The global economy’s digital transformation is accelerating and generating massive, complex datasets, which require innovative, scalable digital warehouses to collect, organize and provide faster access to data. “As businesses increasingly recognize the importance of data warehouses, the market for these solutions is experiencing rapid growth,” according to G2. The software retailer predicts cloud-based warehousing will have a 15% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), with investment in cloud solutions growing to more than $10 billion by 2026.
The meteoric expansion of digital storage drives enormous demand for information security professionals. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employers anticipate hiring more than 53,000 information security analysts annually through 2032, representing a 32% growth rate.
The online Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) with a concentration in Information Security program from Murray State University prepares graduates for technical, senior management and administrative roles in the field. The program’s curriculum provides security strategy best practices for continuous safety across information systems.
What Is a Data Warehouse?
A data warehouse is a centralized, highly structured storage for digital information. It facilitates complex queries that support business intelligence and enables high-performance, streamlined reporting for decision-makers.
Going deeper, modern warehouse architecture typically consists of four layers, or features, to take advantage of cloud-based storage capabilities. According to Overlay, organizations are migrating data repositories to the cloud to leverage its scalability at lower costs than on-site storage. Overlay identifies the layers of cloud-based data warehousing as:
- Access: Manages interactions between applications and data storage systems
- Integration: Centralizes data from various sources for unified analytics
- Analytics: Enables decision-makers to extract insights from structured data for predictive modeling
- Visualization: Transforms digital information in graphic models to simplify understanding and analysis
“Using a modern data warehouse can give an organization limitless query power, as well as the ability to unlock insights from large amounts of information,” the data platform provider promises.
How Information Security Analysts Ensure Trustworthy Data for Decision-Making
Data is only as useful as the measures taken to protect it. According to Softweb Solutions, security analysts use encryption, controls to prevent unauthorized access and processes to monitor, detect and prevent breaches.
It also notes that data governance is a primary consideration in guaranteeing the accuracy and quality of data. “This ensures that the data in the data warehouse is reliable and consistent.” Other key factors that protect the accuracy, consistency and reliability of data include:
- Data validation: Enables finding and correcting errors and anomalies
- Audit trails: Allows organizations to identify data access changes
- Master data management: Helps to establish and enforce standards regarding sources of data generation, data ownership and access standards
“Many challenges may arise from the lack of MDM [master data management] such as: data redundancy, data inconsistencies, business process inefficiencies, and rapid changes in the business model,” HubSpot warns.
How Are Data Warehouses Distinct From Data Lakes?
Like a data warehouse, a data lake comprises processes for storing vast amounts of digital information. Unlike a warehouse, a lake is less structured and risks becoming unmanageable. NetWitness draws these comparisons:
- Warehouses are ideal for structured data and analytics. Lakes are flexible and can accommodate structured and unstructured data, making them useful for data exploration.
- Warehouses enable high-performance complex queries that support business intelligence. The scalability of lakes enables real-time analytics and big data processing.
- Warehouses provide superior data management functionality but at a potentially higher cost. Lakes perform at lower costs but require more stringent governance to achieve those savings.
NetWitness explains that “data warehouses are well-suited for businesses that rely on structured data and need rapid query performance. On the other hand, data lakes offer the flexibility to handle a variety of data types and scale as your data grows.”
About the Online MSIS Information Security Program From Murray State University
Among the electives available in Murray State University’s online MSIS Information Security program, the Information Systems Security course provides an overview of security challenges and mitigation controls in the information system environment. With the insights from this course and others offered through the program, graduates have the tools and insights to support and strengthen their organizations’ information security and storage structures.
Learn more about Murray State University’s online Master of Science in Information Science with a concentration in Information Security program.
