Businesses often mistakenly believe that there’s a magic bullet or solution that will help solve all their data processing problems. Be it internal data or external data gathered from sales and marketing campaigns, the wealth of information available today often exceeds the human capability to handle. Before your data deluge gets even harder to handle, it’s advised that you look at building a data lake into the business.

Here are 4 tips on how to start off on the right foot:

1) Start with basic infrastructure and build systematically

Much like building architecture, foundations need to be strong in order to provide the required support. As such, it pays to take time in at this stage to fully onboard data sources one by one with the required building blocks in place. Define the business value behind the inclusion with each iteration or data source.

2) Set governance in place

Once you’ve got your data pipeline in place, it’s time to decide who will be the owners or custodians of the data assets in the business. Processes must be clearly defined when it comes to how the data will be stored, archived, backed up and protected from accidents, threats or attacks. A set of standards and procedures must be drawn up, defining how the data is to be used by authorized personnel. Ongoing compliance with internal data policies and external government regulations should also be observed.

Got your data processes in place already? Then you might be interested in learning "How to shape your customer experience with big data."

3) Ensure flexibility that allows evolution with new technology

Technology is evolving at an exponential rate; it’s estimated that tech doubles every two years. Therefore, adaptability is key. Whatever processes you have set in place, ensure that it allows for the adoption of new tech or systems as and when required. Naturally, it should also allow for the inclusion of new data sources. This keeps your business flexible and agile.

4) Security should be a priority at every level 

You’ve taken the time to build your data lake, so it makes sense to ensure you protect it. It’s still a concern for many companies that some their most valuable data could leave the building on a thumb drive in an employee’s pocket or worse, leaked through an errant social media post. The ability to avoid these issues (and more) involves education among staff in terms of security and privacy matters, as well as due diligence within the organization itself. Security measures such as deceptive technology or the “Black cloud” (SDP) can also be adopted.

At Nugit, we aim to help marketers make sense of their data through our AI and NLG technology. Subscribe to our blog to keep updated on the latest tech trends or download our case studies below to see how companies have used Nugit for data success: