Is data the new oil? Is data the most valuable asset a modern enterprise possesses? Is it the new currency? Most enterprises would answer, “Yes,” to all of the above. But do they actually know where all their data is? Many would say, “Nope.” So how can they take the crucial step to data-driven business and yank their data out of hiding?

“Most enterprises have hundreds if not thousands of databases and shadow IT projects everywhere — but if the answer is ‘no,’ then how do you take advantage and leverage that information to the company’s advantage?” asked Tracey Newell (pictured), president of global field operations at Informatica LLC.

Newell spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, at theCUBE’s studio in Palo Alto, California. They discussed the importance of complete data intelligence for digital transformation, General Data Protection Regulation compliance, and more. 

R&D from scratch; API additives

Controlling access to data, governing it, staying in line with compliance regulations, and driving profit — virtually all important data-related tasks — depend on knowing where it resides, according to Newell. For that, companies need a single, comprehensive, smart data platform — not an array of widgets solving similar problems, she added.

Informatica wants its Intelligent Data Platform to be the best, most-comprehensive data platform on the market. “We’re spending 17 cents of every dollar in R&D,” Newell said. Customers are asking for more powerful means to create customer intimacy and governance.

“Again, if you can’t say you know where all your data is, well, then how can you be compliant?” she asked.

Informatica is not building its platform using only its own hands and tools, however. The company increasingly pulls in outside assists from various partners and blends them into its platform. “One of the things that clients have said to us is, ‘We need you to partner with our partners,'” Newell said. “The days of proprietary, sole-source … we’re going to be everything to you without working with anyone — those days are over.”

Informatica recently announced Informatica Integration Cloud for Apigee, an application programmer interface platform available on Google’s cloud.

Watch the entire video interview with Tracey Newell below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations.

Photo: SiliconANGLE