Data infrastructure can be complicated and demanding. Modern applications and environments typically need to run across a number of different platforms while delivering real-time data capabilities, all while maintaining compatibility with legacy technologies.
To pull this off, you need the right tools and the right data platform. Building complex applications and using robust technologies does not have as many complications when those applications and technologies are hosted on a platform that can handle everything you need.
Data shouldn’t be locked in legacy relational databases, which do not provide the functionality necessary for modern environments. They are also more expensive to maintain and are ripe with costly inefficiencies.
Here are 8 signs that your company needs to consider updating your data infrastructure.
- It takes longer to roll out schema than to build or implement new features.
Relational databases require developers to choose a schema at the outset of a project, before it is known how much data will be used or the ways in which the data may be used. By the time new ideas and user feedback shape the newer iterations, it is hard to iterate a fixed schema.
- Insights come by the month the week, not by the minutes.
Real-time analytics are crucial in the modern era. Trying to match real-time insights with real-time behavior is a slow process if you’re using ETL data pipelines. There is also little reconciliation between semi-structured, unstructured, and geospatial data.
- You can’t construct a 360-degree view or your customer – or of anything or anything.
Holistic and insightful data needs to exist in one place, to be at its most impactful. A single view can enable customer-service agents to be more helpful, more quickly. But a single view may require integration of different types of data from different databases. Between sorting through ETL pipelines and finding one schema that works for all types of databases, it can be overwhelming.
- You’re struggling to implement holistic business continuity and disaster recovery policies.
When data architecture is complex and unorganized, there are a higher number of threat vectors that need to be considered. This takes time and, in the event of a disaster, cost you dearly.
- Rampant data duplication makes compliance a nightmare.
Data duplication occurs typically when data is trapped in silos with their own formats and access controls. This makes it difficult to control the data, and by extension, it makes it difficult to remain compliant with regulations such as GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.
- Productivity is getting worse, and data siloes are commonplace.
Speaking of data silos, they can cause more than security vulnerabilities. They can cost hundreds of hours of productivity. Different databases may use different languages and different access protocols, all which takes time to sort through. Worse, with each new technology that your organization implements, there may be a parallel increase in the number of system component interactions to be designed and maintained.
- Your data environment is a great success – but you can’t scale.
Whether you’re hosting a desktop application or an ecommerce website, popularity and use is a nice goal to have. More users can translate into more transactions, which is more revenue and more growth for your business. However, should your service gain traction faster than it can handle, you will disappointment and lose your customers. Using multiple databases with multiple support systems can slow your business down and prevent you from scaling at a fast rate.
- No project is ever simple.
Simplicity is underrated. When you have fragmented data spread across multiple siloed databases, retrieving and leveraging that data can be a nightmare. This means that even simple projects and reporting are difficult, costing money and time.
Whether hosting ecommerce data, a mobile application, or an entire inventory and fulfillment environment, you need a hosting platform that works in your favor. If you want to review your existing infrastructure to see how Tigunia can help you and your organization, contact us today.