When it comes to data, what would set CIOs up for 2025?

This isn’t about juggling one or two priorities. Most CIOs are stretched across multiple projects on top of keeping their organisations’ IT systems on track; from delivering large digital transformation projects and fending off cyber attacks, to introducing AI and other innovative tech.

So, where should CIOs put their focus in the last months of 2024, when they face competing priorities and time is tight? How do they strike the right balance between innovation and overall performance? 

We’ve asked a panel of experts to share what they think will make the most impact, when it comes to data.

Get your data in order

Building a strong foundation for current and future projects is a great place to start, according to our specialists. First stop, managing data. Specifically data quality.

“Without the right, accurate data, the rest of your initiatives will be challenging: whether that’s a complex migration, AI innovation or simply operating business as usual,” Syniti MD and SVP EMEA Chris Gorton explains. “Start by getting to know your data, understanding the data that’s business critical and linked to your organisational objectives. Next, set meaningful objectives around accuracy and availability, track your progress and be ready to adjust your approach if needed. Then introduce robust governance your organisation can follow to make sure your data quality remains on track. 

“By putting data first over the next few months, you’ll be in a great position to move forward with those big projects in 2025.”

As well as giving a good base to build from, getting to grips with data governance can also help to protect valuable data. Keepit CISO Kim Larsen points out: “When organisations don’t have a clear understanding and mapping of their data and its importance, they cannot protect it or determine which technologies to implement, and therefore preserve that data and determine who has access to it.

“When disaster strikes and they lose access to their data, whether because of cyberattacks, human error or system outages, it’s too late to identify and prioritise which data sets they need to recover to ensure business continuity. Good data governance equals control. In a constantly evolving cyber threat landscape, control is essential.”

Understand the infrastructure you need behind the scenes

Once CIOs are confident of their data quality, infrastructure may well be the next focus: particularly if AI, Machine Learning or another innovative technologies are on the cards for next year. Understanding the infrastructure needed for optimum performance is key, otherwise new tools may fail to deliver the results they promise.

Xinnor CRO Davide Villa explains: "As CIOs implement innovative solutions to drive their businesses forward, it's crucial to consider the foundation that supports them. Modern workloads like AI, Machine Learning, and Big Data analytics all require rapid data access. In recent years, fast storage has become an integral part of IT strategy, with technologies like NVMe SSDs emerging as powerful tools for high-performance storage.

“However, it's important to think holistically about how these technologies integrate with existing infrastructures and data protection methods. As you plan for the future, take time to assess your storage needs and explore various solutions. Determine whether traditional storage solutions best suit your workload or if more modern approaches, such as software-based versions of RAID, could enhance flexibility and performance. The goal is to create an infrastructure that not only meets your current demands efficiently but also remains adaptable to future requirements, ensuring your systems can handle evolving workloads' speed and capacity needs while optimising resource utilisation."

Protect against cyber attacks…

With threats from AI-powered cyber crime and ransomware increasing, data protection is high on our experts’ priorities. And they have good reason to focus on this area: the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre is currently warning that AI will allow cyber criminals to attack targets more effectively, with greater speed and with increasing sophistication. 

As a first step, audit the current provision, says Scality CMO Paul Speciale. “CIOs should assess their existing storage backup solutions to make sure they are truly immutable to provide a baseline of defence against ransomware that threatens to overwrite or delete data. Not all so-called immutable storage is actually safe at all times, so inherently immutable object storage is a must-have.

“Then look beyond immutable storage to stop exfiltration attacks. Mitigating the threat of data exfiltration requires a multi-layered approach for a more comprehensive standard of end-to-end cyber resilience. This builds safeguards at every level of the system - from API to architecture - and closes the door on as many threat vectors as possible.”

Piql founder and MD, Rune Bjerkestrand, agrees: “We rely on trusted digital solutions in almost every aspect of our lives, and business is no exception. And although this offers us many opportunities to innovate, it also makes us vulnerable. Whether those threats are physical, from climate change, terrorism, and war, or virtual, think cyber attack, data manipulation and ransomware, CIOs need to ensure guaranteed, continuous access to authentic data.

“As the year comes to an end, prioritise your critical data and make sure you have the right protection in place to guarantee access to it. ”

Understanding the wider cyber crime landscape can also help to identify the most vulnerable parts of an infrastructure, says iTernity CEO Ralf Steinemann. “In these next few months, prioritise business continuity. Strengthen your ransomware protection and focus on the security of your backup data. Given the increasing sophistication and frequency of ransomware attacks, which often target backups, look for solutions that ensure data remains unaltered and recoverable. And consider how you’ll further enhance security by minimising vulnerabilities and reducing the risk of human error.”

Remember edge data

Central storage and infrastructure is a high priority for CIOs. But with the majority of data often created, managed and stored at the edge, it’s incredibly important to get to grips with this critical data.

StorMagic CTO Julian Chesterfield explains: “Often businesses do not apply the same rigorous process for providing high availability and redundancy at the edge as they do in the core datacentre or in the cloud. Plus, with a larger distributed edge infrastructure comes a larger attack surface and increased vulnerabilities. CIOs need to think about how they mitigate that risk and how they deploy trusted and secure infrastructure at their edge locations without compromising integrity of overall IT services.”

Think long term

With all these competing challenges, CIOs must make sure whatever they prioritise supports the wider data strategy, so that the work put in now has long-term benefits, says Pure Storage Field CTO EMEA Patrick Smith. “CIO focus should be on a long term strategy to meet these multiple pressures. Don’t fall into the trap of listening to hype and making decisions based on FOMO,” he warns. “Given the uncertainty associated with some new initiatives, consuming infrastructure through an as-a-Service model provides a flexible way to approach these goals. The ability to scale up and down as needed, only pay for what’s being used, and have guarantees baked into the contract should be an appealing proposition.”

Where will you focus?

As we enter the final stretch of 2024, it’s crucial to prioritise and take action. With the right strategies in place focusing on data quality, governance, infrastructure, and security, CIOs will be set up to meet current demands, and build a solid foundation for their organisations in 2025 and beyond. Don’t wait for the pressures to mount. Our experts agree: start prioritising now, and get ready to thrive in the year ahead.