To mask, or not to mask? That is the COVID question. Obtaining the perfect balance between freedom and security has always been a struggle. But it takes on another dimension in the data-driven world of modern business, where success hinges on the ability to efficiently and speedily leverage high-quality data and capitalize on insights.

There, the question is this: How do businesses maintain data security while ensuring data is freely accessible for analysis?

“The answer is actually pretty straightforward,” stated Mick Hollison (pictured), president of enterprise data cloud company Cloudera Inc. “The key is developing a hybrid data strategy.”

Hollison spoke with Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the Cloudera “Transform Innovative Ideas Into Data-Driven Insights” event. They discussed how businesses must embrace their hybrid environments and make data and analytics easily accessible for everyone. (* Disclosure below.)

What the heck is hybrid data?

The concept of hybrid data is headlining Cloudera’s event. But what does it mean?

“Hybrid data is all about the juxtaposition of two things, freedom and security,” Hollison said.

Marrying the management of data across on-premises, cloud and edge with the need to maintain data sovereignty, security and regulation, hybrid data brings a new dimension to the idea of data governance. A hybrid data management platform ensures that data is clean, organized and up to date, while on the security side, artificial intelligence model lineage is tracked alongside data lineage.

The adoption of a hybrid data strategy is central to digital transformation, enabling rapid adoption of new technologies and optimization of economic models while ensuring the security and privacy of every bit of data, according to Hollison.

Just as we’re all making daily decisions on if we need to restrict our freedom and wear a mask to keep others safe and healthy, information technology teams are deciding strategies based on the same criteria.

“They want the freedom to choose, to run workloads and applications in the best and most economical place possible, but they also want to do that with certainty that they’re going to be able to deploy those applications in a safe and secure way that meets the regulatory requirements of their particular industry,” Hollison said. “Hybrid data is key to accomplishing both freedom and security for your data and for your business as a whole.”

Watch the complete video interview here (registration required), and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Cloudera “Transform Innovative Ideas Into Data-Driven Insights” event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Cloudera “Transform Innovative Ideas Into Data-Driven Insights” event. Neither Cloudera Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: Mick Hollison