According to the Dell Technologies’ Next Now study, by 2024, 78% of Latin American companies surveyed prioritize implementations of generative artificial intelligence (GenIA) within their approved IT budgets (40%) have dedicated new financial resources to AI projects (38%) in their organizations. In addition, McKinsey estimates that GenIA could add between $2.6 and $4.4 billion to the global economy annually.
For CIOs and IT leaders in the region, 87% agree that data is the differentiator and core of their GenIA strategies. And this makes strategic sense, as GenIA comes with a large data load.
Before adopting AI and GenIA, every business leader must ask whether their storage solutions are up to the task. A scalable, secure and cost-effective data architecture will make the difference between success and failure in the AI race.
Storage solutions in the era of GenIA
For GenIA to be implemented successfully, organizations must rethink, restructure and optimize their storage to effectively manage the data demands that GenIA entails. In doing so, they will avoid potential process slowdown due to inadequate or poorly designed storage.
Traditional storage systems are already struggling to keep up with the data explosion, and as GenIA systems advance and tackle more complex tasks, the requirements continue to grow.
In other words, storage platforms must align with the more complex realities of unstructured data, also known as qualitative data, and the needs emerging from the GenIA implementation. In fact, unstructured data accounts for more than 90% of the data created each year, largely due to an increase in human-generated data, which means that the sphere is composed of disordered and confusing columns of analysis.
Businesses need new ways to store data of this scale and complexity in a cost-effective way, while providing quick and easy access to it and protecting it from cybercriminals, as unstructured data is of interest to cybercriminals because of its overwhelming value and volume.
To leverage the evolution of infrastructure with GenIA, organizations require better data movement, access, scalability and protection. As a quick fix, the eyes turn to cloud-based strategies where data is stored in multiple public cloud environments. While this provides a potential short-term solution, in the long run organizations will face rising entry and exit costs, security concerns, and data optimization challenges. For GenIA to really take effect, organizations need simple and easy access to data, something the cloud doesn’t always guarantee. To achieve an optimal level, the ideal is to adopt a multi-cloud approach by design.
This will help them unlock the full potential of multicloud in the short and long term, without being constrained by segmented ecosystems of proprietary tools and services. Multicloud by design brings consistency in storage management, data protection and security.
Investment in new storage technologies
Companies need new and innovative approaches to data storage to fit the specific requirements of GenIA. Some of these technologies include distributed storage, data compression and indexing.
- Distributed storage improves the scalability and reliability of GenIA systems by hosting data in multiple locations. For example, organizations can quickly scale their storage needs across multiple nodes in case demand increases, as well as replicate their most critical data, allowing them to be stored in a separate location and easily retrieved in the event of a cyber attack.
- Another key concern many organizations face is cost. However, this can be partly addressed through data compression. By removing unwanted data through compression methods, organizations can reduce their storage requirements. This is achieved by more effective data analysis and the removal of unnecessary information to achieve a more summarized version. This in turn reduces the amount of storage required by the organization and, as a result, saves costs.
- On the other hand, data indexing improves retrieval capabilities and contributes to faster and more efficient search and training by organizing data in specific locations more effectively.
Together, these three technology trends improve performance, efficiency and cost savings, which are three of the top priorities for business leaders seeking a smooth transition to GenIA technologies.
It’s tempting to go straight to the hot-rolling of an AI model and get it working in the enterprise. But to succeed, GenIA requires a solid storage foundation as the first step. It may not be the most exciting thing for business leaders, but the way organizations store and manage data will drive greater business value in future IT projects.
AI and GenIA are significant enablers of competitive advantage and a form of market disruption. However, they must be implemented correctly. You should not launch into the AI race without first warming up your muscles. Make sure you are in the best possible condition. There is a tremendous opportunity ahead and those who do so with future-proof technology will be better placed to capitalize on the benefits.
