For all the hype about data (how many times have you heard “data is the new oil”?), a shocking number of business leaders are missing out on their biggest data asset. The spotlight has been on structured data — defined numbers and values — when so much of the data that we’re generating is actually unstructured.
Unstructured data is the video, audio and images that make up our everyday lives and are exploding as the digital economy grows. Gartner estimates that unstructured data represents an astounding 80 to 90% of all new enterprise data, and it’s growing 3X faster than structured data.
This sounds surprising, but unstructured data is actually the foundation of today’s progress. The innovations we rely on, from the genome research needed to develop the COVID-19 vaccine, to the archives of a history museum, to the special effects in your favorite Netflix hit, all come from unstructured data.
Yet organizations aren’t seeing the obvious. In a 2019 Deloitte survey, only 18% of organizations reported being able to take advantage of unstructured data. So that other 82% of organizations still aren’t utilizing their most valuable resource. Unstructured data is still a secret. But for firms who can figure it out, unstructured data is a major competitive advantage.
Here’s why unstructured data has been waiting in the wings for so long — and how to put it back front and center.
Unstructured data is valuable — but it’s misunderstood.
If so much of our data is unstructured, why is it so underserved? You would think that unstructured data would get more attention, but because unstructured data doesn’t fit neatly into boxes, it’s taken longer for firms to understand how to work with it.
We intuitively think of data in rows and columns, and unstructured data just doesn’t work that way. It’s being generated from video cameras, recording devices, satellites, sensors, genomic data, aerial imagery, and other IoT connected technologies. It’s a gold mine of insights that we have to mine in a different way than we’re used to.
Unstructured data is stored in its native format, which means it lacks a pre-defined data model or schema and cannot be managed in a traditional relational database. This kind of unorganized data can’t simply be stored in a set of tables using columns and rows, and enterprises have traditionally struggled with managing, analyzing, and leveraging their unstructured data in a meaningful way.
Most technology is not built to solve this problem, meaning companies must rebuild their architecture, refactor applications, or use third-party data movement packages to generate value from their data. It’s no wonder that unstructured data has gotten a bad rap: no one wants to deal with it, because legacy file systems didn’t make it easy.
But there’s another way.
Organizations can tap into their unstructured data by working with it in its native form.
Just because unstructured data doesn’t fit in an Excel sheet, doesn’t mean it’s impossible to work with. You just have to speak its language. It’s crucial to understand whether your data strategy is designed for working with data and applications in its native form.
In the cloud age, object storage tends to be top of mind for many businesses, yet most data is created and consumed as files. File storage is a format or program for storing and managing data as a file hierarchy, in which files are identifiable in a directory structure (generally displayed as a hierarchical tree structure). Modern file systems are optimized for the specialized needs of file-based data, enabling massive scalability, optimized performance, and data protection.
Successful enterprises are storing, managing, and building High-Performance Computing (HPC) workflows and applications with file data in its native form — leveraging locally mounted file systems and data services that are natively integrated with cloud object stores (like Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure) — and transforming that data into value using analytics, machine learning and business intelligence.
It’s time to put unstructured data in the spotlight.
Having the ability to process unstructured data should be an integral part of your business, no matter what kind of business you are. Organizations can leverage unstructured data in a more meaningful way to bring impactful outcomes into the world.
Here are just a few of those everyday outcomes happening right now across sectors that are powered by file data:
- Major entertainment studios creating the next blockbuster film over the cloud
- Medical researchers using DNA sequencing to prepare for the next infectious disease
- Car manufacturers using IoT sensors to develop safety features for self-driving cars
Unstructured data doesn’t deserve to be sidelined. With the proper attention and technology solutions, your organization can make its unsung data the star of the show and bring your innovations to life.
