There's a growing wave of true data virtualisation heading for the enterprise, and companies should be preparing for it now.
This is according to business intelligence (BI) industry expert Bill Hoggarth, who this year formed a new, forward-looking BI consulting and solutions firm, Dataways.
Hoggarth says big names like Google, Twitter and Apple are taking data virtualisation mainstream in the consumer space, but he adds that the convenience and efficiencies of virtualised data have not reached the average enterprise yet.
But it will catch up, Hoggarth says.
“Most enterprises are still trying to solve data quality problems in the data warehouse and are grappling with a single view of the data. They aren't even close to matching the user expectations that are coming about as a result of consumer applications.
“User expectations of information access and computing are being redefined by companies like Google and Twitter for speed, and Apple for ease of use,” he continues. “Enterprise users want the same functionality. They want strategic business information; they want to know what customers are thinking, and they want to know now.”
However, these needs are not being met effectively in the business domain, he says.
“Enterprises need to start thinking differently about data,” says Hoggarth. “They need to think differently, and accept that existing paradigms must be complemented and extended, using techniques like data virtualisation to extend the reach of data - no matter where it is stored - to deliver.
“What's becoming important to people is the ability to manage data from various sources and platforms in the same way as they have become used to managing virtual computing platforms. Conceptually, you have a layer that hides where the data is stored and how it is processed.”
Hoggarth says most conversations around virtualisation today focus on the virtualisation of computing resources. Data virtualisation, he says, encompasses a whole other parallel, but linked, facet of IT.
“The benefits of cloud computing and virtualisation are now being seen in the computing sphere. Over the next year or two, you will see the first major data virtualisation projects being instigated in South Africa. But it won't become mainstream for the next five, perhaps 10 years,” says Hoggarth.
He says companies need to start preparing now, or face being left behind. “Be aware, consider it, get ready. The reality is that the benefit of consumer-facing technologies like Google, Twitter and the iPad are already here. So the user expectations are in place. And user frustration will mount when enterprise IT can't deliver the same speed and ease of use,” says Hoggarth.
Hoggarth will speak on data virtualisation at ITWeb's Virtualisation and Cloud Computing Summit, to be held from 17 to 19 July. For more information and to reserve your seat, click here.