Guides

Plugged In or Left Out? Navigating the Emerging Generative AI Gap

Generative AI is the buzzword of the moment. Attend any industry conference or skim through the latest Gartner hype cycle, and you’d be forgiven for thinking we’re on the cusp of a generative AI utopia. Everyone’s doing it. Everyone’s winning. Everyone’s transforming their businesses at warp speed.

Except, well… they’re not.

Here at Oakland, we’ve had some revealing conversations while compiling this report on the readiness of major organisations to implement generative AI. Spoiler alert: the reality isn’t quite keeping up with the hype.

A Guide to selecting the right Data Governance Tooling

How can Data Governance Tooling help me? 

The Data Governance landscape is constantly changing. As business direction shifts, data technologies advance and new regulations come into force – governance has to change with them. Delivering Data Governance at scale and keeping up is a constant challenge.  

Having the right tooling and technology to make sure data is in the hands of the right people has never been more essential. So, it’s no wonder that Data Governance tooling like Alation, Atlan, Collibra, Informatica, and Purview (just to name a few) has never been so popular. We can bet that you have not only heard of these names, but also you are probably on every salesperson’s speed dial. So why is Data Governance tooling so popular, and is it the silver bullet to fixing all of your Data Governance challenges?

The Business Guide to Artificial Intelligence (Get your data talking)

AI is everywhere these days. It’s organising your emails, checking your spelling, and touching up your photos. At this point, even your Granny has had a go with ChatGPT.

But here’s the thing. How much influence is AI having on the ‘make or break’ moments at your company? For lots of organisations we speak to, the answer is still ‘not much’.

Which is strange, because the commercial opportunity is huge. Gartner estimate that 90% of all enterprise data is unstructured and held in formats like free text, audio files or pictures. Until recently, that unstructured data has been locked away behind barriers of cost and effort. But thanks to recent advances in AI, it’s all suddenly in play. Just imagine the transformative insights on offer if you can get that unstructured data talking.

Project Data Analytics

Project data analytics (PDA) has huge potential to assist in the delivery of infrastructure projects bringing £billions of annual savings to the UK. Our new report identifies a host of barriers and enablers to PDA’s effective deployment. Organisations adopting PDA need to take this into account by realising that there is no ‘silver bullet’ for implementation.

To find out more about our groundbreaking research with Project Praxis Group, WMG – University of Warwick, download the report.

Data Governance for Humans (and a little for AIs)

There’s a good chance that data underpins every product, service, or capability in your organisation.

But organisations have been managing data for decades, so why do we need data governance?

At Oakland, we’ve been delivering data governance initiatives to some of the UK’s leading organisations for years.

The primary goal of data governance is to ensure that data assets are managed in a way that aligns with business goals, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices. These extra pressures and demands drive the need to go beyond traditional data management.

Master the 5 Stages of Successful Data Projects

With our FREE guide created in partnership with Data Literacy Academy.

How to write your data strategy

Data: it’s the best of times and the worst of times.

Over the last two decades, there’s been a huge surge in interest, innovation, and investment in data. It’s hard to find a company that doesn’t want to be more data-driven or a CEO who isn’t interested. Data professionals have never been in higher demand, and new ideas, technologies, and career paths are hitting the market at warp speed. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? But remember: the data industry is really good at gloss.

The reality for most companies is very different. The chasm between the hype and the reality has probably never been wider. Many businesses are still grappling with the basics.

Data Governance by Stealth: The Lighthouse Concept

Having delivered a number of large data governance programs, we’re in the fortunate position to look in the rear-view mirror and spot those critical activities that held the key to success.

We’ve curated those learnings into this guide to provide a ‘warts and all’ account of what you can expect as you embark on your own data governance journey.

Unlocking Your Data Future with a Platform

Data Platforms are EVERYWHERE but which is right for you? When Gartner names one of its top strategic trends for 2022 as Cloud-Native Platforms you know this isn’t a trend that is here today and gone tomorrow.

By 2025, cloud-native platforms will serve as the foundation for more than 95% of new digital initiatives – up from less than 40% in 2021.