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Cloud is rapidly becoming recognized as an industry-standard for modern IT infrastructure, so it comes as no surprise that enterprises are relying more and more on it as part of their data management strategy. However, as the amount of data collected continuously increases, so does the complexity of the environments.

Organizations are facing excruciating challenges when it comes to the availability of all their data. When data is not available, it cannot be analyzed or used for better decision making, planning future product growth, and creating competitive market plans. A current report on Cloud Data Management (CDM) sheds greater light on the effects of poor Data Management. Seventy-three percent of surveyed organizations admitted that they are not able to meet users’ demands for uninterrupted access to data and services! When data is a company’s greatest asset and it cannot be used, it greatly impacts revenue – approximately $20 million lost revenue per year.

Harnessing Data for Intelligent Operations

Enterprises are requiring that data be available at all times to all personnel to secure that market advantage. However, IT often struggles with minimizing application and system downtime. It is their worst nightmare. Downtime directly impacts data availability and readiness, it takes a toll on productivity, damages brand integrity and ultimately has a repercussion on customers and employees’ confidence over the company.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The 2019 Cloud Data Management (CDM) report found that 72% of companies are looking to embrace Cloud Data Management, and almost half of them (44%) see Data Management as critical to their businesses’ success in the next two years. With Data Management systems in place, the propensity for downtime is minimalized.

In fact, there are organizations at the forefront of Cloud Data Management, who are proving this today. They understand that being able to access the right data at the right time is essential for valuable decision-making and believe that fast recovery of data, when it’s lost or damaged, can determine the success of a business. Those organizations have taken the lead on the journey to become a more intelligent business, largely following four common components: cloud, capabilities, culture and confidence.

• Cloud:Thanks to increased reliability, flexibility, competitive costs and the security of the cloud, it has become an inherent part of intelligent Data Management. Organizations are relying in it to deliver the most value to the business with three-quarters of companies reporting they use Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms. They are choosing hybrid, full cloud or multi-cloud environments to enable the aggregation of large amounts of data while supporting its storage for high availability. As the data is gathered, business leaders using data management to provide increased productivity and corporate stability while also improving their ability to forecast and make better informed decisions.

• Capabilities:Improving technology without the correct people’s skills is nothing a modern organization can afford. To leverage the true value of technology, the people using it must be proficient. Thus, investing on people’s capabilities must become a priority. As technologies such backup, disaster recovery or data protection are deployed, a necessary next step is on-boarding employees in those new systems. Today 9 out of 10 businesses view upskilling employees’ digital skills as vital to their success, but it is easier said than done.

• Culture:To become a true data-driven organization implementing technology is just the first step, the culture must follow. The mentality in the organization needs to shift to a culture that is more adaptable and receptive to new technologies, leaders are starting to pay attention and 68% agree on the need to become more open, while 91% of respondents there agree that leadership styles must evolve. Starting at the C-level through the whole company, everyone should understand that Data Management, analysis and how data is used to inform faster and more effective decision making is the end goal. If a business is incapable of adapting, both the technology and the amount of data collected will become a burden instead of a competitive advantage.

• Confidence:By addressing the adoption of the cloud, and employees’ capabilities and fostering a new data-driven culture, organizations create a sense of confidence in the business digital assets and capabilities. Technology leaders are facing a trust issue, with only 31% organizations reporting total confidence in their capability to meet digital challenges. They not only need to sign investments on solutions that need to be robust, scalable and flexible, at the same time they need to give an answer to mission-critical challenges and support the digital direction the company is taking.

Technology has never been as important to a business’ success as it is now. Building strong digital foundations that focus on data availability will be vital to the future of every organization. By optimizing these competencies intelligent Data Management can be achieved. It will not only enable the next-generation of industry disruptors but it will help organizations take their business results to the next level.