DataOps is the practice of collaborative data management to achieve the goal of faster delivery of data and insights by automating data delivery design and management. DataOps combines processes, principals, personnel and technology to automate data orchestration to offer data at real-time speed.
According to DataKitchen, DataOps enables rapid innovation and experimentation to deliver new customer insights with increasing velocity by bringing high-quality, low-error data and collaboration across arrays of people, environments and technology. Its precise monitoring and measuring ability leads to transparency of results, whereby Agile, DevOps and Lean Manufacturing can be applied to data analytics.
DataOps provides the methodology to connect data users with data providers to improve cooperation and digital innovation, reducing the manual tasks required and the likelihood of errors through automation in data reporting.
How DataOps can add value to your business
DataOps specialities can assist businesses in making the right choices and becoming more agile to overtake the competition. The benefits a DataOps team brings are becoming more evident as more businesses realise the significant opportunities available by being a data-driven business. It is a relatively new sector, yet specialist recruitment companies such as Agile Recruit, a leading cloud & data recruitment agency, are seeing a greater demand for candidates. With this in mind, we look at what a DataOps can achieve.
High-volume data handling
DataOps enables businesses to manage various data formats efficiently. Images, tables and graphs are ready to use in formats, and frequencies demanded using analytical data pipelines with increased data quality through statistical process control.
Valuable increased automation
Studies have shown that currently, many data engineers spend almost 20% of their time troubleshooting. Automated DataOps data cleaning reduces the troubleshooting time spent, freeing up DataOps team members for other, more productive tasks. Data validation and warehouse tuning can become automatic, freeing staff from manual reporting to keep things moving.
Reduced lead times
One of the most extensive and valuable benefits of turning to DataOps is using an agile-based process management approach to reduce lead times. The time from idea to value can be vastly reduced, especially regarding feedback from data consumers.
Cloud data security
Adopting DataOps alongside cloud services helps businesses manage their data better. There has been a reluctance to onboard cloud environments, with companies facing the prospect of data breaches within their public cloud environment. The newest DataOps area of Development Security Operations (DevSecOps) ensures that security measures are embedded into all relevant data processes, providing a more secure data-holding capability. Businesses can ensure data governance and security through centralised analytic development whilst reducing the risk of leaks and breaches.
Improved customer experiences
Customers can access services and products faster as businesses learn and implement changes based on analysis of customer data and feedback.
The ability for DataOps to use, transform and orchestrate data workflows means people can access data more speedily and reliably, bringing real-time data to life and analytic solutions more efficiently.
Building a DataOps team
If your business relies on data to operate, especially in a world that is becoming ever more data-driven, having the right team in place is essential, and various required skills include :
Data management
Data security
IT operations
Data governance
Data Science
Data analysis
And a diverse range of business skills
There are real benefits of combining artificial intelligence and data operations to smooth the process of data streams to maximise value for your business. We may have lots of data at our fingertips, but we only benefit if it is presented accurately and timely, and we then learn from it by using what it tells us to improve our delivery of services.
