is your data cloud ready

7/23/2019 Is Your Data Cloud Ready

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1 cgi.com

2014 CGI GROUP INC

WHITE PAPER

Is Your Data Cloud Ready?

Of all the questions to be answered before taking

advantage of the cloud, this one is the most pertinent;

is my data cloud ready? The question is especiallyimportant when you are making data and other

services available to external parties. In this paper, we

propose some answers.

This is the first in a series of papers in which we

examine the challenges and opportunities

associated with data in the cloud and effective

solutions for managing it.


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Big data: When do you

have it?

As soon as you start

collecting and interfacing

with data from the cloud,

including non-structured

data such as images,

videos, etc., thats when

you reach big data levels.

INTRODUCTION

For years, organizations have been leveraging the Internet to find relevant information.

Today, there is an increasing use of data made available in the cloud (e.g., open data) to

enhance enterprise information systems for better analysis and decision-making.

Enterprise information systems can better leverage data in the cloud by implementingenterprise search capabilities that are not limited to traditional information retrieval methods.

This is becoming critical as the cloud evolves into one of the largest sources of big data.

The volume, velocity, variety and veracity of data that an organization can end up having to

deal with require solutions that integrate cloud and enterprise data in an effective and

efficient manner. Enterprise search capabilities can then be used to enable data initiatives

that would not otherwise be possible.

Organizations with this viewpoint are investing in transforming their business architectures to

benefit from innovations in technology, applications and information. They know how they will

succeed and have a razor-sharp focus on being the best.

TRADITIONAL WEB SEARCH APPROACHES ARE MISSING THE MARK

Though it is often the first method people think of when looking to pull information from the

cloud, you cannot rely on a Web-like search engine to gather what you need. This is due to

the complicated characteristics of the data organizations work with today. These can be

summed up as the four Vs of big data:

Volume:As easy as it is to collect data from many different sources, the end result can

be an extremely high volume to manage.

Velocity:Automated scraping and user-generated content are just two examples of

trends driving the velocity of data processing in the cloud.

Variety:Consumers have also added to the variety of data. For example, social media

content creation has grown exponentially and resulted in text-, video- and audio-baseddata. All of this moves at a velocity that renders it unmanageable.

Veracity:Finally, in cases where data will be used to drive business value, its veracity

takes on special importance, creating the need for powerful, discriminating tools.

Every time users search for specific information and get results far beyond what they require,

time is required to sort through the irrelevant data. This wasted time is not avoided even

when the content is properly taggedhow many man-hours were invested in this

administrative task? How many more will have to be invested to keep up with content

creation? Do you have conformity across the organization in how this is done?

ImprovedOptimizedInnovation

Customer SupplyChain Public Relations

BrandManagement

CustomerBusiness

Improved

Service

Management

Right TalentRetain

Attract

expansion

Growth

geographicThroughput Product

intimacy SatisfactionLoyaltydriver

Real Estate

Billing

Cross-Sell

existing

Marketing

Flawless

Sales

Customer Service ProcurementSupply Management

AdvertisingUp-Sell

Tax

Governance Financial Management

Human ResourcesDemand Management

OptimizationInventory

Account Receivable

Order Fulfillment

Business PlanningRetention

Logistics


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Find what youre looking

for?

Every time users search

for specific information and

get results far beyond

what they require, time is

required to sort through

the irrelevant data. This

wasted time is not avoided

even when the content is

properly tagged.

There may be no way to plan for an end to the process, and subsequently, all that gets

accomplished is giving users more context-free keywords to search through. Even content-

driven searches using tags will eventually grow beyond usability, and were back at square

one.

The cloud addresses infrastructure requirements resulting from the explosion of data. Itssuccess in meeting these requirements has positioned it as a strategic alternative for

enterprise data storage.

Getting the right slice of data to drive business value is an increasing challenge

organizations face. A basic, traditional search engine approach will increasingly fail to

provide sufficient information to meet your information needs.

WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SEARCH RESULTS?

The quality of search capabilities can be determined by precision and recall metrics, which

measure the relevance of accessible and available information.

Precision is the fraction of retrieved data that is relevant.

Recall is the fraction of relevant data that is retrieved.

Improvements in terms of both precision and recall will have a material impact on the

outcomes an organization is seeking to generate.

