# Is the road to data transformation slowing digital transformation?
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2021-07-02
Category: NEWS
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news
Meta Title: Data Empowers Digital Transformation in SEGA Europe
Meta Description: Learn how to harness the power of data to drive innovation, improve decision-making, and transform business models. Discover the keys to successful digital
URL: https://financedigest.com/is-the-road-to-data-transformation-slowing-digital-transformationhtml

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_By **David Meyer**, SVP Product Management at_ [_Databricks_](https://databricks.com/)

Data is a fundamental part of digital transformation as it enables automation, innovation and improves decision making. By having access to the right data in real-time, organisations can take actions or make decisions that best serve customer needs, transform business models and respond to rapid changes in demand.

**Data underpins digital transformation** Data empowers data professionals to identify trends, opportunities, and problems in business operations, which can then be addressed to improve overall performance. SEGA Europe is an excellent example of this. The worldwide leader in interactive entertainment uses a [data lakehouse platform to personalise the player experience and build its own machine learning algorithm to help target and tailor games for over 30 million](https://www.financedigest.com/exclusive-binance-moved-346-million-for-seized-crypto-exchange-bitzlato-data-show.html "Exclusive-Binance moved 6 million for seized crypto exchange Bitzlato, data show") of its customers. During the lockdowns of 2020, more anonymised [data was being collected through an analytics](https://www.financedigest.com/data-analytics-scenario-planning-and-the-finance-department.html "Data analytics, scenario planning, and the finance department") pipeline than ever before. The [team needed a dedicated computing resource to handle the sheer volume of data, extract meaningful insights from it and to enable the data science team to improve](https://www.financedigest.com/improving-your-it-team-in-four-simple-steps.html "Improving your IT team in four simple steps") general workflow. Less than a year on, SEGA Europe is [already reaping](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-tourism-sector-already-reaping-the-benefits-of-brexit.html "UK TOURISM SECTOR ALREADY REAPING THE BENEFITS OF BREXIT") the rewards and has succeeded in improving the player experience.

**The data hurdles** However, despite better data analysis and collection being a clear driver of digital transformation, many barriers still remain. According to a 2021 Databricks and MIT Technology Review Insights [survey](https://databricks.com/p/whitepaper/mit-technology-review-insights-report), the main challenge slowing organisations from delivering on their data strategy initiatives is that data management platforms do not easily scale ( cited by 44% of respondents). Other often-cited obstacles are slow [processing of large data](https://www.financedigest.com/reckon-introduces-link-to-bank-data-to-help-small-businesses-streamline-the-reconciliation-process.html "Reckon introduces link to bank data to help small businesses streamline the reconciliation process ") volumes and difficulties in facilitating collaboration. To have the right pillars in place, you need to first bring all data together, then provide all teams and departments with the right tools and infrastructure to draw insights and to drive innovation – all the while, following [security and privacy](https://www.financedigest.com/tesla-to-warn-of-data-privacy-risk-from-car-security-cameras-in-germany.html "Tesla to warn of data privacy risk from car security cameras in Germany") protocols. In fact, according to the survey, the most critical advantages of an ideal new [data architecture over an existing one is stronger](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-slumps-on-economic-data-stronger-u-s-dollar.html "Oil slumps on economic data, stronger U.S. dollar") security and governance (49%) and open-source standards and open data formats (50%).

The success of [digital transformation hinges on the ability to make critical business decisions](https://www.financedigest.com/world-class-finance-digital-transformation-and-analytics-based-decision-making-among-key-imperatives-for-creating-finance-agility.html "World-Class Finance: Digital Transformation and Analytics-Based Decision Making Among Key Imperatives for Creating Finance Agility") based on actionable insights, otherwise there is a major risk of higher costs and the transformation taking longer than it needs to. But whilst most of today’s [organisations are collecting huge volumes of data](https://www.financedigest.com/can-financial-services-organisations-harness-data-and-bi-to-catch-up-in-the-digitalisation-race.html "Can financial services organisations harness data and BI to catch up in the digitalisation race?  "), they are often storing it in the wrong places, and failing to capture the most important insights that enable cost- and time-efficient transformation and long-term stronger performance.

