The global COVID-19 pandemic has introduced several drastic changes even in the world of business and technology, but one thing has remained steadfast through this crisis—the reliance of businesses on data and data processing platforms. This dependence on data has been more pronounced during the pandemic, in light of market trends and customer sentiment being in a constant state of flux. Data processing platforms like in-memory data grids (IMDGs) have been a boon for organizations trying to find ways to stay afloat and thrive during the crisis.
Despite the economic chaos and decline in social activities caused by COVID-19, however, it has also become a catalyst for technological change. It has introduced, quite forcibly, technological advances that could help businesses in the long term. Online services are nothing new; they have been here for years, but organizations have been reluctant to adopt them due to challenges in implementation and getting buy-in from stakeholders. COVID-19, however, has pushed these platforms to the forefront, with companies scrambling to find ways to minimize disruption in business processes. This is one of the main reasons why automation has been a big thing during the pandemic; the crisis has shown business owners that many of their business processes can be done automatically. Delivery services have also boomed because almost everything is being delivered nowadays, from grocery items to household supplies. Even educational institutions and leisure companies have turned to online platforms to continue providing their services.
How We Do Business Has Changed
Consumers haven’t been known for their patience, and the global pandemic has highlighted the fact that a few seconds of delay can mean the difference between success and failure. The reliance on data has never been as pronounced as it is now, with markets and economies in chaos. Even before the pandemic, data-reliant businesses expected better financial performance. This trend is expected to continue post-pandemic and beyond. This is the reason why companies should be equipped with the right tools or platforms that will make processing and storage of large amounts of data manageable. An in-memory data grid is a cost-effective solution for any type of business, but how do you know if it’s the right solution for you?
Below are a few factors to look at when considering an in-memory computing solution.
Consistency of Data
When choosing an IMDG, strong consistency of data should be on the top of your list. This means that reading always returns the latest and most recently updated data. This is a vital consideration because some data grids only offer eventual consistency, which can provide data prior to an update if the read is done following an update. Data can be lost even after a successful write so critical applications, like booking, money transfers, and billing, should never be dependent on eventual consistency.
Event-driven Analytics
This is a powerful feature because, aside from allowing you to set an event as a trigger for a method, it also provides context to streaming and transactional data in relation to historical data. It helps with data accuracy by allowing for continuous retraining of models and feeding machine learning feature vectors. It’s ideal for online processing services because it can trigger a notification once an event is received. This allows companies to detect canceled payments, potential data breaches, and any other anomaly in the service and act accordingly.
ACID
If your business engages in a lot of transactions on a daily basis, ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) should be a feature of the in-memory data grid you choose. ACID is a set of database transaction properties designed to ensure validity in the event of errors or power failures. In computing, a transaction is defined as a sequence of data operations that satisfies ACID properties. Banking transactions like transferring funds from one account to another is considered a single transaction, even if it involves multiple changes like debiting one account and crediting another.
The Delicate Balance of Cost and Performance
If you rely on data to keep your business going or if aspects of your business can’t run smoothly without data, your business is ready for an in-memory data grid. Big data is the name of the game these days, and in-memory data grids are a more powerful and cost-effective solution compared to conventional data analysis platforms due to the way in-memory data grids process data. Data is never static, and conventional platforms can only analyze very large but static datasets that are often copied from disk to a distributed file system. In-memory data grids, on the other hand, analyzes data in the stream, analyzing even fast-changing operational data. It also uses RAM to minimize data movement to and from disk.
Essentially, in-memory data grids provide access to near real-time data so companies can base business decisions on the right data and be a step ahead of the competition and their customers. As the technology develops, it will become easier to predict market trends and customer sentiment and take action according to these data-driven insights. If your business is looking at data to move it to the next level, it’s ready for an in-memory data grid.
