EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
We recently partnered with Enterprise Strategy Group ( ESG ) on a study that examines the benefits for companies that invest in analytics , compared with those who don ’ t . The study revealed some fascinating insights and showed that organisations with the most mature data analytics capabilities received several advantageous business outcomes . Compared to organisations not utilising data analytic capabilities , these companies were : 3.2 times more likely to outperform on customer satisfaction , 2.4 times more likely to have increased revenue per employee over the past two years and 2.7 times more likely to see a shorter time to market . Overall , organisations taking advantage of the power of analytics reported a positive impact on operational efficiency , product delivery and customer retention . The takeaway is quite clear – companies investing in analytics can yield significant competitive advantage over their less mature counterparts . inefficient data pipelines that limit data access and create redundant data silos .
To thrive in the new data-centric world and drive value from analytics , CIO and their organisations need to make core infrastructure changes and modernise in three specific areas . These include : consolidating data into a single scale-out storage systems , separating the compute layer from storage so apps / code can operate and change independently of storage and freeing up personnel to work on value-generation and not on operating the infrastructure .
Organisations need analytics teams that will evolve , adapt and remain agile . In a landscape that has come to be defined by disruption , the only certainty for every business is change . In light of this , companies must seek an attitude of creativity and experimentation , over predictability , consistency and accuracy .
Tapping into the power of analytics can seem daunting at first , and there are three main challenges facing organisations :
An overwhelming amount of data to analyse and the more data there is , the more complex harnessing it becomes . Organisations face the difficulty of conquering the five ‘ Vs ’ of data – volume , velocity , variety , veracity and value . Add to that , a proliferation of powerful , yet complex , tools and technologies means that the number of data analytics tools and technologies available is as overwhelming as the amount of data available to be analysed . This can be difficult for organisations to implement and integrate this complex myriad of tools alongside existing , older systems .
With that , data silos and low performance add to the challenges but legacy storage platforms are just not suited to support modern analytics . Common issues include everything from low performance for search , index and complex queries from white box solutions that are not optimised for speed or efficiency to costly ,
Organisations need analytics teams that will evolve , adapt and remain agile . In a landscape that has come to be defined by disruption , the only certainty for every business is change .
Restructuring your organisation and infrastructure around data insights can feel like a mammoth task . But it ’ s the only way to get the best out of modern analytics . To unleash the power of data and use it to provide a competitive advantage , you need a partner that enables you to activate real-time decision making by delivering infrastructure solutions that speed and simplify access to information . p
ASSAAD EL SAADI , REGIONAL DIRECTOR –
MIDDLE EAST , PURE STORAGE
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