Experts say data is the real asset of business

Data is the most valuable asset to any business, says data expert Daniel Rossignol, Director of Global Alliances & Partnerships at Geminare Incorporated.

As businesses grow, the more business intelligence they generate, whether it is customer information, supplier information or accounting data.  Being able to share, store, protect and retrieve the ever-increasing mounds of data can be the competitive edge that accelerates presence and success in the marketplace. According to Rossignol, many organizations invest in mitigating the impact of natural disasters and give little or no thought to man-made disasters which represent the greatest risk to business continuity.

Rossignol’s comments were made during his presentation at a Round Table Discussion on Managing Information & Data Risk - Data storage considerations, trends & disaster recovery. The event hosted  by Columbus Business Solutions, was held recently at the  Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.

Daniel Rossignol (right), Director of Global Alliances & Partnerships at Geminare Incorporated and Marcello Olivera, Sr. product manager – IT and Cloud Solutions for Columbus Networks listened keenly to Tanikie McClarthy, corporate affairs executive at Columbus Communications, operators of Flow and Columbus Business Solutions at the Columbus Business Solutions Round Table Discussion held at the Jamaica Pergasus Hotel on Thursday, October 3.

 “Businesses cannot risk having their data sitting on a local server in an office and subject to the risks of unexpected power outages, natural disasters, cybercrime or simple human error. Recognizing that we are all vulnerable, businesses must approach data storage as a strategic tool and seek to ensure business continuity regardless of whether or not the disaster is natural or man-made,” Rossignol said.

Rossignol offers that the optimal solution lies in cloud based storage, which allows for real time replication of data and eliminates downtime.  With such solutions, during an interruption the IT Department is able to quickly and efficiently switch to an artificial environment that has up to date content and conduct maintenance and tests without denying users access.  

Other compelling advantages to businesses of cloud based solutions are scalability and cost reductions. The storage capacity in the cloud can be quickly and cost effectively increased to accommodate the additional data.  Cloud storage solutions also enable a business to avoid the high costs associated with hardware, software licenses, maintenance and manpower.

Speaking at the same event, The Hon. Julian Robinson, Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining underscored the importance of data recovery and mitigation safeguards in the business environment.

(l-r) Donovan White, vice president of Columbus Communications, operators of Flow and Columbus Business Solutions, the Hon. Julian Robinson, minister of state in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining and John Clear, vice president of business solutions at Columbus Communications enjoy a hearty conversation with Michele English, president and chief operating officer at Columbus Communications at the Columbus Business Solutions Round Table Discussion on Thursday, October 3 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.

“Data storage is now a major consideration among business leaders. In a globally competitive, fast-paced business environment, companies no longer have the luxury of downtime to allow for storage and recovery therefore organizations must implement strategies to address the challenges they encounter, such as managing their storage growth, designing and managing back-up recovery and archive solutions, designing deploying and managing disaster recovery solutions and storage in a virtualized server environment and convincing management to adopt technologies such as cloud computing,” said the Minister.        

“As a managed service provider, our job is to enable our clients to quickly and cost effectively roll out IT services that feature the highest levels of security, availability and are scalable to meet dynamic future need,” said John Clear, vice president Columbus Business Solutions. “Cloud services such as offered by Columbus enable businesses in Jamaica to achieve greater efficiencies and facilitate real time exchange of information. We offer a secure and cost effective cloud storage solution located in Curacao – safely outside the hurricane and earthquake zone of the Caribbean, and supported by a fully managed network operations centre.”

 According to Rossignol “IT departments can quantify the cost to buy a new server,  the cost to set up their own replication environment and to secure  back up services, but they forget the cost of licensing, upgrades, maintenance and electricity. Cloud services allow organizations to pay for what they need when they need it and to leave the operational and capital expenses to someone else”.

Rossignol’s presentation at the Columbus Business Solutions Round Table challenges Jamaican businesses to ponder and address some of the real questions they face in securing their data -  the real assets of their business. What is most cost effective way of ensuring business continuity and what financial impact will downtime have on the business if the most effective solution is not deployed?