Why your data management strategy needs integrated analytics
In June 2019, the Office of Management and Budget released the Federal Data Strategy, developed, along with other data management strategies, to help agencies more fully leverage their data as a strategic asset by supporting strong data governance and providing the protection and security that the American people, businesses and partners deserve.
Data analytics must be a core part of these strategies. When designed and governed correctly, data analytics enable agencies to rapidly sift through volumes of backup, archived and other “dark” data to find actionable intelligence they can use to lower storage expenses, streamline operations and improve how they deliver services to citizens.
Federal, state and local governments historically considered data analytics a “nice to have” part of their data management capability and often limited its use to the data collected for specific, authorizied use. Thanks to mass digitization and new technologies, agencies now realize that data analytics are no longer a luxury but instead must be a core aspect of their data management strategies. Without analytics, the ever-increasing volume, velocity and variety of data, coupled with increasing security, compliance and privacy regulations, would overwhelm organizations rather than improve their efficiency. With data analytics embedded into data management applications, agencies lay the foundation for actionable insights and greater efficiencies, rather than just overwhelming analysts with the tsunami of data available.
As agencies embark on IT infrastructure consolidation and cloud migration initiatives, embedded data analytics offer an opportunity to improve the speed and efficiency of these initiatives by discovering redundant or incorrect data that should be cleaned or deleted prior to migration. Data analytics can also identify personally identifiable information and data subject to privacy regulations that must be managed with greater controls and safeguards. Automating business rules, policies and procedures supporting the data analytics reduces the direct human intervention required to achieve compliance and efficiencies.
Look for data management solutions with built-in data analytics
Government agencies are turning to data management solutions to help them gain insights from their massive stores of data. These solutions are often closely linked to a specific data type and ensure the availability and recovery of the data. Data analytics embedded into a data management solution intrinsically delivers better analysis based on its deeper understanding of the type of data and its context. Data analytics tools that have been bolted onto data management solutions add unnecessary complexity and require additional skills to manage.
