Why data virtualization is critical for business success

Businesses today are sitting on vast amounts of data, which has the potential to unlock new opportunities and avenues to stay one step ahead of the competition. But data doesn’t always come in a neatly packaged format, ready to be sorted, analyzed, and used in decision-making or analysis. Enterprises are highly complex operations that often maintain and produce a mountain of data, both structured and unstructured. Generating meaningful insights from the data itself may require moving that information into an environment that’s better suited to analyze it. But doing so could expose data to a series of unintended, harmful consequences.

Despite the obstacles, the data that businesses possess have the potential to be transformative, holding insights that are not only critical for driving revenue, but also for keeping up with the pace of change, disruption, and modernization that has long been sweeping the market. As decision-makers look for ways to tap into their data and drive business success, data virtualization tools are an essential piece of the puzzle.

Improving access to data

For organizations that rely on mainframes, those systems store and produce huge volumes of data. But it’s not always neatly organized across the enterprise. When dealing with so much disparate data, bringing everything into focus poses a real challenge. And with businesses actively modernizing their existing systems, the potential for some data to become siloed can make getting an accurate understanding of what’s on hand nearly impossible. If business leaders want to make the most of their data, the first step needs to be bringing in tools that can capture information from every corner of the organization—specifically data virtualization. With data virtualization tools, businesses gain the power to round up all those disparate sources; centralize data; and create a virtual, integrated view of everything on the mainframe.

Additionally, IT leadership must balance the need for data with the risk that comes from using it in the first place. Data professionals need unfettered access if they want to create new business opportunities and drive better decision making, but taking anything off the mainframe can be harmful, opening organizations up to serious risk. So how can they achieve this without the risk of exposure? Data virtualization again holds the answer. Our own data virtualization tool, Rocket Data Virtualization, gives users the ability to access mainframe data in place without having to move, replicate, or transform it in any way.

Driving real-time decisions

In any organization, decisions need to be made quickly and in real time. By rounding up the disparate data that exists across the enterprise and in the mainframe, data virtualization enables near-instant access to critical information. In opening up data access, data virtualization brings analytics and real-time insights closer than ever to a business’ mainframe data. And with that access, it becomes easier to integrate mainframe data with other sources to create real-time intelligence on everything from customer demand to new security risks.

Data virtualization has a democratizing effect within organizations, making it easier for people across business units to look at data and generate useful, actionable insights. With this technology, users can combine data from across the business, creating new virtual views that have instant value beyond just the data teams that read them. As a result, any user in the organization, whether it’s executives or business analysts, can take data that exists in the mainframe and combine it with other sources to create new analyses and inform the overall business approach. 

Data virtualization holds the key

Any business’ data is only valuable if they can access it fast enough to address present challenges. With speed and agility dominating the market, data virtualization has become one of the most impactful technologies for maximizing the value of data and turning that into sustained business success. Tools like Rocket Data Virtualization make it easier to centralize data, reigning in the sprawl of today’s enterprise and enable a new level of real-time decision-making that enables businesses to outpace the competition.

Learn more about how Rocket Data Virtualization can help your business modernize without disruption.