘data management’ is concerned, large organizations often lack integration among their many departments, evidently missing out on effective and secure data management practices. There is a lack of accountability and best leadership practices in securing data, resulting in confusion and distrust. If the internal practices of a company are not conducive for managing and securing data, it would be challenging to improve data literacy.

The study concludes that, aligning the top two corporate assets of a company – its physical workforce and its data – will lead to greater productivity and progress.

(Parts of this article were published on CXOtoday)