How’s your data strategy? Start by asking yourself these 3 questions.

Have you ever gone to the grocery store on an empty stomach without a list? It can be easy to load up on random items to satisfy your appetite. Then, after you get home and everything is unpacked, you realize you don’t have the fundamental provisions that will sustain you for the long term. It’s not that different with your data. Like a grocery list, you need to have a strategy, as data is at the heart of everything you do.

IT organizations today have a sense of urgency around data, and that makes a strategy more important than ever. Data-driven businesses focus on unlocking value from their data, storing it, protecting it, and providing consistent access to it. A clear data strategy empowers innovators. Without one, your IT organization may wind up with solutions that don’t necessarily align to the business outcomes you’re trying to achieve.

If you are considering how to become a data-driven organization, start by asking yourself these three questions.

1 – Do you have a data strategy?

Not just any strategy, but an intelligent data strategy that enables you to unlock the value and agility of data, where that data is always on, always fast, automated, and on-demand? A plan that enables hybrid cloud to make that data accessible and usable across cloud environments. A plan that ensures your data is powered by global intelligence to automate operations and keep everything optimized.

2 – How smart is your storage?

Can your infrastructure, including storage, predict and prevent problems before they occur? How many hours a week does your IT organization spend “fighting fires” and performing minor maintenance tasks? Modern infrastructure automates the mundane tasks, freeing you up to focus on the areas that are most important to your business. AI-driven infrastructures go even further, identifying and solving issues before they become problems and optimizing the environment in near real time.

A quick one-minute storage intelligence survey is a great way to assess Storage IQ and understand where your storage is today – and where intelligence can take you.

3 – What’s standing in the way of unlocking value and agility?

Every business is unique, and whether you’re looking to extend the cloud experience on-prem for all your apps and data, protect data everywhere, enable hybrid cloud, power the edge, or speed time to insights for your data innovators, it’s essential to take the time and understand what’s holding you back. Infrastructure complexity, IT firefighting, data silos, limited skills and resources – and the list goes on. By knowing what’s really standing in the way of advancing your data-driven business, you can work with your trusted partner to identify the right strategy and data platform that will help now, and well into the future.

As you seek ways to advance, your answers to these questions can help shape your data-driven enterprise. For those who could use a bit more guidance, the Dummies Guide to Unleashing the Power of Your Data can help you set up your strategy. The guide examines the elements that make up an intelligent data strategy, explores real world use cases, and provides tips for transforming your business with an intelligent data platform.

Every enterprise is at a different stage of transformation. While some are just getting started and others are further along in their journey, all have one thing in common: the need for a strategy and platform that can be counted on to propel business forward, one that will help you get the value and agility of your data. With an intelligent strategy and intelligent data platform, you’re that much further along the road.

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About Beth Joseph

Beth is a veteran marketing professional with the HPE Storage team.  She’s managed product and cross-portfolio marketing activities in the storage industry for over 20 years, coming to HPE via the Compaq acquisition. Previous to her time in marketing, Beth spent some time as product manager in the early days of local area networks and did a stint as a technical writer for PC products.  She has an MBA from Clark University and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Bentley University.