Why Data Management is Critical to Business Success

Entrepreneur

20-07-2025

Data is the lifeblood of our interconnected world, and a crucial lever for driving exceptional customer experiences, says Rajiv Shesh Chief Revenue Officer, HCL Software
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In an era defined by digital transfor mation, data has emerged as the most critical asset for organizations seeking to thrive in a hyper competitive landscape. The ability to effectively capture, manage, and leverage data is no longer a competitive advantage, it is a major business imperative.
Navigating The Data Deluge
Data is the lifeblood of our interconnected world, and a crucial lever for driving exceptional customer experiences. As data volumes explode, stakeholders face mounting risks and complexity in classifying, managing, and identify ing what truly matters. The solution lies in a unified environment that seamlessly integrates, processes, and manages data across diverse sys tems, enabling effective data lineage.
Consider Real World Use Cases
A leading insurer needed to transform its under writing platform for rapid online quotes while upholding risk stan dards. By implementing a sophisticated data management platform, they integrated multiple validation services and third-party sources, delivering personalized insurance pricing within 400 milliseconds. This also allowed them to triple their data team size without performance degradation and imple ment real-time analytics dashboards. Similarly, a mid-sized software firm, competing with giants, revamped its customer engage ment by solving critical data integration chal lenges. A cohesive data management platform unified customer data from myriad sources, empowering sales, and marketing with instant insights for personalized experiences from day one, deployable across multiple clouds.
Factors To Look For Evaluating Data
Evaluating data man agement tools requires focusing on critical capabilities such as scal ability and reliability. To handle large volumes of data for real-time deci sions, organizations need to pivot away from data silos and adopt a unified approach. Enterprises looking to adopt a data management platform must look for flexible, re liable solutions that can integrate disparate data sources with no limit to type or volume quickly. Equally crucial is support for global data sover eignty regulations and robust metadata creation for easy data identifica tion and understanding. Real-time analytics are essential to enable timely actions and scale busi ness success.
Build A Compelling Business Case
Gain an up-to-date understanding of your data estate, usage, and compliance environ ments. This reveals inef ficiencies, such as data duplication impacting IT spend, and establishes a baseline for improve ment by pinpointing fragmentation. Collaborate with cross-functional leaders to directly link the data strategy to tangible busi ness outcomes. Assess total cost of ownership (TCO), beyond initial technology costs, factors in ongoing expenses like process redesign, gover nance tools, and cloud infrastructure to build a compelling case for long term ROI and prevent any surprises.
Data Management Is The Path Forward
Metadata management is emerging as a power ful solution, automating data governance, and making data more ac cessible. This approach accelerates time-to-value by providing unified data intelligence. Organizations that embrace a holistic ap proach to data man agement will be best positioned to unlock unprecedented value. By fostering a data-driven culture, investing in robust data management and governance frame works, enterprises will be better positioned to deliver exceptional cus tomer experiences.