The data explosion: Unlocking the potential of data – as – infrastructure

Data infrastructure is as important as physical infrastructure in today’s business environment. Strong data infrastructure will increase interoperability and collaboration, efficiency and productivity. When you look at the bigger picture, many of the developments we see today are part of an overall trend in the market, both for consumers and businesses alike, and that is data explosion.

Unlocking IoT’s potential

During my career, and I’m sure many of yours as-well, we have witnessed the speed in which new solutions and advancements arise and completely revolutionise the industry we operate in. One of the biggest developments in recent months is the roll out of 5G networking, bringing with it the promise of faster speeds, lower latency and better flexibility – unlocking the true potential of IoT. This next phase of the network evolution will continue to pave the way for the industrialisation of wireless networks in ways we have yet to imagine.

By 2023, Ericsson estimates that there will be around 31.4 billion connected devices, almost double the 2017 figure of 17.5 billion – credit for which goes to 5G. As a result, businesses will have a lot more repositories to work with, and a lot more data to collect, store, analyse and turn into insights. In the coming months, the roll out of 5G and hence the increase of data – cloud-driven services will become ever more important to future success.

Data explosion

At Aptum, two of the biggest challenges our clients face is how they can consume large amounts of data at an optimal pace and how they are going to accommodate the data explosion without falling behind.

Here are three businesses Aptum has helped as the data explosion has taken hold.

• A leading social network company for scientists which provides tools and applications for researchers to connect, collaborate share results and drive progress. ResearchGate is now connecting an astonishing 18 million people from around the world, all powered by our infrastructure and network.
• A multinational technology company which works with businesses across the globe that have an abundance of data at their fingertips. Through our partnership, we provide the mission critical infrastructure services for the largest supercomputer cluster in Canada allowing it to analyse very large volumes of data in one of our ultra-secure colocation facilities.
• A large AI company based in Canada, who are leveraging data to develop new business insights, drive new business outcomes and generate a greater understanding of customers through AI technology. The significant amount of data that this customer handles, and drives insight from, is reliant on having data storage that is secure, flexible, scalable and accessible at the touch of a finger all underpinned by our infrastructure.

A coherent data infrastructure should be a baseline condition for a healthy, progressive society, and a competitive global economy. At Aptum, our mission is about solving problems for our clients and helping them transform and supporting them as they reach a new level of growth.

Being acquired by Digital Colony and being part of a network of companies that are all enabling data-as-infrastructure, allows us to advise and support our clients as they navigate through business change and challenges that result from this explosion in data.

Mark Ganzi, CEO of Digital Bridge said: “Our combined vision will focus on the reality that ever-larger numbers of people will use ever more devices, and the true explosion of use, driven by interconnected devices, cloud computing, mobility, big data, the internet of things, and especially the 5G roll-out, is still to come.”

At Aptum, we provide the backbone infrastructure for our partners and customers to support and underpin their business and the rapidly evolving digital economy. Who knows what the technology landscape will look like in another decade’s time, but what’s for certain – we’re ready.