Seeing Information More Clearly with Enterprise Data Cloud Analytics

This article is an excerpt from GovLoop’s recent guide, “Solving the Cloud Conundrum: Security, Procurement, Workforce.” Download the full guide here.

All the data in the world won’t help agencies if they can’t see the insights this information contains. Unfortunately, the more data is generated, the harder it can be for agencies to make sense of public trends and accomplish their missions without the right tools in place.

Cloud computing, however, can help agencies gain insight from their data. Cloud can scale for any amount of information, and it’s also a technology that supports robust data analytics. By collecting, storing and analyzing their data with a platform in the cloud, agencies gain data flexibility that supports mission success. For example, data analytics can help agencies better understand populations so that they can target services to the citizens in the most need.

Enterprise data clouds are especially valuable to organizations as they can analyze an agency’s data regardless of the IT storing that information. To understand how enterprise data clouds can help agencies quickly comprehend the public’s needs, GovLoop spoke with Henry Sowell, CIO; and Marcus Waineo, CTO for Cloudera Government Solutions Inc (CGSI). Cloudera is a data analytics and engineering software provider with cloud-based and on-premise tools.

“Data is an absolute asset and one of the most valuable things for your organization,” Sowell said. “We see people struggle to change their operations and thought processes and see data in a new light.”

When it comes to data, agencies often employ large workforces in multiple departments. This setup makes fully grasping their agency’s data difficult for even the most eagle-eyed employees. “Without access to a holistic set of information, you’re making decisions based on a small part of the picture,” Sowell said.

Waineo said that enterprise data clouds overcome this obstacle by enabling data analytics anywhere in an organization regardless of the IT involved. With many agencies storing data in the cloud, on-premise or in hybrid clouds combining both, enterprise data clouds are flexible enough for any organization’s IT needs. “Enterprise data clouds are built with the community in mind,” Waineo said.

Cloud vendor lock-in can limit agencies as their needs expand or result in long-term cost escalation. Enterprise data clouds avoid this pitfall by using open source technology to allow a multivendor approach to cloud.

Sowell added that Cloudera’s enterprise data cloud enables agencies to do analytics in the cloud, on-premise or both. The outcome for agencies is a better understanding of how they can use data to better assist citizens. “You need to perform analytics where they make sense and when they make sense,” he said. “Running analytics helps you better understand the effect that taking action has on achieving your mission.”