Info Integration In Top Slot Priority For BFSI And Telecom

Bhavish Sood, Principal Research Analyst, Gartner talks to Biztech2.com about the nuances of information integration, as well as the imperatives for CIOs to tackle data explosion and governance challenges.

What challenges do CIOs face due to data explosion, and how can information integration solutions address these?

Major challenges that CIOs face with data is retrieval of data and dealing with unstructured data. Another problem area is storage and storage tools not being in line with business use, which could lead to disruptions in understanding patterns of mining.

In such a scenario, the first question to tackle is what to do with all the data in the organisation and then go on to answer why integration technology is required. In an enterprise, integration can either be used for integrating applications or BI, which would transform data sources into resources for easy reporting and measure.

Where does information integration figure in the list of priorities for Indian CIOs?

Every vertical has its unique list of priorities. Similarly, information integration is also prioritised vertical-wise and the use case also differs from vertical to vertical. But generally in terms of prioritising information integration in the top slots, the order would be BFSI in the first place, followed by telecom and then manufacturing.

CIOs often face issues around data silos. How can these be tackled?

This is an issue that CIOs have been battling with for a while now, especially those who have just started modernising their applications and processes. In the case of data existing in silos, the CIO has to determine whether to pull data out of it or start on the journey of data consolidation, which leads to application modernisation and migration. To maintain consistency, it is imperative to use the same platform and level of technology.

How can enterprises minimise the risks from poor data governance?

Even today, in a lot of enterprises, data resides in several systems. Getting consistent data is vital, especially for industries such as Insurance. Packaged GRC software is available but these should be used as mere plumbing tools for maintaining compliance across the organisation. It is advisable to pick these off the shelf and tweaking them as per the unique requirements.

Can you throw some light on the latest trends with respect to managing enterprise data?

The concept of big data and managing it is evolving. A useful software that can help tackle this explosion is Hadoop. Also, enterprises are discovering the value of analysis and increasingly investing in storage tools and plumbing of data. Gone are the days when the focus used to be entirely on retrieval of data and information management. At present, lot of emphasis is being laid on analytics and BI.