Designing the Data Management Infrastructure of Tomorrow

Today, more than ever before, organisations realise the strategic importance of data and consider it to be a corporate asset that must be managed and protected just like any other asset. Considering the strategic importance of data, increasing number of farsighted organisations are investing in the tools, skills, and infrastructure required to capture, store, manage, and analyse data. 

More organisations are now viewing data management as a holistic activity that requires enterprise-wide collaboration and coordination to share data across the organisation, extract insights, and rapidly convert them into action before opportunities are lost. However, despite the increasing investment in data management infrastructure, there are not many organisations that spend time and effort on anticipating the future events that may impact their data management practices. 

From upcoming rules and regulations to the  need to create better customer experiences in order to discover hidden value in customer journeys, there are a number of factors that demand a more proactive approach from organisational leaders and decision makers when it comes to the planning and design of an enterprise’s data management infrastructure. 

When it comes to efficient data management, the biggest challenge that enterprises need to overcome is the elimination of the silos that keep big data from coalescing to its full potential. What’s more, the ever-growing number of channels that retailers and other B2C businesses use to engage with customers is also contributing to the scope of the issue. From brick-and-mortar stores to ecommerce websites, mobile applications, and social media channels, each channel generates huge volumes of data that remains unshared by an organisation’s internal systems and departments. By breaking down these data silos, organisations can optimise productivity and enable a more holistic view of the customers they serve. 

The easiest way a CIO or an organisation leader can determine if their data management strategy effectively addresses the problem of data silos is by answering this simple question: Do I have access to all the data I need, or do I need to collaborate with other departments to integrate data? 

If the answer is no, you need to start tearing down the data silos in order to combine data from multiple sources and deliver improved experiences to your customers. 

 Get access to all the customer journey data you need from all required departments

Enterprises struggle to create a data-driven culture in order to realise the true business value of data. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach towards creating a data-driven culture as this depends on the people and the precise work environment of an organisation, there is a unique business model that can be used as an inspiration to create an effective data management strategy and plan data management infrastructure. It is called Agile. 

The Agile approach is being used by renowned firms like Google, Spotify, Zappos, and Netflix. The purpose of this approach is to empower people to collaborate in multidisciplinary teams and enable them to make the right decisions quickly and effectively. 

Here is an overview of how Agile works at Spotify. 

At Spotify, the entire enterprise comprises of four types of units — squads, chapters, tribes, and guilds.