Kognitio - a leading provider of solutions to business problems that require acquisition, rationalization and analysis of both large and complex data volumes - has made public the results of a poll carried out among the financial services, manufacturing, retail, distribution and utilities by market research agency Vanson Bourne.
The survey asked 100 UK IT decision-makers in the UK whether they felt it was difficult to stop IT operations which are in constant use to perform a data migration. On average, a resounding 72% of respondents claimed this to be the case.
By looking at the poll findings more in detail it is interesting - and yet not surprising - to notice that the majorities in all industries ticked the 'yes' box. However one figure stands out: only 58% of financial services respondents said they find it difficult to stop their IT systems to migrate data. This could be because such organisations tend to have highly-redundant systems and hence can fairly easily take one system down to carry out the data migration, while the other continues to serve the organisation. Alternatively, this could be explained by the fact that businesses in the financial services understand the importance of rationalising their computing environment and are prepared to balance the benefits of undertaking a data migration or platform rationalisation project against any potential disruption to their business by halting their IT operations.
On the other hand, in the retail, distribution and transport sectors this figure rose to 79%; this is likely to be the result of the nature of these businesses, which often operate online shopping facilities and web-based tracking systems, both applications that need to be running 24/7 in most cases. In 76% of the cases for respondents from the manufacturing industry, halting the IT operations was a challenge. Again this can be explained by the fact that nowadays such organisations tend to be heavily automated and hence operational around the clock and highly dependent on their systems and networks.
Looking at how a company's size affects its capacity to halt its IT infrastructure, there is a slight difference between organisations employing between 1,000 and 3,000 people and those with a staff of over 3,000. In the first instance the answer was yes in 74% of the cases whereas in the larger companies this percentage dropped to 71%. Therefore, company size makes no difference; the majority of companies still need to stop their IT systems to perform data migration or platform rationalisation projects. Therefore, it would seem that companies are put off from performing these tasks because of the inconvenience caused to the business.
Asked why the majority of organisations find it difficult to stop their IT systems even when a data migration project could bring substantial benefits to the business, Roger Llewellyn, CEO at Kognitio, believes it is mostly about profits and the perceived inconvenience of data migration projects: "Taking the IT systems down usually means halting production, be it of a tangible product or a service, and equates to an immediate loss of revenue. Ironically, completing a successful data migration or platform rationalisation project leads to a much more streamlined IT environment which is easier to manage and which affords the organisation greater business agility and the power to increase profits. At Kognitio we understand our customers' challenges and concerns and have been addressing them successfully for many years by carrying out successful data migration and platform rationalisation projects that add value to the business and that cause minimal disruption to the day-to-day operations."
Because of today's heavy reliance on the IT infrastructure, it is difficult for most businesses to migrate data without affecting the IT department as an internal resource because this is usually needed when companies plan to carry out data migration projects in-house. Thanks to its expertise and toolkit, Kognitio can work with its customers to plan the data migration project in great detail prior to the actual time when the data is migrated or rationalised. This usually takes place during a weekend to allow users to rely on the legacy system until the end of the business day on the Friday before switching to the new one first thing on Monday morning.
Kognitio is currently the largest independent provider of data migration and platform rationalisation solutions in the UK; to date it has helped companies such as Genworth Financial, Wesleyan Assurance and Allianz Cornhill Schemes easily and quickly migrate data to increase overall business agility.
Tim Tresadern, IT manager at Allianz Cornhill Schemes said "We chose to work with Kognitio because of its proven migration expertise in the insurance sector. Its team was instrumental in providing us with the tools, knowledge and peace of mind that allowed us to carry out the entire process smoothly, quickly and successfully. Kognitio ultimately de-risked the data migration element of the project."
About Kognitio
Kognitio is an innovative, technology-rich company, providing leading-edge solutions to businesses that require the acquisition, rationalisation and analysis of large or complex data volumes. Kognitio's offering is centred around three areas: Data Migration expertise, WX2, the fastest and most scalable analytical database on the market and managed services. All three areas are complemented by an extensive professional services team focused on ensuring businesses gain competitive advantage from their data.
With a strong specialisation in the insurance and financial services sectors, Kognitio's data migration services offer lower risk and lower cost solutions to companies that are rationalising and consolidating operational platforms. Kognitio has the largest independent migration services team in the UK.
With its industry-leading analytical database offering, WX2, Kognitio is quickly able to turn a company's raw data into valuable business insight, empowering them to obtain comprehensive answers to critical business questions. Kognitio's data warehouse managed services model allows its customers to focus on running their businesses and increasing the bottom line. By adopting Kognitio's outsourced approach, customers are able to reduce management time and costs, as well as avoid expensive product acquisition outlays.
Headquartered in Marlow, UK, Kognitio delivers competitive advantage to its clients in various industries, including telecommunications, the financial sector, retail, leisure and utilities.
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