In a one-on-one with Biztech2.0, Barrie D Sheers, senior VP and GM, APAC Operations, Sybase, discusses the critical aspects of data management and enterprise mobility.

Could you shed some light on the evolution of data management and the related challenges to a CIO's role?

Organisations world over are today faced with a lot of regulatory issues. This has led to an alarming rate of data inflow for CIOs, which is posing a challenge to them. A large portion of this data is in digital format and needs to be stored for a long period of time. Additionally, CIOs need to have access to this data almost instantaneously as per the demands of the business. Thus, the CIO faces the challenge of capturing, storing and managing all this data in a concise fashion.

Many of the world's largest organisations have grown rapidly over the last few years and data has become more critical to them as a provider of competitive edge for the business. Data is also spread all over the place, as organisations have grown organically, through acquisitions and also through opening of new global branches. This dispersion also leads to data not being stored in a uniform fashion. Thus, it has to be pulled from different platforms and sources into a centralised repository, where one can slice and dice the information, use BI and data analytics tools to produce decision-ready information. Decision-ready information is only useful if it can be served to the decision makers, irrespective of their location or the device that they are using.

Which BI tools do you think will help assimilate data?

BI is all about capturing data from different sources within an organisation and centralising it in a single repository and further making it available for analysis. There are a variety of tools available to accomplish these tasks. At Sybase, we have a database engine, which helps organisations that are looking to set up datawarehouses to get a quick and rapid extraction of information.

What are the advantages of BI?

BI is all about providing the right information to the managerial executives within an organisation in order to help them make the right decisions and this information should be available at the snap of a finger.

What according to you is an unwired enterprise?

An unwired enterprise is one, which has information running smoothly and securely from the datacentre to the point of action. The data may be sourced from anywhere within the organisation, from the field or from any of the branches and could be required similarly at any location. It's all about getting the information anywhere, anytime and on any device.

Can data management and enterprise mobility work hand-in hand?

Organisations are realising the advantages that mobile devices like smartphones and PDAs can offer to make applications accessible to their workforce even while they are on the field or in transit. Let us take the example of an insurance company, which needs to get customer information stored in its database delivered to an agent on the field, who is in a meeting with the customer at that point of time. Data mobility and enterprise management can work together to meet the need of this insurance company.

What trends do you see emerging in the enterprise mobility space in the months to come?

Mobility is changing the way business is being done. The change is mainly powered by Internet access. There are two sides to the Internet now, the first being the traditional static side, which is all about accessing the Internet through a traditional desktop or laptop for profiling information or referring to it. The other side of the Internet involves interaction. One can now register for a whole lot of different services through SMS technology and that is changing the way in which companies are able to get access to their customer base. Banks, for example, are capitalising on the prospects of 'Mobile Banking'. This is helping financial institutions to access their customer base in a cost-effective and broader way. They can now target specific customers with specific services, as SMS gives them a chance to tailor their marketing messages.

What is Sybase's roadmap for the Indian market?

Looking at the growth in the mobile market and BI space and the associated challenges that organisations face in these areas, we have plans to continue the development of solutions that will benefit them in these areas. The product development process will be executed in our engineering development labs, which we continue to invest in and expand. These products will be developed in the above labs and sold throughout the world.