Bloomberg hybrid cloud service opens access to ‘dark data’ for firms
Collet: opportunities to use dark data
Bloomberg Vault has introduced a hybrid cloud-based service that enables firms to “identify, categorise, track and manage” unstructured data held in corporate files and documents.
Bloomberg Vault, the enterprise information management service business of the market data and media firm, calls this ‘dark data’ and says its File Analytics service will allow firms to make use of it in new ways.
“Businesses today struggle to capture and organise the many different types of unstructured data in corporate file shares and enterprise repositories,” said Harald Collet, global head of Bloomberg Vault. “This ‘dark data’ presents firms with significant challenges and opportunities. Bloomberg Vault File Analytics helps firms address these challenges and derive more value from their data by enabling them to manage, analyse, and control large amounts of enterprise information.”
According to Collet, the system operates by setting up a virtual machine behind the client’s firewall that scans the metadata of files, and in some cases the content as well. This is then handed back to the cloud-hosted Bloomberg Vault where it is analysed using a range of templates according to what the client is looking for. Collet said there are a range of use cases, such as security offices looking for personal information such as credit card numbers stored inappropriately, or IT managers looking optimise storage use.
click to enlarge
Key to doing this is to develop policies that can be run on a regular basis. “If you had to do the search every time, it is unlikely that you’d do it,” Collet said. “It comes with policies that are configured as part of the onboarding process.”
The service will be available from next month, with pricing based on data volumes. Collet said that later iterations will be able to incorporate best practices policies from third-party partners in areas such as anti-money laundering. Further down the line is the possibility of adding machine learning capabilities
Test users have been working with Bloomberg Vault File Analytics for the past few months. Neil Roberts chief technology officer at global investment firm Polygon Global Partners said: “Like most businesses in our space, we handle large volumes of unstructured data. Bloomberg Vault File Analytics is a mechanism to better extract key insight and analysis from this data while also allowing us to responsibly maintain the correct audit trail for compliance and recording keeping.”
