Capital One commissioned Forrester to conduct a research titled New Data Management Models Are Essential To Operate In The Cloud, which found that businesses must practise responsible data management in order to generate good business results in the face of exponential data expansion.

Seventy-eight percent of decision-makers said that a lack of data categorization is a major barrier when it comes to comprehending the complexity of their businesses’ data estates. Decision-makers have difficulty knowing what data they have, how it is being utilised, and who owns the data if it has not been catalogued.

As a result, we face additional significant difficulties, such as low data observability (74%), poor data quality (80%), and a lack of data comprehension (76%).

Problems with Cloud Data Management

In terms of data ecosystem challenges, cost prediction and management are cited by almost eight in ten data management decision-makers (82%). Variability in expenses from month to month is an unavoidable side effect of cloud computing’s usage-based pricing methods. Everything that used to be planned and budgeted precisely on-site is now subject to chance.

Obscurity hampers general accounting and possibilities to achieve cost efficiency, especially as data volume and consumption increase. In the absence of accurate cost forecasting and management, cloud services may rapidly put organisations in the red.

Data management is also being impacted by the current cloud skills scarcity. Policymakers complain that they are unable to implement their preferred strategies due to a lack of resources.

Possibilities in the Clouds

Decision-makers expect a transition in the next year to two years, although data security, data quality, and infrastructure management will remain important competences in the short term. For the most part, investments in entitlements are anticipated to almost double (17% presently; 31% in one to two years).

Tools that make data more discoverable and usable, as well as those that cut down on and control expenses, will continue to be at the forefront of cloud data investments in the future.

More data will be moved to the cloud, and the 74% of decision-makers who have started their organization’s cloud journey will need to address key challenges to ensure they are getting the most out of their data and can leverage that data at scale to gain agility, increase cost efficiency, and make better informed decisions. Companies who miss this opportunity will be left in the dust.

Capital One requested this Opportunity Snapshot be created. This study was supported by Forrester Consulting’s survey of 157 North American decision-makers in data management using questions developed in-house. In March of 2022, we started the tailored survey that would take us through the end of the year.