There are two principles behind this presentation: (1) Business agility is mandatory in the competitive arena, and (2) systems are temporary but data is forever. Agility can be achieved in many areas. In this presentation I will give a high-level overview of how agility can be achieved using data virtualization techniques.

1. Achieve business agility
through data virtualization
Dr. Bas van Gils

2. Bas van Gils
+31-(0)6-484 320 88
b.vangils@bizzdesign.nl
http://linkedin.com/in/basvg
http://blog.bizzdesign.com
http://www.twitter.com/basvg
“Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors.”
--Nikola Tesla (1935)
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3. Competitive playing field
Socio-Cultural
Drivers
(e.g. changing health needs,
environmental awareness,
consumption habits)
Suppliers
(e.g. innovative products,
new foreign entrants,
consolidation)
Economic
Drivers
(e.g. changing exchange rates,
economic growth, labor
productivity)
Incumbent Rivals
Substitutes &
Complementors
(e.g. improved competences, new
products, new brand positioning)
New Entrants
(e.g. new business model,
diversification strategy,
new alliance)
(e.g. changed product range,
new technological standard)
Political/
Regulatory Drivers
Buyers
Technological
Drivers
(e.g. new trade regulations,
environmental protection laws,
privatization moves)
(e.g. changed needs,
increased price sensitivity,
lower brand loyalty
(e.g. new scientific breakthroughs,
innovative technologies,
standards)

4. Business agility
Business agility is mandatory in the
competitive arena
• Respond to ever changing demands
by (potential) customers
• Respond to aggressive moves by
competitors
• Adapt to changing regulations
• Utilize advanced technological
developments
All in order to stay alive and thrive in
the long run

5. Organizing for agility
Agility in the market place
Every organization is different. As
a consequence, there is no single
“best” recipe that helps
organizations organize for agility
•
•
Operating model:
• Process focus
• Data is forever, systems are
temporary
Architecture:
• Long-term view
• Incremental delivery
Process integration
Agility of the organization
Process standardization

6. Focus on Data
The 21st century business features information as the
fuel. We don’t replace process; we enable operators in
existing processes.
The bottom line is: if information is fuel – then improper
treatment is risky. Fuel can be volatile. Fuel can explode
Ladley, J. (2010). Making enterprise information management (EIM) work for
business: A guide to understanding information as an asset. Morgan Kaufmann.
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7. Data challenges
Paradox:
• Organizations face the challenge of
information overflow: the amount of
information available is too big to process
• Delivery of information is slow due to
tight coupling between information
systems and data
A more agile infrastructure for information
delivery is required to face the challenges
that come with increased data-based
decision making

8. Data virtualization
“Data virtualization is a technology that
makes a heterogeneous set of databases
and files look like one integrated
database.”
•
•
•
Increasingly popular, with the expectation
that it continues to grow in popularity
Many different implementations by various
vendors
Important enabling technology for e.g.
MDM, Data Warehousing, DQ
improvement etc.

9. Using data virtualization
Delivery in environments tuned for specific
groups of stakeholders, also allowing for
access control etc.
Business-focused data structures based on
virtual tables: standardization of
concepts, definitions & delivery in a format
that makes business sense (e.g.
dimensional structures)
Virtualized (& potentially cached)
representation of source data as enabler for
restructuring, as well as prevent heavy
workload for source systems
Source data in transaction
systems, unstructured data, etc.

10. Using data virtualization
Virtualization allows for rapid, incremental development &
delivery of information with minimal impact on source systems
Data access can be optimized for various stakeholders with
different needs, concept definitions, permissions etc.
Virtualized access to structured and unstructured data allows for
uniform querying. Caching avoids heavy work-loads on the
original transaction systems
Decouple access to data from the source systems.
This allows further manipulation of data without impacting the
original systems

11. An architecture for agile information delivery

12. Key takeaway: data agility for success
• Focus on supporting business
processes
• Data is forever, systems are
temporary
• Data virtualization allows for
decoupling between
– source systems,
– data manipulation / structuring,
– data delivery that is tuned to
business needs

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