‘Smarter Data Management Playbook’ by Lenovo Finds Data Management Complexity as Major Challenge for ASEAN+ Organisations
Hybrid Cloud Is Also Emerging as a Preferred Setup Among Businesses in the Region
Lenovo has unveiled the second edition of its ‘Smarter Data Management Playbook’ report, capturing insights from 550+ CIOs and IT decision-makers across Asia Pacific, including 220+ in ASEAN+ (Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand).
Commissioned by Lenovo, the ‘Smarter Data Management Playbook’ report conducted by IDC delves into critical aspects of AI data management for 2024, encompassing data security, AI model integrity, data architecture and management, and data-driven enterprise IT strategy.
Sumir Bhatia, President at Lenovo ISG, AP, said: “Data innovation is crucial for today’s CIOs to unlock new business opportunities and drive digital success. The playbook unveils data management complexity as the prime challenge for 29% of Asia Pacific enterprises.
This finding represents a significant shift towards hybrid cloud environments tailored for AI. Lenovo’s open, reliable, and secure infrastructure empowers organisations to modernise their data strategies, ensuring agility and competitive advantage.”
‘Smarter Data Management Playbook’ Report Finds Growing Hybrid Cloud Preference
The ‘Smarter Data Management Playbook’ report highlights hybrid cloud as the preferred infrastructure for enterprise AI needs, shaped by each enterprise’s unique data architecture and strategy. Notably, 27% of ASEAN+ CIOs are leveraging cloud vendors to host Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure demands, while 26% are developing new hybrid cloud environments specifically for AI initiatives.
Kumar Mitra, MD – CAP at Lenovo ISG, stated: “As highlighted in the ‘Smarter Data Management Playbook,’ 2024 will be pivotal for organizations navigating the evolving landscape of data management. We observe a pronounced shift towards prioritising data security and optimising data for AI-driven insights and business outcomes. Lenovo ISG is committed to empowering our customers with agile, hybrid cloud solutions that streamline data management by up to 85%, enhancing operational efficiency. This underscores our continuous dedication to delivering tangible business value in an increasingly competitive market.”
Data Where You want it, How You Want it
The ‘Smarter Data Management Playbook’ report also uncovered that 29% of enterprises in the Asia Pacific region identify “Complexity of Data Management” as a major challenge in their organisational data initiatives, with ASEAN+ reporting the highest concerns at 32%. This highlights the critical need for robust data management solutions to streamline processes and drive efficiency across the region.
As a result, the top three priorities for ASEAN+ CIOs as identified in the ‘Smarter Data Management Playbook’ report are data backup, data security, and data migration to the cloud. For Asia Pacific, data security tops the list followed closely by data preparation for AI projects and data architecture.
David Mooney, VP of Storage Sales – WW at Lenovo ISG, added: “As 30% of Asia Pacific organisations prioritise data security for 2024, Lenovo ISG reaffirms its commitment to delivering fast, simple, and secure data management solutions. Our ThinkSystem DG and DM Storage solutions, with built-in ransomware protection, safeguard critical business data against evolving threats. As we strive to be the world’s leading end-to-end infrastructure solutions provider, we deliver innovations that help customers manage and protect their data, enabling AI integration and business transformation.”
Top Data Quality Concerns When Using AI / GenAI
In 2024, the top three data quality concerns when using Gen AI for ASEAN+ CIOs are AI training on false information, absence of data quality assurances, and inaccurate code documentation. This is close to what we are seeing for CIOs across AP where AI training on false information and the absence of data tags and data assurances are the top three concerns.
Similarly, the key limiting factors for use of AI/ Gen AI in organisations in ASEAN+, according to the ‘Smarter Data Management Playbook’ report, are:
- Concerns over Data security and control
- Lack of Gen AI skills/expertise
- Lack of clear business case
For Asia Pacific, the no. 1 factor is data security and control while the other two are exposure to brand or regulatory risk as well as data accuracy and its potential for unethical use.
Leveraging cloud vendors to host the AI infrastructure demands emerged as the top approach ASEAN+ companies will take to address AI infrastructure requirements, with 27% CIOs favoring this.
Mooney noted: “In today’s digital economy, data is the new currency, unlocking valuable insights that drive business growth and competitive edge. IDC’s research highlights the no. 1 data quality challenge in GenAI is training AI on false or undetected incorrect information. To tackle this, we deliver Smarter Data Management and Storage solutions for diverse workloads, from AI and analytics to data-intensive enterprise tasks, ensuring our customers have a robust and reliable data foundation.
Lenovo’s Data Management solutions span systems, platforms, and software, optimising data management from edge to core data centres and across cloud deployments. Leveraging block, file, and object data, Lenovo enables actionable insights and enhances application performance. Their solutions support seamless data mobility across diverse IT infrastructures, empowering next-gen data and AI/ML applications.
