Snowflake Connect: AI on January 27
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In our current era of big data and artificial intelligence, organizations are generating and processing unprecedented amounts of data — and all of it has to live somewhere. Managing and storing all that data presents an ongoing challenge for every organization.
Today, all businesses need a solid data storage management strategy in place to protect their data, improve overall system performance, facilitate compliance and allow for scalability. In this piece, we’ll explore what data storage management is, how it works, its core benefits and best practices for mastering it.
Data storage management is a broad term that refers to the infrastructure and processes used to organize, maintain and optimize data across various systems within an organization. This includes any hardware and software related to storage, along with the policies that make it easier for businesses to securely access the data they need when they need it.
Data storage management (or just data management) is often confused with data governance. While they often overlap, they serve different functions: In the simplest terms, data management focuses on how data is stored, organized and accessed, while data governance focuses on who should handle the data and why. In other words, data management focuses on the nuts and bolts of storing and processing data, while data governance establishes guidelines to ensure responsible data usage, including compliance.
Here is an overview of the four most common processes involved in data storage management.
Effective data management starts with effective data collection and organization. This involves establishing how teams gather data from multiple internal and external sources, and how they organize it.
This refers to the process of managing where and how data is stored. Storage provisioning ensures data is always accessible — a critical part of being able to generate real-time business insights — and helps organizations manage their storage costs more effectively.
Monitoring storage utilization and performance is an important component of any data storage management strategy. Identifying potential issues early allows teams to make timely tactical adjustments before small problems become big ones.
System failures, natural disasters and cyberattacks happen. To ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster, it’s imperative that your data storage management strategy includes clear backup and recovery procedures; just as importantly, you need to regularly test them for efficacy.
There are many different data storage management solutions available, but we’ll examine the three most foundational types here in more detail.
Years ago, on-premises storage was the only type of storage available. On-premises storage management refers to a traditional data center approach using on-site hardware and software to store and manage data. When you think about the file server down the hall in the IT room, this is a classic on-premises system. While on-premises storage offers the benefit of greater control and security over your data, it has a significant disadvantage when it comes to scalability and maintenance. As data needs grow, you must heavily invest in storage systems for that data, which can quickly outstrip your budget. Ongoing maintenance of these in-house systems can also tax IT resources.
Cloud storage management refers to storing and managing data on the internet through a third-party provider, which has become the predominant type of data storage today in most businesses. This type of storage has plenty of benefits, but the primary ones are cost-effectiveness, scalability and more efficient data management. With cloud storage, organizations have access to their data wherever and whenever they need it, without having to invest in and manage costly infrastructure. The flexible pay-as-you-go nature of cloud storage means you only pay for the storage you use, which helps both small and large enterprises control costs better. On the other hand, cloud storage management can raise questions around data privacy and security, and many organizations that are highly security-focused may avoid cloud storage schemes.
Representing a best-of-both-worlds solution, hybrid storage combines on-premises storage capabilities and public cloud storage to deliver greater agility and scalability when it is needed and enhanced security when it’s deemed important. For example, organizations can use on-premises storage to maintain control over sensitive financial data, while sending more routine data to the cloud.
Anyone who relies on data within an organization has a stake in data storage management. The following are just a few of the key stakeholders who can benefit from a robust data storage management solution:
Data storage management tools — especially cloud-based and hybrid — provide a more simplified way for IT teams to manage data and optimize performance, so they can focus on more strategic initiatives.
With proper data storage management techniques, data engineers can optimize data pipelines to deliver quality data to business leaders within the organization.
To maintain a competitive edge, leadership needs real-time access to quality data. Well-planned data storage management ensures data is available when these decision makers need it.
Data storage management tools make it easier for compliance and security officers to ensure sensitive data is protected as regulations change.
While there are many functions of data storage management software, a few core functionalities are particularly vital, including:
Data storage management tools help forecast storage capacity needs as your business and data volumes grow.
Another key function of data storage management software is the ability to move data around easily to maximize storage capacity and performance. It also allows you to set up data storage guidelines, such as when to archive old data, based on business needs or compliance policies.
With security features like encryption and access control, data storage management tools help protect data from potential cyberattacks and breaches.
Real-time insight into storage capacity and performance gives administrators the ability to address any operational issues as they arise.
The automated backup and recovery functions of data storage management software protect your data and ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster.
If you’re still not sure your organization needs data storage management, here are some of the key benefits to consider:
In today’s ever-changing business landscape, having fast, reliable access to data is critical. The ability to process data that can provide real-time insights gives organizations a competitive advantage.
With the ability to manage storage capacity and administration needs more efficiently, high-quality data storage management strategies help businesses manage costs more effectively.
We live in a world rife with data breaches and cyberattacks. Data storage management tools make it easier for organizations to protect sensitive data and stay on top of compliance regulations.
Unlike traditional storage solutions, cloud-based and hybrid data storage management tools allow businesses to easily and affordably scale storage as needed without requiring costly hardware investments.
The right data storage management strategy can help your organization overcome some of the following challenges in managing data storage.
As data volumes increase, so do your storage capacity needs. A cloud-based or hybrid data storage management solution provides the flexibility and scalability necessary to accommodate more data without impacting operations.
Although good data storage management offers significant protection to your data by way of encryption or other access controls, breaches can still happen. Therefore, it’s important to have clear policies in place for when a data breach occurs to minimize any damage. It’s important to work closely with your service provider to ensure their security protocols are properly implemented if your data is stored in the cloud.
As the amount of data you collect grows, the ability to store and manage it effectively becomes harder. Automated data storage management tools can allocate and provision storage and monitor performance with greater efficiency and less cost than manual resources.
The traditional data center model is extremely costly — as data volumes increase, so does the need for additional investment in infrastructure and staff. Quality data storage management gives organizations greater insight into the particulars of their storage needs, reducing waste and optimizing costs.
Now that you’re ready to implement a data storage management strategy, here are some final tips and strategies to keep in mind to maximize its effectiveness:
Create data policies that clearly outline how to collect, access, store and use within the organization. It should also clarify roles and responsibilities as to who owns or manages what data assets.
It’s important to regularly review current storage configurations to optimize performance, such as eliminating data redundancies or archiving old data to free up space.
Automating routine tasks such as data backups, storage allocation and maintenance will not only improve efficiency but also reduce labor costs. Automation can also improve data accuracy and consistency by reducing the risk of human error.
To keep your systems running efficiently and reliably, it’s important to continually monitor performance metrics such as storage capacity and throughput. This helps to minimize the likelihood of issues arising that could disrupt business operations.
As we get further entrenched in a digital world, the need for organizations to safely and effectively access, manage and store data is only going to increase. Data storage management software provides the backbone for managing the complexities that come with this explosion of data.
By providing a centralized management platform that works with various storage systems, organizations can use data storage management software to oversee their data with greater efficiency and lower costs. Ultimately, it gives businesses the power to optimize storage capacity and performance, protect sensitive data and scale storage needs without requiring additional hardware or labor outlays.
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