Exploring the Challenges of Enterprise Data Management

In today’s digital world, data is the next big gold rush. Every enterprise has it, but most don’t have a data strategy in place that allows them to properly capitalize on data, even if they think they do.

Truly knowing how to properly manage and make use of your data is key to getting ahead of the competition and, as shared in a recent IDG report, it is a key business differentiator.

In the course of their study, IDG developed the Data Innovators Scale, which helps enterprises determine where they are on the path to an intelligent data strategy.

In this two-part series, we will discuss IDG’s findings, the top three moves businesses can make to better capitalize on data, and how HPE can help you get started.

The challenges associated with data strategies

As shared by IDG in the report, the challenges that enterprises face in regards to data can largely be broken down into several key areas: complexity, security, and the time and resources needed to make appropriate upgrades.

Participants in a recent survey from IDG indicated the following enterprise data management challenges, including:

• 21% identified legacy architecture and on-premises constraints as a major IT challenge, with a further 25% identifying it as a significant challenge
• 19% identified existing infrastructure complexity as a major IT challenge, with a further 30% identifying it as a significant challenge
• 16% identified a lack of time or IT resources for innovation as a major IT challenge, with a further 28% identifying it as a significant challenge

In terms of complexity, much of this comes from aging, legacy architecture or technologies that limit an enterprise’s ability to adopt new solutions. Siloed infrastructures also contribute to difficulties capitalizing on data, with many enterprises putting off needed change due to the difficulty of moving and consolidating data.

Protecting data is also causing headaches. Enterprises who participated in IDG’s research noted ensuring data security as the number one challenge associated with managing data.

Other data concerns included:

• 18% of respondents listed data integrity as a major challenge, with a further 28% listing it as a significant challenge
• 16% of respondents listed compliance and privacy requirements as a major challenge, with a further 31% listing it as a significant challenge
• 15% of respondents listed aligning IT skillsets to support data strategy requirements as a major challenge, with a further 29% listing it as a significant challenge

Overall, it’s clear that many enterprises are struggling to properly capitalize on their data for a variety of reasons. While this means there isn’t a single solution that will work for every business, there are a number of methods that can be utilized to improve your enterprise data management strategy.

The data innovator scale

As mentioned earlier, during IDG’s research they developed the Data Innovator Scale. The scale utilizes factors that represent the ways enterprises “adopt certain technologies to support their strategy and plan to put their data to work” to determine where a company lands on the Data Innovators Scale.

Factors utilized in the scale include:

• Whether enterprises move data well between locations
• Whether enterprises have adopted hybrid cloud
• Whether enterprises leverage a data platform driven by AIOps
• Whether enterprises use HPC to generate value from data
• Whether enterprises use HCI to generate value from data
• Whether enterprises believe current IT infrastructure will meet future needs

Of the enterprises that participated in IDG’s research, 21% were identified as early data innovators, 54% were identified as intermediate data innovators, and 25% were identified as advanced data innovators.

How to improve your data strategy

In our next article, we will discuss methods to improve your data strategy, as well as the ways HPE is utilizing its Intelligent Data Platform to help enterprises around the world utilize the power of their data to transform their business.

Are you experiencing challenges with enterprise data management?

The data in IDC’s study and the feedback from its participants makes it clear that enterprises across industries need a new way of managing and utilizing data to truly succeed in today’s digital world. And these challenges are very real. The challenges facing organization today are a result of this convergence of a new technologies and tried-and-true legacy systems. As a global, edge-to-cloud company, HPE is utilizing intelligently designed solutions that ensure long-term sustainability for IT.

NEXT STEPS: Learn how HPE Infosight can help you take control of your enterprise data and leverage insights to drive business decisions in our tech brief below, “How AI in the Data Center Closes the Loop on Digital Transformation.”