If there’s one certainty of digital transformation, it’s that data will take center stage in the new normal. With more digital interactions, more data is being acquired to provide insights to make informed decisions and intelligence to drive innovations.

For many companies, the rapid increase in data and its sources has become overwhelming—especially for those that aren’t prepared to manage it. In fact, a lot of businesses are already identifying data growth and manageability as major challenges to tackle in the coming years to achieve new objectives and protect against emerging security threats.

So, what are organizations specifically struggling with as they continue to advance their digital transformation journeys? Here’s a look at the top six data-related challenges that companies must address to successfully compete in an increasingly digital world:

Silos

Silos happen when data sets and streams are isolated and can’t talk to one another. The result: chaos, duplication, and missed opportunities. They also lead to reduced visibility, lack of collaboration, and low productivity that negatively impact both customer and employee experiences.

As companies become fully digital, agility and innovation will stem from the sharing of data and teamwork. This makes data silos and access to information a major issue. It’s a problem affecting more organizations every day. In fact, 57% of executives report that their existing storage system hinders data sharing across the company, according to research from Harvard Business Review. As dependence on data rises, this percentage is expected to grow, with even more executives confronting the expensive issue of siloed data.

Legacy Growth Models

New types and greater volumes of data are being generated, stored, and consumed, such as voice, video, and sensor data. The rapid accumulation of all this data presents architecture challenges that are difficult to overcome with legacy data storage. This reality was highlighted in Bredin’s 2020 survey of IT decision makers. More than 60% of respondents reported challenges as they implemented digital experiences, and 41% said that their infrastructure wasn’t prepared to scale with their data growth.

Simply put, outdated data storage solutions were not built to handle today’s tremendous volumes of both structured and unstructured data, making it difficult to scale and upgrade to meet ever-increasing demands.

Performance Issues

Today’s customers expect real-time engagement, necessitating employees to have instant access to information across the organization. If data is slow or unavailable at the moment of need, digital services don’t work, efficiencies aren’t raised, and money isn’t saved. With users pulling data from widely dispersed locations, data latency has become a greater challenge.

Delivering 24×7 Operations

Service disruptions and delays don’t just frustrate customers, they propel them to move on. Customers have become accustomed to 24/7 access to service and expect nothing less than 100% uptime. Even non-retail businesses are offering virtual-first transactions that require consistent uptime to be successful. If data resources or access to critical systems aren’t available, the impact can be widespread, slowing productivity and time to market and ultimately hurting the bottom line.

Security and Compliance Concerns

While data must be ‘fingertip’ available, it also needs to be secure. Tracking who is accessing data and how they’re using it is key to maintaining not only security, but compliant use of data. With increasing online touchpoints, data streams, and cloud-native applications implemented, there is a need for a more comprehensive data strategy that includes security policies and an advanced data protection architecture that can stay one step ahead of bad actors.

Purchasing Uncertainties

The motto for 2021 and beyond: expect the unexpected. But, then, how can businesses watching the bottom line be ready for anything without waste or overspend?

Even with all the data-driven decision-making you can muster, forecasting is one of the trickier aspects of IT management. CAPEX investments can be a gamble, and they’re not conducive to flexibility—especially in already unpredictable times.

Investing to Get Ahead of Digital Business Challenges

It’s no surprise, then, that many IT decision makers are putting investments against these concerns in a bid to be prepared for what’s next. A survey conducted by Bredin Research and Pure Storage showed top priorities for 2021 investment plans:

Learn How to Rethink Your Digital Business

To help guide you down the path to digital business success, Pure Storage has a new white paper designed to address these challenges. Download Rethink your Digital Business today and learn:

  • How businesses have pivoted business in the last year
  • Why new customer experiences rely so much on data
  • What will define the new normal—including innovations to the customer experience and how subscription economies can revolutionize business
  • What digital business means for security strategies
  • Clear-cut solutions for successful digital business strategies

Download the Digital Business White Paper

Pure Storage Can Enable Your Digital Business Breakthroughs

Pushing forward with digital transformation requires a modern data storage footprint that can support any endeavor, from AI containers to sustainability efforts. Pure Storage technologies are designed to address the challenges that today’s IT leaders are facing with a portfolio of solutions that can support any application and any workflow, in any location.

It’s time to rethink your approach to digital business and partner with a vendor that delivers always-on, high-speed digital engagement, no-touch IT operations, and elastic acquisition. Providing the scale, performance, and flexibility of deployment for modern workflows and business operations, Pure Storage enables you to turn bottlenecks into breakthroughs with a Modern Data Experience™ that will drive your digital business success.