Compliance requirements driving better data management - 451 Research

Research company 451 Research has issued a new report on digital transformation strategies for 2019, which reveals enterprises around the globe are planning a significant investment in the discipline of DataOps.

The report, DataOps Lays the Foundations for Agility, Security and Transformational Change found that over the next 12 months, 86% of respondents plan to increase investment in DataOps strategies and platforms, and 92% expect this strategy to have a positive impact on their organisation's success.

451 Research data, AI and analytics research vice president Matt Aslett defines DataOps as "The alignment of people, process, and technology to enable more agile and automated approaches to enterprise data management in service of business goals.

"It aims to provide easier access to enterprise data to meet the demands of various stakeholders who are part of the data supply chain (developers, data scientists, business analysts, DevOps professionals, etc.) in support of a broad range of use cases.

In interviews with executives and data experts across banking, financial services, healthcare, retail and other markets, the research firm found nearly all are grappling with the increasing tension between the need to innovate to keep pace with ever-changing consumer demands and global markets, versus the need to comply with new data privacy regulations that vary across geographies.

The research indicated that these executives are looking to DataOps strategies as a way to resolve this tension and stay ahead of the competition.

The report found that global brands believe DataOps will help navigate compliance and regulatory concerns, accelerate important digital transformation initiatives, and serve as a lever for increasing their competitive advantage in today's digital economy.                       

"Making data both secure and accessible is proving to be a major impediment to achieving the speed necessary to thrive in today's digital landscape," says Capgemini vice president Ashvin Parmar.

"We agree that in taking a DataOps approach, organisations in a wide range of industries can overcome data-related challenges to achieve the speed necessary to compete and win in their respective markets."

The report illuminated top data-related challenges these companies are facing, which include:

• Prohibitively long wait times for exponentially growing volumes of data;

• Increasing complexities of managing disparate data sources;

• Slow and risky cloud migrations;

• Growing security and compliance concerns.

Compliance and security were notable call-outs in the report, as nearly three-quarters of respondents cited security and compliance as a top perceived benefit of DataOps.

They expect new DataOps technologies to help lessen the growing friction between the need to innovate faster and faster versus the need to comply with GDPR, CCPA, and other data privacy regulations.

Aslett and his team add that there is a real place for DataOps as part of a modern data strategy. "It has become clear that if enterprises are to realise business value from the development and delivery of data-driven applications and data-driven decision making, then more agile and automated approaches to database provisioning and data management are required, approaches that are more responsive to changing business requirements.

Delphix CEO Chris Cook says, "Today, every company is a data company and the ability to keep pace with ever-changing customer demands is the key to survival.

"We're seeing increased demand for DataOps platforms by some of the largest brands in the world as a way to ensure the delivery of fast, secure data to drive continuous innovation and success in the digital economy.

"As DataOps continues to mature, enterprises will reap the additional benefits of empowering development teams to overcome data friction and achieve the velocity of innovation demanded by the digital economy," Aslett says.