STOP protecting your data: SHARE it!

The business model of harnessing and protecting data (because that's where you get the value from) is over. We still don't see the manifestation of this, and that is normal. The effect takes time to propagate, but if you look at the clues, you can already see a pattern (or a trend) developing. It's all about Evolution.

And what we do here is share where we see things going and discuss them. As we did for the remote work and hybrid work as soon as the pandemic started, and now we see articles and hear talks - two years later, the latest example at a conference last week - about the very same things. It feels a bit like a déjà-vu on the one hand, and too much wasted time on the other.

Back to the topic...

Information is everywhere, and data has already started being available in huge quantities, so much so that BigData is now a thing; I mean, you see the manifestation of something that started years ago, and now you don't see this as a buzzword any more, but as skills and jobs practically needed in the real world. Again, it's all about Evolution.

The trend is only going to increase, i.e., you will have to handle an exponentially increasing amount of data - especially with all the #IoT devices being deployed. Internet Of Things, where "things" means BILLIONS of devices collecting and sharing data.

All this data, alone, will be useless: not only because of the massive quantity but because all your data, alone, will not be of much use.

Until now, you were constantly reminded of the importance of protecting your data because it's THE value. However, the shift we are living means that your data, without other data that other actors gather and analyse, is not complete; you only have access to partial information and/or cannot make business decisions out of it.

To leverage Business Intelligence you need to combine data with other reliable sources and use it to foresee where the trends are bringing you, take decisions fast, be ready to change dynamically, and anticipate trends even with incomplete clarity.

In a context that is changing exponentially fast, making things more challenging for you, where data is overabundant and siloed, the value is in Aggregation and Prediction.

PS: given the many years I spent in IT Security, a clarification is needed. When we say "stop protecting your data" has nothing to do with IT Security, it's not like from today you will leave your servers open and data accessible to anyone. This is not only counterproductive, but it would lead to civil and penal sanctions.

So, instead of keeping your data closed in a bunker for your sole use, find the right partnerships and counterparts that will allow you to aggregate data, get something meaningful and valuable out of it, and use your acquired Business Intelligence to predict where the market is going and make better-informed decisions.

Would this mean changing your way of working? Probably a bit. And, as usual, processes and workflows are CRUCIAL to make everything go smooth.

But either you do it now and step ahead of your competitors, or lag behind and stay in the mass of average results. The choice, as always, is yours.