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Data Warehouse: First steps to a digital transformation
Going into a cloud data warehouse for the first time may seem intimidating. Still, it can be a viable choice for companies who want to organize their data into different categories, as the cloud typically allows for agility and scalability.
According to a recent study by Denodo, 56% of organizations use cloud data warehouse technology, with common benefits including efficient workload management and vendor lock-in capabilities.
So, what can businesses do to reduce risk while ensuring incoming reward?
What is a data warehouse?
To embrace digital transformation, a data warehouse is your ultimate need. It serves as a central server for storing all the company’s data that also supports data analysis and reporting. Besides, it combines data from multiple resources, and users get a visually understandable and comprehensible view of the data.
The content of a data warehouse may come from a company’s operating systems (ERPs, Historian, PI System, etc.)
Why is the need for the data warehouse increasing over time?
The crisis is always the best time when people find unique and different ways to survive. The same is the situation during the COVID-19. Companies are shifting to work from home. The value of remote work is increasing day by day, and the only way to collaborate with the team is through digital channels. Therefore, companies need one cloud data warehouse to store and harness the data. Also, they need to make it accessible for everyone.
Now, the only concern is about getting started with it. Let us give you an overview of it.
A journey from temporary fixes to implanting innovation in real-time
According to an AppDynamics survey, COVID-19 has put 81 percent of IT leaders under the most pressure they’ve ever faced in terms of technology. 59 percent confess to putting out fires and implementing temporary solutions to tech issues.
Some of them may have begun it as a temporary solution, but there is an upside as 65% of leaders started implementing digital solutions. The ones who only tested it are now seeing the significance of accelerating innovation.
What exactly is ‘digital transformation '?
If you will go to the basic understanding, digital transformation integrates technologies from all over the business. It is to ensure the smooth interaction between team and customer and improve overall business efficiency.
Companies realize its significance, but the possibility of overhauling whole systems also overwhelms them. There’s also an alarming rate of failure, which keeps companies from taking the risk. According to Harvard Business Review, $900 billion of the $1.3 trillion invested in digital transformation in 2018 was squandered as programs failed to achieve their objectives.
Start the journey with cloud data warehousing
However, this is the risk you have to take. Fear of failure is genuine, but hiding from it is not going to help anyway. So, start your journey with cloud data warehousing today. There are simple steps to begin, and if you follow them carefully and pay attention to the details, you can avoid being a case study of a failure.
Steps to data warehousing
- Determine the objectives of your business
- Collect the information and analyze it
- You must identify the core operations of the business
- Create a conceptual model of the data
- Identify the location of information and pan data transformation
- Set the time of tracking
- Implement the plan
In the end, you need a solid foundation. Some focus on establishing a secure, efficient, and budget-friendly data warehouse. The framework works best on a cloud data warehouse to analyze massive data sets, extract data patterns, forecast, and personalize.
You must be wondering why this is this? Businesses need timely insights into an individual’s online behaviors, transaction history, and meaning to be more relevant to customers. They will then have customized interactions, messaging, and suggestions based on the customer’s specific needs.
Cloud vs. on-premise data warehouse
By now, you have probably understood that this comparison is necessary. Yes, the possibility is that your business might have better suitability with an on-premise data warehouse. However, many businesses are remotely working nowadays, so an on-premise warehouse is nothing but an expensive investment for them.
On-premise
It sits on the local network and comes with:
- High cost because you need heavy software and their licenses.
- Then, you also need consultants for on the spot support
- You also control the data flow
Cloud data warehouse
They sit on the cloud server and with:
- No high upfront cost of hardware
- They are like plug-and-play
- Flexible pricing rates on data storage needs
But yes, it may raise one of the many security concerns.
However, the major factors you need to consider before implementing are:
- Scalability
- Cost
- Speed
- Connectivity
- Reliability
- Security
This comparison will help you determine your business needs, and finally, the data warehouse selection will be smooth and easy.
But is this the only option for you? Well, no, there is a Hybrid Cloud solution too.
What is a Hybrid Cloud solution?
In a hybrid approach, you use cloud servers for day-to-day storage and on-premise data warehousing for confidential data that shouldn’t leave the network. Furthermore, you might be able to transmit personally identifiable information (PII) that you are unable to transmit for enforcement purposes. It also has a low latency rate in systems.
It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of how
IT leaders are refocusing their attention on long-term improvements now that they have emerged from crisis mode.
Digital transformation must begin with a solid database to suggest hyper-relevant items to each consumer, better forecast demand and supply with real-time analytics, and minimize downtime with predictive maintenance is the need for now.
Also, to avoid being a failure, you need a solid plan. The better option is to create your conceptual model according to your business needs and analyze other failure and success case studies to apply a better approach.
Bottom line
Ultimately, you need to understand your business needs with details before setting up a company on the journey of digital transformation. Cloud data warehouse or Hybrid cloud solution, the choice is yours to make. We recommend hiring expert researchers and professionals to work together and develop the plan you need for data warehouse implementation.
