Intelligent Tech Channels Issue 04 | Page 70

FINAL WORD

Three classical data challenges your business may face

Travelling through Dubai’ s rush hour traffic recently, I was reminded of the idea that a city cannot build its way out of congestion. As the theory goes, creating more roads does not solve the issue of traffic, because extra supply only increases demand. While new infrastructure may not be the solution to an urban planner’ s problems, in my world of enterprise IT, that is often exactly what is needed, in one form or another.

But what about the tech-related dilemmas faced by your organisation? How can modern IT build a metaphorical bridge over IT roadblocks? Here are three of the most common challenges I hear from our clients and how cognitive infrastructure can help you get past them.

1

The challenge: Comprehending colossal volumes of data Back in 2013, a study found that 90 % of the world’ s total data was generated in just two years. Today, 88 % of this colossal amount of information is unstructured and therefore hidden from IT. But this is information where valuable customer insights lurk, you just need to shine a light on them.
The solution: Design for cognitive Cognitive IT is the source of this light, but only when you build your storage infrastructure with speed and intelligence. With rapid analytics, you can understand and gain insights from masses of data faster than ever, speeding up the time it takes to outthink the competition. Combine this with machine learning, and your business can find new ways to make use of information every day.
Miguel Vega is Vice President Systems Hardware at IBM Middle East and Africa
By embracing open technologies you create an environment that nurtures collaboration

2

The challenge: Keeping up with innovation Technology has had a snowball effect on innovation. As each IT breakthrough is made, the development cycle quickens. Keeping up with this rate of change is an important but demanding responsibility, because you need to find new ways of implementing systems and tools yet still move the business forward each day.
The solution: Collaborative innovation By embracing open technologies, you create an environment that nurtures collaboration. When your team works closely together and draws knowledge from those outside the organisation, it becomes much easier and faster to make those all-important technology breakthroughs. On top of this, open IT architecture makes your business agile, so you can adapt as the market changes and stay ahead of the pack.

3

The challenge: Create better outcomes, faster Just having the ability to make big tech breakthroughs is not enough. Thanks to the pressure of competition, you need to turn these developments into better outcomes for customers in a matter of days, not months.
The solution: Create on the cloud The new business ecosystem is no longer physical. Organisations are relying on third-parties to deliver infrastructure via the hybrid cloud, connecting systems and partners beyond the boundaries of the enterprise. Doing so allows developers to collaborate on projects at any time and from anywhere, shortening the time it takes to bring new products and services to market.
The potential for cognitive IT stretches far beyond these three common challenges. Whether you want to make music from data centres or need to overcome an unrelenting business challenge, it is all possible with the power of IT infrastructure built for the cognitive era.
70 Issue 04 INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS