Mindset Change Needed for Data Requirement in Asia
When asked about the main challenges faced in delivering Hitachi Vantara’s data solutions in the Asian market, Daniel Chong was quick to highlight a specific issue unique to this region.
“There needs to be a change in the corporate mindset when looking at the user requirements of Asian customers when it comes to their data (management) need. For a long time, Asian organisations have been looking to the West for guidance to gauge user requirements, but the gap between Western and Asian market is getting bigger.”
EITN was speaking to Daniel Chong, Senior VP of Asia Pacific region, at the sides of the HItachi Vantara NEXT 2019 in Las Vegas recently.
Chong opines that because data generated in Asian markets are invariably different in the way they are sourced, collected and transfer in local societies and businesses, Chong says that tech vendors – Hitachi Vantara included, need to make a conscientious effort to understand the difference.
“A good example eCommerce which is a much bigger Asian trend as compared to the US or Europe. The amount of data generated from Asia’s eCommerce market – from mobile devices, intricate logistical delivery units network, behavioural trends from the huge variety of online services, all of this user requirements for data management rather different from that of say eBay, Amazon, etc.”
To reacting to this observation, Chong says that corporate data R&D need to incorporate this aspect of ‘Asian User Requirements’ in order to be effective in the co-creation of relevant data services.
Asia Has More Machines, More People, More Data
Currently, Asia Pacific contributes between 20-23% of global revenue in 2018. Chong estimates that this will increase to an optimal figure of 30% in three years’ time and lists two factors for this to be achievable.
“Firstly, manufacturing means more machine data. And China is the manufacturing hub of the world.
Even with the ongoing China-US trade war, many Asian markets are benefitting from the overspill from demand for China’s manufacturing capabilities.
“Secondly, Asia has the most populous nations in the world – China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc. A bigger population means mobile data, more social media data. The Asian population is also pretty connected and therefore all of this means an enormous data growth.”
Hitachi Vantara in a Nutshell
Chong shares a direct message for his Asian partners and customers in a short video:
“A major challenge for many of our customers is that data moves very fast, and there are many types – both structured and unstructured.
5% of all of this data is analysed while the 95% of the rest is just lying idle in expensive hardware and use software without giving back much value.
Hitachi Vantara provides solutions to address this other 95% of idle data.
We have solutions to store and protect data, in a way that is fully compliant to requirements – all with very good hardware.
There are also solutions to index and create metadata out of both this structured and unstructured data; and to further analyse and orchestrate all the rest of this 95% data to MONETISE it for them.
Thank you.”