Digital entrepreneurs need to embrace data

In the digital world, a new breed of entrepreneur has been created – one that is able to capitalise on an Always-On environment. This entrepreneur has grown up as part of the connected generation, and this is reflected in the way that their start-ups are born and operate.

For them, using technology is not something that is forced but rather a component that is completely integrated in all aspects of their lives. It is therefore completely natural for their start-ups to be digital first. As such, access to data needs to happen around the clock.

Data has become the bedrock on which business is built. It makes sense that companies, whether a start-up or an established multinational, need to ensure that there is some sort of availability or continuity strategy in place. If data gets lost, the impact could be crippling on continued operations.

By nature, entrepreneurs are more dynamic than larger businesses. The advantage of being flexible in terms of mobile solutions and accessing data from any location using any device mean the start-up can embrace different ways of doing things much faster than traditional organisations. But even if this is the case, there needs to be an awareness about the importance of data for the entrepreneur.

Fortunately, the consumerisation of technology over the past few years have seen entrepreneurs being more cognisant of the impact that data has on all aspects of their lives. Whether it is at home or doing business, data and its associated analysis often provide the entrepreneur with the ability to gain a competitive advantage. This has also seen less of a focus on the bits and bytes of technology and more on solutions that just work.

Quite often, this means not being too concerned about where a data centre is hosted. Instead, the attention is placed on being able to access that information at a moment’s notice to make real-time decisions on sales, business strategy, and other dynamic components of business.

The Always-On environment has created a digital entrepreneur that has no patience for downtime and data loss. And in the event of a crisis, the time to resume ‘business as usual’ takes on a new level of importance. Entrepreneurs are driven by speed and time to market. This creates an expectation that their solutions providers need to align with as well.

The 3-2-1 rule of backup (three copies on two different types of media with one being offsite) is something that has to be an integral part of the entrepreneurial business continuity strategy. Such a methodology is built around protecting business data and does not lock a start-up into any specific technology. So irrespective of the platform they use, there will always be access to information.

If such basics are done right and implemented correctly, most entrepreneurs will be protected from data loss and their businesses will not be crippled. They become the steward of their data and evolve into decision-makers who are the masters of their own business continuity destiny in a very cost-effective fashion.

Ultimately, the data aspect of the entrepreneur is key to the role of the modern data centre that incorporates the cloud, virtualisation, and other innovative storage technologies. Having a delivery mechanism that provides 24×7 access to data and is capable of handling growth, means the entrepreneur is well set for the digital world of business.