Transforming PHL banking through data democratization

DATA democratization is like providing all team members in a basketball game with the same coach’s playbook. Limiting access to only select players hinders the team’s ability to execute cohesive plays and make effective decisions on the field. However, when the entire team has access to the playbook, they can understand the game plan, anticipate moves, and work together seamlessly to score more points and win the game. In banking, democratizing data empowers every employee to have a deep understanding of the business strategies and trends, leading to better collaboration and improved outcomes for the organization as a whole.

THE ROLE OF DATA IN THE PHILIPPINE BANKING SYSTEM
Today, financial institutions must possess the capability to amass, comprehend, and exploit data effectively to secure a competitive edge and achieve success. The same holds for local banks where, as Mc-Kinsey highlights, the combined value generated by the three major fintech and digital banks in the Philippines surpassed that of all traditional banks in the country over the past two years.

For the latter to thrive, they must acquire, comprehend, and capitalize on data swiftly. According to a report by IDC, organizations with a high degree of data intelligence experience a 40% financial improvement, and a 20% enhancement to operations compared with those grappling with a lower level of data intelligence.

Nevertheless, analyzing and acting upon organizational data has usually been confined to specific groups of employees within businesses for an extended period. This, in turn, has impeded decision-making and even led to decisions being made without robust data to substantiate them, placing organizations at a disadvantage.

REALIZING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF DATA
Want to know why democratizing data enables organizations to pivot towards data-driven practices? It’s because it allows employees of all stripes to access the data they need readily, empowering them to act on insights and with greater efficacy. For instance, this can be leveraged for customized and personalized customer experiences, ultimately leading to heightened levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

By embracing data democratization, banks arm their employees with highly available, reliable, and secure data. Not only does this enable processes to be streamlined and bottlenecks to be overcome, it also ensures data can be used to identify and comprehend emerging market and behavioral trends.

DATA DEMOCRATIZATION IN A PREDOMINANTLY HYBRID LANDSCAPE
The era where an organization’s data resided solely in a singular location is long gone. In today’s landscape, both business and technical users must possess the ability to fully harness data that spans diverse infrastructures, including cloud, distributed systems, and mainframes. When assessing data intelligence tools, organizations should prioritize solutions that not only enable data democratization within the business but also seamlessly integrate across diverse IT systems.

This need becomes increasingly critical as a growing number of organizations adopts hybrid solutions to leverage the advantages offered by both the cloud and the mainframe. In a recent survey conducted by Rocket Software, a staggering 93% of respondents strongly felt that their organizations should embrace a hybrid infrastructure model that encompasses both the mainframe and the cloud.

BENEFITS TO USERS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION
Different roles have different goals. Therefore, data intelligence tools must provide benefits to users across the entire organization and be user-friendly enough for employees with varying backgrounds to leverage. This requires an intuitive interface and clear visualizations.

Tools with intuitive interface and clear visualization allow users to quickly and comprehensively identify critical data, regardless of their level of expertise in data science. It also allows users to create robust plans for change, such as updating data flows and managing cloud migration, ensuring that data management is efficient and effective.

This enables business users to gain a comprehensive view of the organization’s data landscape and understand the trustworthiness of the data. Data teams can focus on delivering exceptional value, IT can plan for IT modernization initiatives more effectively, and lines of business can execute business reporting more efficiently.

Praveen Kumar is the vice-president for Asia Pacific at Rocket Software.