How to Improve Data Visibility

As the technology landscape continues to adapt and evolve, the methods with which we manipulate and analyze data are held to higher standards. If we are unable to meet these standards, we are allowing space for emerging threats to grow. However, data visibility has the power to combat this. If used correctly, organizations that improve their data visibility can enhance their security and improve efficiency.

What is Data Visibility?

Data visibility measures the clarity of how data is monitored and displayed. With easy access to this data by different departments within a company, they are able to view the fluctuation of data over time. Being able to confidently analyze key metrics using reliable data is an example of good data visibility. With sound data visibility comes the benefit of making more informed business decisions. On the other hand, poor data visibility can cause complications with safeguarding data and privacy regulations.

Poor data visibility is often defined as a series of scattered information between multiple sources. In 2019, Keysight conducted a survey of more than 300 IT professionals who manage private and public cloud deployments. 95% of the respondents claimed that data visibility issues resulted in network performance issues while 99% of respondents found a relationship between network visibility and business value. Given the relationship between data visibility and business value, it would be in the best interest of companies to prioritize maintaining good data visibility.

Improving Data Visibility

One way to improve data visibility is to ensure easy access to real-time analytics. Real-time analytics is the immediate process through which data is prepared, measured, and understood as soon as it is entered into a database. When data is only accessible to one party within an organization such as the IT department, other business users may have difficulty finding and utilizing this data. As a result, these users must extract data from less reliable sources, such as unrelated third-parties or unverifiable and noncurrent research. Pulling and manipulating data from such sources can waste time and resources, produce inaccurate insights, increase a company’s susceptibility to security threats, and result in operational inefficiency.

Some organizations have adopted the solution of continuous security monitoring to simultaneously combat security threats and improve data visibility. Continuous security monitoring automates the detection of compliance and security risks. By providing real-time visibility with this security solution, IT professionals are able to mitigate the risks associated with potential threats and identify security vulnerabilities. Additionally, companies are better able to assess their overall security architecture to ensure they are consistently following security regulations.

Data Visibility Tools

Scaylr is a cloud-based analytics platform that can be used to monitor data across an infrastructure. This platform acts as a centralized log monitoring system for different data sources users choose to monitor. With quick data ingestion, data visualization, and strong search capabilities, Scaylr helps foster a culture of good data visibility.

Digital Guardian is a cloud-delivered data protection platform. Their data visibility and control software can be used to store and manage data. This software has the ability to pinpoint and track sensitive data, recognize threatening malware behavior, and prevent data loss. Nothing short of full data visibility to all hardware, software, data creation, data storage and data movement can be achieved with Digital Guardian.

The Importance of Data Visibility

Data visibility plays a vital role in maximizing a business’s value and operational efficiency. With good data visibility, an overview of different systems can be viewed by managers. As a result, smarter business decisions are made, team comfort levels rise, and there is greater protection against security threats. A good example of an organization that prioritizes data visibility is humanID.

humanID’s open source nature facilitates a relationship built on trust with its users since anyone can view the open source code. With a commitment to community, collaboration, and transparency, open source software (OSS) mitigates security risks and offers room for scalability of data. Security is achievable through the constant review of code and closure of security gaps by open source community developers. In comparison to non-open source softwares, vulnerabilities are addressed and patches are released at a faster rate in OSS. Another benefit is the increase in software scalability. Greater scalability means the software is better able to adapt to the user’s demands, with data being able to be quickly visualized on a greater or smaller scale accordingly. By mitigating security risks and increasing scalability, data visibility is improved upon.

As the world becomes more digital by the day, the importance of data visibility grows. Data breaches are better avoided, business value increases, and data is easily understood when companies prioritize good data visibility. Even now, there are tools that can be used to help businesses improve data visibility. By taking advantage of these tools and making everything visible, there is less room for error and more for success.