Data and information know no bounds

Decisions are made utilising data, but data itself is useless unless it is organised, and processed into some type of information which gives insights to the user. The belief that information drives decisions is a constant and common theme regardless of generation and technology. What has changed, is where that data is located and what applications and analytics are available to turn that data into information.

The difference between today and the 1980s, 90s, and even the early 2000s, is that this data can be anywhere, in any device, in any location, on any network, utilising private or public connectivity in a customer-owned or third party data centre. We as service providers need to be where the data is, not just geographically speaking, but technologically speaking as well. We need to provide the tools to do something with that data, to turn it into information, to help our customers make meaningful decisions which help them compete and sustain their own long term competitive advantage.

Tata Communications has built an ecosystem that breathes with the customer, flexes where needed, and delivers enterprise grade performance on one of the largest wholly owned global networks around the world. We have done this as we recognise that enterprises have diverse requirements, and varying political, economic, strategic, and technological opportunities which necessitate different levels of performance and service characteristics, including management and control. Our network has been built with continued investment with this in mind, offering fixed and variable bandwidth and billing options with public or private connectivity and a cloud solution that seamlessly connects with the underlying network. Our IZO platform takes a solutions oriented approach to computing, allowing a customer to connect private networks with the leading cloud service providers and by integrating IZO Private Cloud solutions with both MPLS and Ethernet solutions thereby orchestrating activity across both the overlay and underlay network elements.

As an example, we will be partnering with other Tier 1 providers such as Comcast and TI Sparkle to simulate the delivery of Ethernet service through our three networks, via an orchestrated environment with flexible bandwidth deployed on demand and connectivity bursting to Amazon Web Services when needed. This proof of concept will be presented for review and discussion at the upcoming MEF16 event in November. This is just one example of Tata Communications pushing the boundaries of technology and partnerships to leverage enhanced performance and value for our global customers.

Network advancements like this make me look back 10, 20, years, and think about the challenges of the day, with storage and processing power at the top of the list. Today, it isn’t as much about storage itself, but where you are storing the data, how you are accessing the data, and what you are doing with the massive amounts of data being generated every minute and second of the day. Accessing that data and being able to turn that data into beneficial information in a flexible and solutions oriented way, is what sets Tata Communications apart from the competition.

What do you think the role of data is in today’s hyper-connected world. Leave a comment below? In the meantime, connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.

Jeff Schwartz will be participating on a keynote panel at MEF16 (Nov 7th – 10th) discussing the topic ‘On-Demand, High-Performance Services For The Hyper-Connected World’. Find out more here.