**Creating a robust data architecture** When it comes to more efficiently storing, cleaning and analysing data, there are several options for organisations. There’s the data warehouse, the data lake and the data lakehouse. The data warehouse’s analytical infrastructure allows for high reliability of data, strong governance and security, and high [performance of the data](https://www.financedigest.com/big-data-lowers-insurance-premiums-and-optimises-business-performance.html "Big Data Lowers Insurance Premiums and Optimises Business Performance"), but is unable to store the huge volumes and range of data found in organisations today. In contrast, [data](https://www.financedigest.com/sterling-edges-lower-ahead-of-key-data.html "Sterling edges lower ahead of key data") lakes can store large amounts of data at a lower cost and for open data formats. All [types of data](https://www.financedigest.com/apartment-prices-rising-faster-than-any-other-property-type-new-data-reveals.html "Apartment prices rising faster than any other property type, new data reveals "), whether structured, semi-structured, or unstructured, have open access and can scale. But [data lakes can become disorganised and flooded with information](https://www.financedigest.com/what-is-a-virtual-data-room-unveil-the-essential-information-here.html "What is a Virtual Data Room? Unveil the Essential Information Here!"), turning into a ‘data swamp’, offering poor quality data and performance. This is why the data lakehouse is emerging, [bringing the necessary data structure and data management directly on top of data lakes to ensure organisations can draw out the crucial insights](https://www.financedigest.com/incoming-starbucks-boss-to-bring-consumer-insight-to-coffee-culture.html "Incoming Starbucks boss to bring consumer insight to coffee culture") they need through harnessing the strengths of the data warehouse and data lake.

What’s most [important about data](https://www.financedigest.com/leaders-recognise-the-importance-of-green-transport-at-cop27-but-we-need-data.html "Leaders recognise the importance of green transport at COP27, but we need data") is that all of it is accessible, can be easily contextualised, and that people within an organisation can interact with it. Unfortunately, in many cases, it can be isolated from many [people within a company and controlled](https://www.financedigest.com/new-report-reveals-new-resetting-social-trend-as-people-take-control-of-their-lives.html "New Report Reveals New ‘Resetting’ Social Trend As People Take Control Of Their Lives") by a select few. This is hampered further by fragmenting data or creating subsets that can cause data drift, [impacting the quality of the data](https://www.financedigest.com/dollar-skids-after-soft-u-s-economic-data-impact-of-opec-cuts-fades.html "Dollar skids after soft U.S. economic data; impact of OPEC+ cuts fades"), which means an organisation can lose its single source of truth. Having it in one place can also help [automate for scale](https://www.financedigest.com/the-race-to-scale-up-automation-in-financial-services.html "The race to scale up automation in financial services"). Data access, machine learning models, and other templates can be configured in an [automated way so it can be deployed across departments and business](https://www.financedigest.com/breaking-down-the-barriers-of-ar-automation-to-help-businesses-save-money.html "Breaking down the barriers of AR automation to help businesses save money ") units, allowing for a much healthier data culture.

Data transformation, underpinned by a robust lakehouse architecture, [puts the right data](https://www.financedigest.com/putting-your-right-foot-forward-the-secret-of-successful-retail-bank-footprints-is-in-the-data.html "Putting your right foot forward – the secret of successful retail bank footprints is in the data") in the right place, makes it accessible across an organisation, and ensures it is analysed effectively.  It’s no secret that there’s a competitive edge to be had by crunching and analysing enormous amounts of data, but it must be done in an [efficient and effective](https://www.financedigest.com/effectively-efficiently-build-financial-trust-customer-journey.html "Effectively and efficiently build financial trust on the customer journey") manner. Getting [data transformation right accelerates](https://www.financedigest.com/interoperability-of-data-to-accelerate-the-medical-tapes-market.html "Interoperability of data to accelerate the Medical Tapes Market") digital transformation. It’s the most robust [way for businesses](https://www.financedigest.com/top-10-ways-to-make-your-business-workplace-more-sustainable.html "Top 10 ways to make your business workplace more sustainable") to scale and complete in 2021 and beyond.


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