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Lenovo – Six trends shaping data management

Data is the new oil. We have heard this phrase being thrown around with abandon over the past decade and despite its cliche nature, it still holds true. Each day businesses are generating vast lakes of data, all of which needs to be analysed in order to uncover value, along with being managed thereafter.

While valuable data is important for a business to have a grip on, so is the unnecessary data, with an estimated 90 percent of it never being accessed again 90 days after it has been stored.

This brings us to data management, as that untouched data can quickly become a liability, according to Dr Chris Cooper, director and GM at Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group MEA. 

“The increased pace of generation of new business information means that data management has become a core priority for IT and non-technical executives alike, and the data management decisions that companies make can have sweeping impacts on everything from growth capability, profitability and organisational sustainability,” he points out.

Cooper has highlighted six key trends in the data management space that businesses should be cognisant of moving forward. With the right action, these trends could hold myriad benefits for an organisation, in his view.

What to take note of

The first is the continued rise of digital transformation. In recent months we have seen a lot of attention paid to digital transformation, with the pandemic in particular driving much of the focus and in certain businesses, a scramble to be fully digital.

Here, Cooper explains that, “Organisations face the continued challenge of implementing a cohesive data management system to analyse and process data more efficiently, while still allowing it to be accessible and actionable across all locations.”

“Data is no longer just highly structured information pulled from a limited number of sources. Instead, data now comes in a variety of forms, and from a range of sources, placing increased importance on the way it is handled and stored. This has brought increased demand for platforms, tools, and flash array technology to provide secure, flexible and agile data management,” he adds.

Next is another technology we have heard quite a bit about in recent years – 5G in the business context. On this front, the primary concerns remain much the same as they have over the past couple of years, namely how 5G will empower IoT environments and afford organisations the ability to operate on the edge.

“5G will act as the catalyst for developing more advanced, data-hungry applications, which will enable enterprise systems to stay connected while handling data at lightning-fast speeds. In turn, enterprise business models will need to adapt with it, especially as it relates to the services delivered to end users and customers. Robust, secure and highly efficient data management solutions will therefore be a central component for capitalizing on the enormous potential that a 5G network offers to business operations,” notes Cooper.

The third trend highlighted by the Lenovo executive is the role of AI in data management. Here he focuses on artificial intelligence being used to automate and predict within a data management environment.

“Through effectively leveraging AI capabilities, businesses can greatly improve the efficiency of their data management, especially in areas such as oversight, performance and security. With the next generation of applications and digital transformation projects already being enacted, machine learning techniques allow you to analyse ever-increasing data sets to extract even more accurate insights than would have been possible without the support of AI,” he enthuses.

The fourth trend is related to the subscription economy and the implementation of Storage-as-a-service in particular. Where it was once viewed as a cost-effective way for SMEs to implement and maintain their own storage infrastructure, now global businesses are adopting a similar approach.

“This subscription-based, pay-as-you-consume-type model is permeating an increasing number of areas in the modern enterprise. Businesses are opting to store a proportion of their data in the cloud and only invest in systems that will provide tangible value to their data management, saving on hardware investment and maintenance costs,” says Cooper.

Fifth according to Cooper is the hybrid cloud, as it has quickly become the go-to option for many in the industry. In his view, having hybrid cloud capabilities is no longer an option, it’s a core aspect of data management strategies.

“Hybrid cloud data management supports growth across an entire storage system meaning businesses ensure they can easily, and transparently, migrate data from on-premises to a cloud providers system and back without any undue complications. By providing the flexibility to handle and adapt to changing circumstances, something inherently necessary during a time of uncertainty, hybrid cloud systems can be a valuable part of the solution,” he elaborates.

The last trend that Cooper points to, is one that has gripped much of the technology industry of late – sustainability. Here he cites a statistic that says the world’s data centres will likely consume 13 percent of the planet’s electricity by 2030.

“All this means that curbing wasteful storage practices, through the cycle of data acquisition, storage and – ultimately – disposal, is a growing issue as more data is collected,” he warns.

“The emergence of cloud-based technologies are now encouraging organisations to reduce their reliance on inefficient legacy server rooms, but more measures will need to be implemented in order to combat the environmental impact that comes from poor data storage,” concludes Cooper.

[Image – Photo by Anastasia Zhenina on Unsplash]

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