Jan-Feb-Mar 2021
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OPINION<br />
FROM DATA LOCKDOWN TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION<br />
BUSINESSES NEED INSIGHT, NOT JUST DATA, WHEN IT COMES TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION,<br />
ACCORDING TO PETER RUFFLEY AT ZIZO<br />
Digital transformation of any<br />
business has always been<br />
hampered by making sense of<br />
underlying data. And that data has been<br />
growing in volume at an unprecedented<br />
rate driven by the growth of IoT. It's the<br />
perfect storm - the need for real-time<br />
information being increasingly distanced<br />
by the rate at which the data volume is<br />
growing. Businesses need insight, not<br />
just data, which means getting the right<br />
information, to the right person, at the<br />
right time.<br />
But the age-old problem remains today<br />
- how do you understand and see what<br />
data you have readily available, in a<br />
format that's usable and that you can<br />
access at the right time? Peter Ruffley,<br />
CEO, Zizo, explores three aspects<br />
businesses must consider to get out of<br />
'data lockdown.'<br />
DATA ACCESS<br />
There are a multitude of ways to store<br />
and access data, but a majority of<br />
businesses haven't considered access to<br />
external data sources yet. When we<br />
begin to question how to enrich and<br />
improve data, one of the fundamental<br />
capabilities of this process is by<br />
integrating external third-party data<br />
sources, such as weather, crime or other<br />
open data sources.<br />
Businesses must have an understanding<br />
of what they need to do to make the<br />
process worthwhile, and ensure they<br />
have the correct capabilities before they<br />
start. A common first approach for many<br />
organisations is to build from scratch<br />
and make it their own, rather than<br />
considering the buyer approaches where<br />
you look at what's out there, explore the<br />
marketplace and transform existing data<br />
to use within the business, rather than<br />
starting from the ground up.<br />
If they can't combine different sources<br />
of data quickly and cost-effectively<br />
together, they won't move forward. It<br />
makes sense to digitally transform an<br />
organisation if it is going to make use of<br />
what's already out there, as being able to<br />
16 NETWORKcomputing JANUARY/FEBRUARY <strong>2021</strong> @NCMagAndAwards<br />
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