The Zettabyte World: Securing Our Data-Rich Future

The future of business requires the ability to move and analyze massive amounts of data at speed. Here’s how your business can prepare to meet the Zettabyte future.

Our digital world is entering a new phase with a stunning unit of data measurement: the Zettabyte. It’s the equivalent of 1 trillion gigabytes–about 250 billion DVDs’ worth of storage. Now consider that humans and machines will generate, at minimum, 175 Zettabytes of data over the next five years alone.

Many businesses simply don’t have the infrastructure in place to manage and leverage that much data at speed. According to our recent survey, 43% of ITDMs in the technology sector agree this influx will overwhelm their IT infrastructure.

While incorporating Zetta-class systems that can handle the complex demands of data management at this scale sounds daunting, it can—and must—be done.

"The Zettabyte World" eBook
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“The Zettabyte World: Securing Our Data-Rich Future” highlights what we need to do right now to prepare for what’s to come—and what opportunities business leaders can seize if they move quickly. It features insights from experts at Dell and other technology leaders, including:

  • Edward Green, Principal Digital Architect, McLaren Racing
  • Sally Eaves, CEO, Aspirational Futures
  • Bobby Ford, Vice President and Global Chief Information Security Officer, Unilever
  • Shelly Kramer, Co-Founder and Analyst, Futurum Research
  • Theodora Lau, Founder, Unconventional Ventures
  • Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst and Founding Partner, Futurum Research
  • Ty Schmitt, Vice President and Fellow, Dell Technologies
  • Liam Quinn, Sr. Vice President and Sr. Fellow, Dell Technologies

Areas of Development and Potential

Building a Zetta-class enterprise to prepare for the future of business involves integrating six key elements:

  • Edge Computing: Processing data at the Edge rather than the cloud enables faster and more efficient processes. For example, a factory with IoT sensors monitoring the factory floor can use Edge computing to make real-time decisions on maintenance and provisioning.
  • 5G: The wireless technology supports greater speed, capacity, connectivity and activation of data potential. “If 4G is a two-lane road, 5G has the potential to be a 100-lane, double-decker highway with 20 times the speed limit,” says Liam Quinn.
  • AI and machine learning: Intelligent systems can monitor, sort, classify and route data in microseconds. “An intelligent data pipeline eliminates bottlenecks and keeps information flowing and organized,” says Theo Lau.
  • Data center architecture: Managing data requires a system that can seamlessly move data across multiple clouds, servers and devices.
  • Hybrid cloud: A combination of cloud and on-premise infrastructure is a necessity to provide the required capacity to handle growing data demands.
  • Security: The data that makes the Zettabyte world a reality also creates vulnerability, driving a need for security as a foundation of its design.

To scale, you need to carefully select a data infrastructure that can grow with your organization and to help operationalize the process. And I think that’s the key word here: Operationalizing these processes require something that we call a 360-degree view of your data pipeline.”

– Vish Nandlall, Vice President of Technology Strategy and Ecosystems at Dell Technologies
Listen to this podcast to hear more about data pipelines.

Opportunity across Industries

If we can develop our data infrastructure to Zettabyte-specifications, we’ll see benefits in virtually every industry. Here are just a few examples:

  • In manufacturing and automotive, the ability to exchange data will drive the creation of connected and autonomous vehicles as well as greatly enhanced modeling and manufacturing processes.
  • While we’re already seeing innovative new models in education and learning, the data capabilities of the Zettabyte world will support next-level digital classroom interaction and collaboration.
  • As of 2019, DNA sequencing is producing roughly a zettabyte of data every 11 days. The ability to collect and analyze vast amounts of scientific data has massive implications for life sciences and the field’s ability to pinpoint causes of and treatments for disease.

The Need to Keep Up

Every customer on a digital transformation journey has to develop a modern data pipeline,” says John Roese, Dell Technologies’ Chief Technology Officer. Without one, the future of business is under threat. To keep up, businesses must act now to develop and expand their technology infrastructure for the Zettabyte era.

Make sure your organization is prepared to act and download “The Zettabyte World: Securing Our Data-Rich Future” eBook now.