SaaSification is a fun word to say, but it’s a serious topic. Adopting a software-as-a-service model gives businesses the agility and speed they need to compete in the digital era. Research suggests that by 2025, 85% of the world’s businesses will be operating under the SaaS model, according to Isabelle Guis (pictured, left), chief marketing officer at Commvault Systems Inc.

But getting SaaS-y comes with a downside: The more complex the environment, the harder data is to control. As the world moves toward federated data governance, having a centralized policy for data management becomes a requirement.

“SaaS is unavoidable … but it doesn’t mean that you should compromise on data management,” Guis said, speaking during a virtual panel discussion moderated by Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the Commvault Connections21 event.

Joining Guis were Reza Morakabati (pictured, center), chief information officer at Commvault, and John Gallagher (pictured, right), senior manager of global enterprise IT at Syncreon. They discussed data management in the context of overall information technology strategy. (* Disclosure below.)

Commvault provides protection and recovery, combats data sprawl and complexity

Data sprawl is an unavoidable hazard in the digital transformation journey, according to Morakabati.

“I’ve seen it in companies that are 150 people, and I’ve seen it in companies that have tens of thousands of people,” he said. “It’s a natural order of events. If you don’t apply structure or organization, data is going to go haywire.”

The solution is to push the pendulum in the other direction by centralizing data management.

“Pick a few of your brightest people that know the data in and out, put them in a team, and say you’re responsible for making sense out of these things,” he said.

This team should start with executive-level metrics and board-level metrics, identify the sources of truth and architecting them differently, Morakabati added.

Commvault client Syncreon reduced complexity and saved money by centralizing its data assets and simplifying its data protection strategy.

“Going down from six [data protection] products to one product we managed to strip around $500,000 out of our costs over three years,” Gallagher stated.

Syncreon was also able to make data management more efficient by concentrating its data teams. And because all workflows are now visible through a single pane, the company has better oversight and can more easily control and protect its data assets.

“No workloads should be left behind, and that’s why you need a single architecture,” Guis said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Commvault Connections21 event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Commvault Connections21 event. Neither Commvault Systems Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE