Data growth is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. You may have already heard some of the mind-boggling statistics: 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created each day; 90% of the data across the planet were generated in the past 2 years; and digital data is slated to grow at a growth rate of 42% through 2020.
Data is expansive at both the macro level (think global economies, aggregated digital connectivity), and the micro level (the smaller data ecosystems and fabrics that are more specific to your individual business). This micro-component is essential — knowing where your data is, who has access to it and what is being done with it needs to be understood, and that’s where governance comes in. 87% of executives view data governance programs as critical to organizational transformation efforts and managing the vast deluge of data encountered daily.
As we’ve highlighted in our 2019 predictions, industry leading enterprises have gone from data-generating to data-powered, to value delivering through data and its governance. And beyond the sheer size and scope of today’s data environments, regulatory pressures and a high-risk cyber landscape has heightened the focus for firms even more. So what more does the future hold in the space?
Data governance 2.0, smarter and more scalable than ever
Data has become both an asset and a liability, depending on how you manage and leverage it. Protecting data has become as critical, if not more so than generating and using it. The future entails creating more intelligence and business value from more sources of data…and making it all more scalable. Data is coming from beyond the digital plane, from the Internet of Things (IoT) devices and equipment to physical data centers and biometrics. Business and governance providers alike are required to manage, govern, and generate value from data beyond the traditional IT environment and make data security more all-encompassing.
Technology advancements in how we manage this onslaught of data will take center stage. The traditional methods — inventory, analysis, attestation, remediation, and action — will still be as integral as ever but will need to be more sophisticated to keep up with the vast amounts of data and the regular changes that most organizations face today. The future lies in how each of these tasks are completed. The underlying machinery of data governance will implement complex algorithms, powerful analysis and cutting-edge machine learning — a true confluence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancement, cloud integrations and predictive analytics. These will all come together to automate data governance and management for greater visibility, security, and risk reduction for businesses. And the technology, and ensuring business value, will only continue to get better.
As the data landscape continues to evolve the effect of effective governance will be constant: risk reduction and better security through actionable intelligence.
Is your data governance strategy ready for the future?
