From Databases to Knowledge Management Systems for Data Power

Databases

Databases are everywhere. They store data and information organized by fields and tables. There are different types of databases that organize data into relational tables, hierarchical structures, networks, and objects. Databases can be personal, corporate, and shared resources. They can be used for recording business transactions to support decision making. The value of databases today is tremendous for every industry and every consumer.

With the great value that databases contribute, there are many challenges related to overall management, data integrity, data security, performance, availability, and many others. Yet, the challenges currently do not outweigh the value.

Data collections in databases are growing exponentially, making the business of extracting value from it all increasingly challenging. Much of the data will migrate to the cloud because many companies and personal users do not want to host and manage the data themselves. They want to focus on outcomes, not the technical complexity of hosting and managing data.

Tools and Technology to Get Value From Your Data

Having a great database is nothing without the capability to access, collect, and store the data with tools that simplify the process. Databases are everywhere, and each is unique across the industry. Today, there is no single data source that organizations can use to understand their customers effectively.

Digital tools and technologies leverage big data collections to unlock the stored data’s insights. Organizations learn from how consumers interact with their data, such as what search keywords were used to locate a particular product. This, in turn, enables them to make shopping easier for others.

Public, private, hybrid, and multi-cloud data sources will increase. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) tools and technologies continue to evolve to help manage and leverage cloud data collections and improve the quality of the decisions made in a business.

Collaboration

All data has to be collected and collaborated across multiple platforms, database types, and sources today. Tools and technologies are needed to understand various architectures, including the databases and the platform and the various infrastructures.

Data in the cloud increases the organization’s capability to collaborate and share data for the common good of both the organization and its customers. Data in the cloud can readily be used for collaborative technologies, including smart robots, virtual assistants, smart devices, IoT interfaces, and many others. This data has enabled innovation across many industries.

Knowledge Management Systems

A Knowledge Management System (KMS) is a collaborative interrelated, sometimes normalized system for storing data and information with the ability to retrieve any related data across the system for decisions. The data can be accessed using specific tools that enable the centralization of the data and information. Data can be extracted from various data stores and applications, including multiple cloud platforms. Each platform and tool can be viable independently. Still, the system brings together the various data sources to transform data to information, information to knowledge enabling centralized access to knowledge.

The more data, the more the capability for a smart decision can be made with the caveat the data is being used efficiently and effectively. Having lots of data does not mean success, but what specific data and how it is utilized can significantly differ.

Knowledge management systems are not just for consumption by people but also for smart technology. Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology, for example, relies on a very efficient knowledge management system.

Moving the “Normal” – From Data-Driven to Data-Powered

Using data to support consumer and business outcomes is normal for many businesses today but this evolving and changing. Data collection and reactive responses will evolve to be more proactive and service-oriented. The tools and technologies that you purchase today will need to evolve with you to the new normal.

Actionable data will evolve driven by data normalization and unique data models that enable fast data consumption. The goal is to move from data-driven to data-powered, transforming the data collected for specific decisions by understanding and normalizing what it takes to make a decision.

Real-time decision-making is dependent upon the ability to empower a data-driven enterprise. Analytics, data integration, superior architecture, and an intelligent platform can change the current normal to the new normal enabled by fast timely data consumption to drive intelligent high performing results.

Actian empowers the data-driven enterprise with a single data management platform to provide for the needs of the most demanding analytics use cases and mission-critical applications. Actian Data Platform is a fully managed, hybrid cloud data warehouse service designed from the ground up to deliver high performance and scale across all dimensions – data volume, concurrent users, and query complexity, providing high-speed analytics at a much lower cost than alternatives.

About Actian Corporation

Actian makes data easy. We deliver cloud, hybrid, and on-premises data solutions that simplify how people connect, manage, and analyze data. We transform business by enabling customers to make confident, data-driven decisions that accelerate their organization’s growth. Our data platform integrates seamlessly, performs reliably, and delivers at industry-leading speeds.