2022 Big Ideas: Dataware for 'Zero Copy' Integration

If 2021 is remembered primarily as a period of recovery, then let’s hope that 2022 offers the springboard for new ideas, new initiatives and new levels of success—genuine transformation with wide-ranging benefits. We’ve faced unfathomable challenges in the past two years. Now, it’s time to be different. It's time for Dataware.

In 2022, all things being equal, we’ll begin to see the end of ‘integration’ as we know it with a new standard of ‘zero-copy’ integration that gets us closer to true data autonomy.

It’s remarkable how, in an operating environment defined by constant innovation and the emergence of data as a quantifiable business asset, we still struggle to collate, share and secure data in a way that’s both convenient and compliant. We’ve all suffered through years of multiple out-of-sync versions.

Now, however, it’s possible for teams to collaborate in real time, sharing controlled access to original sources—when a change is made, it’s visible instantly across every platform. We see this as Dataware: Any applications referencing data are updated automatically, with no worries about versioning or obsolete data. Just like here on LinkedIn, it’s a network of linked datasets that act as a ‘power grid’ for data, enabling every constituency—employees, customers, clients, and partners—to collaborate on operational data in real time to build unlimited digital solutions faster and cheaper.

Keep your eye on ‘Zero-Copy Integration,’ an emerging framework in data governance (it’s set to become a national standard in Canada). This is an approach to digital solution delivery that eliminates traditional copy-based data integration (via ETLs, APIs) and delivers meaningful access controls that can be universally enforced.

The benefits are significant: It moves us from a code-centric to a data-centric approach to building an endless stream of solutions efficiently and economically, even as it enhances data governance.