A Game Changer for Data Management:One Data Launches New Software for AI-Powered Data Product Creation

Passau, October 10, 2023 – For many companies, treating their data as a valuable product and turning into a quality asset for its departments can pave the way for unprecedented opportunities. The reason: Knowledge about data that is otherwise buried can be made available and turned into genuine added value. Software producer One Data is now elevating this concept to new heights through its AI-powered Data Product Builder, the first tool of its kind available on the market. The intuitive solution makes it substantially easier to create quality data products, with key processes carried out automatically via artificial intelligence (AI). A look at how this tool is currently being used by customers such as thyssenkrupp, ebm-papst and SCHOTT illustrates the huge impact it is capable of delivering.

New technologies, disruptive markets, evolving production requirements – our world is in a constant state of flux, and companies need to respond to these changes rapidly and in an agile manner. Data points the way to a better future, as it can be used to map these developments accurately ahead of time. However, many companies continue to keep their data in unconnected silos, making it difficult to access, incompatible and essentially useless. The game changer for this situation is the principle of “data as a product” and the notion of applying a “product-thinking” mindset to data. “Data is a factor of production and an asset for digital businesses. In practice, however, it is seen and treated as a technical waste product produced by IT systems. By contrast, downstream data value chains need credible, high quality data that is treated as a product. Adopting a product-thinking mindset places the user and their requirements at the center of things. In total, 90% of participants in our latest study, ‘Data Mesh: Game Changer or Just Hot Air?’ agree that product thinking can increase the quality of data assets. It leads to the creation of quality data products that can be retrieved via a data marketplace and offer direct added value,” explains Jacqueline Bloemen, Senior Analyst Data & Analytics at the leading analyst firm BARC.

New software facilitates agile collaboration between IT and business teams

The answer to how more value can be generated from previously unused data lies in the company treating it like any other asset that creates value – and therefore like a product. One Data not only made this idea its own, but is now using its software to take this concept to all-new heights: the AI-powered Data Product Builder enables companies to create data products quickly and comprehensively, in a collaborative manner, with quality in mind. Many of the processes involved are automated through AI. “Through our software, we have designed a solution that enables the entire life cycle of a data product to be developed and managed: creating, deploying and managing data products that bring IT, data and business teams together in one product while distributing roles and responsibilities to increase the speed at which companies can use data to drive innovation. In doing so, we are filling a gap in the market. Up to now, there has been no suitable solution when it comes to automating cooperation between a company’s IT and business teams,” explains Dr. Andreas Böhm, founder and Managing Director of One Data GmbH. “This is why we have gone one step beyond simply devising a solution for the development of data products. We now also unlock the door to agile collaboration between IT, data and business teams.”

Requesting data products based on an AI-powered approach

The developers’ overarching goal was to make every step in the journey towards creating a data product much simpler across each life cycle. As a result, every aspect of the software’s interface was designed so users can create a data product easily and intuitively. In addition, the idea is for it to take just a few seconds to request a data product in future and for this process to be supported by AI. In other words, there is no need to search for the data beforehand. This AI-powered approach greatly reduces the amount of work involved in identifying, gathering and collecting information. Why is this important? “In most companies, collecting information takes between 60% and 90% of the total time required for a task. We are dramatically reducing this by up to 80%,” explains Böhm. “We also want to make our business users comfortable with using the solution. This is the reason why our AI technology displays the required data sources and calculations in a clear manner: it means individuals can verify the results without needing special knowledge to do so.”

Integration into Tableau and Power BI

The new solution is designed to be highly compatible with other systems, meaning that trusted technologies from other providers can continue to be used and enhanced through the AI-powered Data Product Builder. This applies, for example, to Tableau and Power BI – a live connection can be established on request, after which users can rest assured that the data product quality is up to date when working with visualizations and reports. The new function “Link AI” adds just as much value. It helps data owners establish automatic links between those data sets where it is especially difficult to see how they can be connected.

Strong results at thyssenkrupp, ebm-papst and SCHOTT

The impact of this approach is illustrated by various One Data customers and how they are implementing it. thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, for example, uses the technology to create data products. “In steel production, data is essential for guidance and control. We have adopted an entirely new, AI-powered approach to preparing data via One Data’s setup and creating data products. We can extract millions of datasets much more efficiently from more than 35 source systems, such as our SAP ERP system, deploy them for new use cases, and scale them with ease. In future, every relevant person in the company can benefit from access to such data products for their own projects. This will, for example, enable production to be optimized as part of the supply chain. In contrast to today, we can make substantial savings amounting to millions of euros,” states Dieter Grossman, Head of Enterprise Platforms & Data Intelligence at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe.

The air and heating technology specialists at ebm-papst have adopted a similar philosophy when it comes to data. The company is driven by one overarching goal: “As a production company with a complex supply chain, we have to respond to global events and bottlenecks quickly. This is why we see data products as the next generation of data management. Through One Data, we have developed data products to identify missing parts in a portfolio of 20,000 products and ensure production continues even when we are facing bottlenecks. The Data Product Builder accelerates project execution, guarantees data quality, reusability and scalability, and ultimately saves us time and optimizes revenue generation through automation and AI,” states Alexander Käss, Director SCM Processes & Systems Europe at ebm-papst.

At SCHOTT, a leading producer of high-tech materials relating to specialty glass, its experts have also decided to treat data as a “real product” and transfer ownership to those departments and people who know the data best: “Data is there for everyone and should be used throughout a company to add value. Thanks to One Data, we were able to make the switch to treating data as a product. Data products are made available across departments and can be used by everyone. For us, this new approach paves the way for data mesh,” explains Martin Kemmer, Head of Smart Factory & OT4.0 at SCHOTT.

A decisive competitive edge

One software tool for all relevant users within a company paired with the effective integration of AI to automate a host of processes: against this backdrop, One Data considers itself to be optimally equipped when it comes to establishing a new data management system at companies and organizations. “Data can be transformed into a new resource using the AI-powered Data Product Builder. Specifically, it helps companies to acquire new insights, advance innovations and simplify decision-making processes. Providing data products enables companies to create more efficient types of value from data – from more resilient supply chains and more productive production processes to more precise forecasts while conserving resources,” states Andreas Böhm in closing. “This turns a data product into a decisive competitive edge. Our product is one of the keys to helping companies take advantage of this competitive edge as easily and comprehensively as possible.”