As we have said many times, businesses use more data daily. In fact, “The Global Data Management Research” report released by credit reporting company Experian in 2019 revealed that 98% of companies surveyed now rely on customer data to enable them to enhance their customers’ experience.
Therefore, it is critical to analyse this data properly to give businesses the insights they need, which is where DataOps (or Data Operations) comes in.
What is DataOps?
The software company DataKitchen defines DataOps as “a collection of technical practices, workflows, cultural norms, and architectural patterns that enable:
- Rapid innovation and experimentation deliver new insights to customers with increasing velocity
- Extremely high data quality and meagre error rates
- Collaboration across complex arrays of people, technology and environments
- Precise measurement, monitoring and transparency of results.”
For a more in-depth explanation of DataOps, check out our blog post, “DataOps 101.”
What value does DataOps bring to a business?
Although more and more businesses realise the opportunities that being a data-driven business can bring them, it is still quite a new sector constantly evolving. Having a strong DataOps team allows you to be more agile in your approach to data to ensure you make the right choices to overtake your competition.
Other benefits that DataOps can bring to your business include:
#1 An ability to handle high volumes of data
Companies have to deal with vast amounts of data daily now, and a lot of this data comes in various formats, such as graphs, images and tables. The frequency they need to use this data may also differ wildly; for example, some reports may need to be run daily whilst others are only required monthly.
DataOps allows businesses to manage data from lots of different sources efficiently through the use of data analytics pipelines and also improve data quality through the use of statistical process control (SPC).
#2 An increase in automation (in a good way)
A recent study by data operations platform Nexla found that around 18% of most data engineers’ time was spent troubleshooting! DataOps can help reduce this time by automating one of the most common tasks associated with the data management lifecycle: data cleaning.
It can also automate other menial data tasks such as data preparation, validation, and warehouse tuning.
#3 A reduction in lead times
Time from an idea to something of value is crucial to many businesses. The agile-based process management associated with DataOps is ideal for reducing lead times in this area, especially regarding feedback from data consumers.
#4 The ability to secure cloud data
Alongside this adoption of mass amounts of data is the adoption of cloud services to help businesses to be able to manage this data better. However, adopting the cloud is not without cons, as a survey by cyber security company Sophos recently found out. They discovered that around 70% of companies surveyed had suffered a breach of their public cloud environment in the last year alone (2020).
One of the newest areas of DataOps is DevSecOps – Development Security Operations. DataSecOps is concerned with data protection through a security-focused approach, ensuring security is embedded into all relevant data processes.
If you want to strengthen your DataOps team, don’t hesitate to contact the experienced team at Agile Recruit by calling 0330 335 5545 or emailing us at info@agilerecruit.com.
