Data Management Key to Success in the Age of AI, says Seagate’s BS Teh
Most organisations in India believe that artificial intelligence (AI) applications will drive productivity and business performance of their organisations, according to theData Pulse: Maximising the Potential of AIsurvey by global data and storage leader Seagate Technology. In a conversation with YourStory,B.S. Teh, Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Sales Operations atSeagate talks about how businesses’ ability to manage data is the key to success in capitalising on the AI opportunity.
Today, data is critical to all aspects of human life and is now the lifeblood of our rapidly growing digital existence. The growth of data in the past few decades is remarkable for its volume and criticality, and it will only grow further in the years to come. According to IDC’s“Digitization of the World – From Edge to Core” report commissioned by Seagate, the global Datasphere will grow from 23 Zettabytes in 2017 to 175 Zettabytes by 2025.
Insights from this data deluge can bring myriad opportunities for businesses across industries to gain competitive advantage. Lucrative as this may be, in order to reap the benefits of this growing Datasphere and draw actionable insights, organisations must first learn how to store and manage data effectively. Data must be archived and stored in ways that provide appropriate levels of performance and enable analytics and intelligence to be applied to them. Concurrently, it must be done in a cost-effective and secure manner. This is not necessarily an easy task given that some industries still have data in silos within the corporate walls, as well as externally, residing in locations where the data is not generally accessible, such as branch offices, contractor sites or other remote business locations. Businesses are also faced by roadblocks around IT infrastructure, budget, commitment from the leadership team, and talent while rolling out a successful data management strategy.
To capitalise on the data opportunity, organisations must begin by establishing a data-driven culture. What is required next is a consistent data management strategy that ensures effective storage while maintaining data integrity and security. This strategy should then be accompanied by robust data storage infrastructure that ensures capacity, performance, reliability, and scalability.
AI is no longer just a buzzword. It is a technology that organisations of all sizes and industry are increasingly implementing. The Seagate research,Data Pulse: Maximising the Potential of AIfound that almost all Indian respondents plan to use or adopt more AI solutions in the next 12 months. It is clear that today AI is a building block for modern software and applications, finding use in a wide variety of industries.
Data is the lifeblood behind AI applications. Rising AI adoption will lead to increase in data volumes, so for enterprises that are now embarking on their journey to AI implementation, a solid IT and data infrastructure is integral to success. However, organisations need to catch up – although they have existing data management infrastructure, the survey found that 98% of Indian organisations believe further investments in IT infrastructure are much needed.
Organisations must begin by investing in a data infrastructure that is agile, scalable and secure. It must have a sufficient processing power to manage large and varying volumes and types of data efficiently. As organisations progress from beginners to experimenters to frontrunners in their AI journey, their growing familiarity with AI will help them realize gains in productivity and performance. At a time when India is ramping up its productivity and growth, AI promises to help bridge the gap, and catapult the country into becoming a truly digital economy.
By 2025 almost 90% of all data created in the global Datasphere will require some level of security, but less than half will be secured, according to the Seagate-sponsored IDC whitepaperData Age 2025.