PUBLIC SECTOR

For example, it is essential for government organizations to provide services to the right

individuals. Precision and recall capabilities are vital. They allow government departments to

reach individuals with the highest need at the right time. Recall helps to ensure no individuals

are missed, while precision ensures services are provided to those who would benefit the

most.

PRIVATE SECTOR

Private sector firms enjoy similar benefits by understanding who their potential customers are

and the probability of converting them into actual customers. In the absence of search

capabilities that are strong in terms of precision and recall, firms can overestimate or

underestimate the market potential of their products and services.

ENTERPRISE DATA IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY CLOUD READYAND WHAT ABOUTYOUR ORGANIZATION ITSELF?

Large organizations often dont realize the implications of producing data for or consuming

data from the cloud, particularly when this production or consumption is associated with big

data. A common reply when (and if) the issue of cloud readiness is brought up is, Our


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How do I know the cloud

is right for me?

There are several ways to

ensure a smooth evolution

to harnessing the clouds

value potential:

Start with insightinto

whether this is even

rig for your needs.

Know what toolsare

at your disposal

Find out when its

appropriate to move to

each step Scout around for who

can lend you their prior

expertise.

databases arent that big! For this kind of planner, cloud hosting means hosting elsewhere

and paying for a Software as a Service (SaaS) or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), reflecting

an out-of-sight, out-of-mind attitude.

Yes, traditional databases arent that big, but, as discussed above, as soon as you start

collecting and interfacing with data from the cloud, including non-structured data such asimages, videos, etc., thats when you reach big data levels.

Additionally, there is no benefit to a data integration and/or migration of any size unless your

organization has made the necessary preparations to deal with the results. It is imperative to

have a set of clear business drivers and requirements from the start that address the

following:

How will the content be used as we go forward?

What are the expected benefits from this use?

Who needs to access it, and how will this be accomplished efficiently yet safely?

Decision-makers within the organization also must have the flexibility and motivation to use

cloud-based data sources to drive their business. Adopting a cloud-based approach means

being ready to tailor your strategies using the insights gleaned from the data you wield.

Proper social media monitoring, for example, can help you keep abreast of forums and

conversations relevant to your organization and even shape it to an extent.

IS YOUR ORGANIZATION READY TO SEED THE CLOUD TO INFLUENCE ITS VALUEPOTENTIAL?

There can be no return on your investment unless you have a plan for creating Web visibility

for your content and influencing the content that is already in the cloud. Because traditional

search methods are failing to adequately perform, you need to lay out an effective way of

connecting to users, customers, suppliers, etc.

How will you maintain your visibility?

After all, organizations that fail to offer relevant content and keep it accurate, up to dateand accessible are quick to drop off the radar.

You may need to look at different content ingestion and collection models. For example:

You may choose to integrate new content from your enterprise information systems to

the cloud using a "push model" approach.

Or, you may want to take a "pull model" approach and make your data available for a

web crawler to find it and then make it accessible through search engines.

Another alternative is disseminating your content through a rich site summary (RSS)

feed, with full or summarized text plus metadata.

Finally, perhaps your organization itself is simply not there yet. Stakeholders may be havingtrouble clearly defining who is going to own the cloud-based data initiative. There may be

different priorities competing for top spot in which case something will have to be deferred.

Or, perhaps the way your content is currently organized opens the door to issues of

noncompliance with existing privacy policies/regulations or infrastructure concerns?

Supply chains, for example, need to be agile enough to adapt to real-time data. Cloud data

also needs to be of high enough quality and secure enough to be useful. Breaches are

disastrous to image, without even getting into the more concrete losses incurred.

There are a few ways to ensure successful outcomes, starting with insight into whether this is

even right for your needs. Know what tools are at your disposal, when its appropriate to


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Ensuring a successful

transition

By having different parts o

your data intersect or

correlate in meaningful

ways with other publically

available sources, you can

create tremendous value.

move to each step, and who you can lend you their prior expertise for a smooth evolution to

harnessing the clouds value potential.

WORKING YOUR WAY TO A SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION, MIGRATION ANDADOPTION PROCESS

An inventory of the data handling measures available to you should figure in your game planas early as possible in order to have a clearer view of your objective. For example, several

successes have been built on using data mash-ups to communicate with end users.

Mash-ups are Web applications or pages that use and combine data, presentation or

functionality from two or more sources to create new services.

