Thought Leadership
Unstructured data – i.e., text, videos, images, social media posts, and more – makes up the bulk of the world’s data, with 80-90% of all data falling into this category. As such, it represents a virtual gold mine of insights, just hiding and waiting to give savvy businesses a leg up on the competition.
The bad news is, this is easier said than done – and if not done right, not only do you miss out on the insight, but you could open yourself up to greater risk and expense. Managing unstructured data is a real challenge because it’s all over the place – literally. It doesn’t follow any specific format, so trying to categorize, search, or make sense of it can feel like an impossible task, particularly as there is so much of it. Companies generate and collect unstructured data constantly, and without the right tools, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and miss out on valuable insights hidden in that mess.
Historically, there have been no tools to help manage the data since it has just been far easier to add storage. Accumulation rates have jumped sharply higher in recent years, and the growth will continue due to machine-generated data. That means it’s prime time to adopt modern data management technology that will help stay on top of the exponential data growth curve. More specifically still, it’s time to start focusing on the management of data versus the devices on which data is stored.
Stovepiped Solutions Don’t Cut It
Currently, many organizations still rely on stovepiped solutions that are designed for a single storage technology and aren’t going to work when they have storage technology provided by multiple vendors in multiple locations and when multiple types of data are being stored. These tools don’t talk to each other, nor do they handle the scale and complexity found in today’s environments. Instead, they need a solution that can span the entirety of the environment and provide a single point from which data can be monitored and managed.
When unlocking the value hidden in unstructured data, you’ll find some data helps generate revenue, and there is also data that must be maintained for record keeping. The latter represents cost, so why not find that data and store it on a lower-cost system while storing the valuable data on the performance tiers? In this context, what’s required is a solution that will help identify these pockets of data and manage their lifecycle, which will boost overall operational efficiency. Ideally, this will provide full insights with comprehensive visibility into the data landscape, including details ranging from ownership to activity levels. It should efficiently organize data by tagging and classifying it to align with business and legal requirements, ensuring data is well-structured and easily accessible.
Some advanced systems also offer customizable dashboards and reporting so users can monitor and track what matters most, tailoring the interface to their specific needs. Policy based data mobility enables precise control over data movement through predefined rules or policies, supporting intuitive and secure data management.
The future of unstructured data
When this technology is vendor-agnostic, organizations can seamlessly integrate it across diverse storage systems, clouds, and applications, providing flexibility and compatibility within complex, multi-environment setups. Putting these capabilities together to build an unstructured data strategy can deliver transformative levels of insight. Those organizations that focus on this goal now will be ideally placed to succeed in a business ecosystem where unstructured data will continue to grow in volume and importance.
