Making important business decisions isn’t all about using business instincts to decide what’s best for the company to achieve its short-term and long-term goals. In the world of commerce, it’s data that drives businesses in the direction they wish to go. For a company to make effective use of its data and pick the right direction, it needs a solid data infrastructure.
Data infrastructure is the system of storing, maintaining, and organising, and transforming data into reliable information that provides a data-powered insight on the direction the company must take.
In this article, we have gathered everything you need to know about data infrastructure.
Types of Data Infrastructure
To maintain and use data effectively, businesses use various types of data infrastructure. Here are some types of data infrastructure:
- Data ingestion – The process of sending data to safe storage for further analysis.
- Data access – Data access is a system that allows the company to process data in a secure, authenticated, and structured manner.
- Data storage – The storage of data through physical and cloud-based storage centres.
- Data processing – The process of gathering data and transforming it into readable and insightful information.
- Database – A database is the systematic collection and maintenance of data across various devices and networks using database management systems (DBMS).
- Network – A network is the connection of various devices that can share data.
- Data management – The collection, storage, and use of data in a secure, efficient, and cost-effective manner to help businesses utilise data to the best level.
- Data security – Data security protects the organisation’s data from unauthorised access. Some forms of data security include hashing and encryption.
- Data quality – The condition and health of data.
- Data centre – A dedicated facility focused on maintaining the data infrastructure through DBMS, firewalls, storage systems, switches, routers, and other technology.
- Data analysis – Data analysis is the process of studying data and finding ways to use it as credible information to be used in decision making.
- Data visualisation – After transforming the data into readable information, it can be better understood with data visualisation or the process of showing the data graphically through charts, data maps, and graphs.
- Cloud platforms – A web-based data center that stores and processes data.
Helpful tips in Making a Strong Data Infrastructure
Building a data infrastructure is a long and complex process. To help you, here are some ways that won’t necessarily make it faster but will make sure that you’re building a robust data infrastructure:
- Proper collection of data – While having all the data can definitely help, the collection and management of such massive amounts of data can be a headache. Instead, it’s better to make sure that you’re collecting the correct data.
With the correct data specific to your needs and target market, you have a better chance of making the best decision for the company.
- Define your goals – To have the right data, you need to know what you want first. Are you looking to maintain your market, or are you infiltrating a new one?
When you know what you want, you can know which data will be useful for your business.
- Priorities data security – With proper data security, you can ensure that none of your data will be compromised and corrupted, making the data readily available to authorised personnel whenever they need it.
Data Infrastructure from the Experts
While you may have learned many things in this article, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to know more about data infrastructure, a team of data infrastructure architecture experts can definitely help.