We are already seeing BYOD causing major issues in enterprise application access, data movements, etc. Security is another big problem with the Digital Transformation phenomena. The big reason for this mess - silos of data about a customer that is spread across departments, databases, etc. You will have to repeat your personal information multiple times to different "departments" before they even get to the root of the problem. Try calling customer service to get your problem addressed. Stories abound on how a company even recognizes a customer. It is no surprise that Customer Intelligence is #1 Use Case for an Operational Data Lake. However, these must be governed by a "Data Lifecycle Committee" to ensure standardization, access control and managing the data lifetimes. In my view, every company could and should consider multiple Operational Data Lakes or Hubs not just one. Time to dive into the Top 5 Use Cases for an Operational Data Lake or Hub. One company we know had over 250 data sources and they didn't know many of it existed and the value of it. Third - The types of data that you will get can be classified as Structured (Orders, transactions), Semi-Structured (emails, campaigns, promos), Unstructured (tweets, FB udpates, LinkedIn updates), and Binary (sensor bits and bytes from your microwave perhaps).įrom the reasons above, it becomes clear why an Operational Data Lake should be critical to your company - Aggregating silos of data from many many sources at different velocities at different times. S econd - These data sources can come into your enterprise (small to the largest) at varying velocities (think tweets, Facebook Updates, LinkedIn Updates, etc.) and at different volumes and of course, variety. I will expand more on these 3 Cs in my next blog.įirst - Every company (small to the largest) now has many sources of data that they need to absolutely understand to ultimately serve their customers - the only purpose for which every company (including non-profits, governments) exists. After all, consumerization, (connectivity and culture are the other two) is what is driving this Digital Transformation. This is true for both business customers and consumers. So Digital Transformation is centrally rooted in how your customers want to be reached, nurtured, served, coddled, supported and rewarded. For e.g even a small local bakery needs to go digital - meaning - connect with their customers via social, local and mobile channels. The big reason is - Digital Transformation. Need for an operational data lake is crucial for businesses of all sizes ranging from even mom & pop outfits to the largest multinational company. My past blogs have alluded to it from different angles but let me call it out specifically here. Before I start diving into the Top 5 Use Cases, I want to give you some context on the need for an Operational Data Lake (or Hub) in the first place.