Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are re-shaping industry dynamics and establishing new benchmarks for enterprise operations. To harness their prowess, businesses must architect a robust data ecosystem, seamlessly integrating internal and external data sources, storage solutions, processing tools and analytical frameworks.
Yet, the path to achieving a streamlined data ecosystem is riddled with challenges. Fragmented systems, poor data quality and legacy technology can seriously inhibit a company’s innovation drive.
A new study by WNS Triange and Corinium Intelligence, The Future of Enterprise Data & AI, sheds light on some of the fundamental challenges organizations must tackle to maximize returns on AI and analytics investments. This study captures insights from 100 global C-suite leaders and decision-makers across AI, analytics and data, representing a broad spectrum of industries.
The Stumbling Blocks on the Road to Data Modernization
Our collaborative survey highlights 'data quality' as the paramount challenge for businesses, with 57 percent of respondents citing it as a primary concern. “AI is already present in many organizations. But for AI to be a game-changer, businesses need a strategic approach. Implementation often faces issues due to data quality, which needs addressing,” observes Vivek Soneja, Corporate Vice President – AI, Analytics, Data and Research at WNS Triange.
Addressing data quality is about confirming its completeness, conformity, accuracy, integrity and timeliness. The repercussions of these challenges influence not only ROI but also the core decision-making processes of companies.
One also can’t overemphasize the significance of data governance. Past decisions, such as failing to standardize the data, maintaining siloed data sets and relying heavily on point solutions, have laid the foundation for a challenging future.
Similarly, Ravindra Salavi, Senior Vice President – AI, Analytics, Data and Research at WNS Triange, emphasizes the pivotal role of data availability. He states, “One of the key challenges in data management today is data availability. It’s crucial to have the right data, in the right format, available when it’s needed.”
Making Data Universally Accessible: An Ongoing Journey
A democratized data environment, where every individual – regardless of their rank or technical expertise – has access to relevant data, is the gold standard. However, enterprises still have a long way to go. Our research shows that this journey has seen mixed results, with 47 percent of respondents rating their data democratization efforts as moderately effective.
Salavi's analogy of treating data as a product and fostering an internal marketplace is a revolutionary approach to this challenge. However, governance remains at the forefront. In the race to democratize data, the challenge of safeguarding sensitive information cannot be ignored.
Data Integration: The Toolkits That Make a Difference
With data scattered across various touchpoints due to diverse systems, legacy technology and other factors, data integration tools are becoming an enterprise's best ally. 57 percent of organizations are leveraging data integration tools as their primary strategy to address the issue of data silos and fragmented data.
These data integration solutions offer extensive advantages. They present a holistic view of underlying metadata, offering insights into supplementary characteristics crucial for data cataloging. Additionally, they can assess and rectify data quality issues and seamlessly integrate with external databases, assuring data uniformity.
The Way Forward
The transformative potential of well-organized and integrated data is profound. Businesses that can successfully navigate the myriad challenges of modern data management stand to gain a competitive edge, fostering collaboration, innovation and efficiency.
The journey to cultivating a modern data ecosystem is undoubtedly challenging, but the rewards – smarter decision-making, enhanced customer experiences and streamlined operations – are well worth the effort. As the technological landscape evolves, so will the tools at our disposal, beckoning a brighter, data-driven future.
Download WNS Triange’s comprehensive research report, The Future of Enterprise Data & AI, to shape your AI and data strategy.
About WNS Triange:
WNS Triange powers business growth and innovation for 200+ global companies with Artificial Intelligence (AI), Analytics, Data and Research. Driven by a specialized team of over 6000 analysts, data scientists and domain experts, WNS Triange helps translate data into actionable insights for impactful decision-making. Built on the pillars of consulting (Triange Consult), future-ready platforms (Triange Nxt), and domain and technology (Triange CoE), WNS Triange seamlessly blends strategy, industry-specific nuances, AI and Machine Learning (ML) operations, and intelligent cloud platforms.
Driving a futuristic edge are WNS Triange’s modular cloud-based platforms and solutions leveraging advanced AI and ML to provide end-to-end integration and processing of data to actionable insights. WNS Triange leverages the combined strength of WNS’ domain expertise, co-creation labs, strategic partnerships and outcome-based engagement models.