By having different parts of your data intersect or correlate in meaningful ways with other

publically available sources, you can create tremendous value. Or, use Pipes, a powerful

composition tool to aggregate, manipulate and mash-up content from the Web so that you

can produce the all-important original content/associations that justify managing your data in

the cloud.

Top off the previous methods with search engine capabilities and thats when you arrive at a

searchable high-level content store. This will facilitate making relevant content available and

could translate into higher precision and recall in contrast with traditional search approaches.

You also have to ensure, pre-transition, that your data is shaped properly for cloud readiness.Get experts involved and run a checklist with points covering topics such as the following:

DATA GOVERNANCE

How are you handling data quality and privacy/security?

What is your need for metadata, and what is your strategy for generating it?

OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION

How are you mapping business value creation opportunities to big data and the cloud?

Traditional business acumen modernizes quite easily here with the proper guidance.


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What should I look out

for?

It all comes down to a

basic point; a cloud-based

initiative must be

legitimized by its

contributions to business

outcomes. Carefully

consider its many potential

pitfalls, as well as its

potential rewards.

ASSET PROTECTION

How are you protecting your assets from threats that exist in the cloud? Once again

enlist expert opinions and conduct a review of potential providers policies and

infrastructures.

VALUE INGESTION How are you changing in response to the value that is being created? Are you

fundamentally equipped to change? What would you view as a proper choice to follow at

hypothetical crossroads reached through the advances of widely disseminated and

judiciously nourished data? This is an essential part of your long-term plan because

keeping the cloud management team in a silo defeats the entire purpose.

It all comes down to a basic point; a cloud-based initiative must be legitimized by its

contributions to business outcomes. Carefully consider its many potential pitfalls, as well as

its potential rewards. You need proper analysis, planning and execution to pull it off to

maximum effect. Luckily, there is expertise in the field thats available to help you through the

process.

OUR CASE-BY-CASE SOLUTIONS

The scope of information management challenges that organizations face has changed.

There is more information, more potential uses and, as presented in this paper, more

methods to address today's challenges and to be ready for tomorrowsopportunities.

CGI offers an ABC solution. We apply Analyticsto your situation and integrate them into

your future content management plan. We then leverage the core characteristics of Big Data

and the Cloudto maximize your datas potential, no matter your value-adding goals.

CGI experts will work with your organization to identify where to start your successful cloud-

based data initiative and determine the potential value of integrating cloud services with your

enterprise systems.


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Finding the right expert

CGI experts will work with

your organization to

identify where to start your

successful cloud-based

data initiative and

determine the potential

value of integrating cloud

services with your

enterprise systems.

In the initial planning phase and through ongoing progress monitoring, we ensure adoption

and benefits realization through the following:

Providing business consulting services to define the business case

Implementing and tracking the benefit realization roadmap

Establishing a governance model

Developing and implementing the organizational structure

Supporting the organizational change management (OCM) initiative

Our basic toolkit includes a platform selection framework so that your migration and adoption

process is tailored to your organization from start to finish. We also deliver systems

integration services to ensure that correct, relevant, and complete data is available to support

your initiatives.

In addition, our analytical solution development services help to build insight-generating

models and information delivery solutions that will support your business initiatives. Should

you already own products for enterprise search, we can leverage them as needed to

maximize your cloud-enabled solution.

Lastly, we ensure the initiative is maintained and drives value over time through managedservices. These services involve managing the infrastructure, enterprise information

management systems and analytical solutions. Our clients have a choice of self-hosted

solutions or CGIs cloud-based offering, all set up in collaboration with our experts.

Getting your data cloud ready will increase the value potential of the cloud to your

organization. It will maximize your return on investment for information assets by creating

capabilities to manage enterprise and cloud-based data that is relevant to your business

outcomes.

To discuss in more detail the topics addressed in this white paper, please contact CGIs

cloud computing expert at [email protected].

cgi.com

2014 CGI GROUP INC.

Founded in 1976, CGI is a global IT and business process services provider delivering high-quality business consulting,systems integration and outsourcing services. With 68,000 professionals in 40 countries, CGI has an industry-leadingtrack record of on-time, on-budget projects, aligning ourteams with clients business strategies to achieve top-to-bottomline results. For more information about CGI, visitwww.cgi.comor contact us at [email protected].

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