Data can help you outperform on every financial metric: NetApp CEO

Covid-19 has significantly accelerated digitisation and technology intensification, NetApp CEO George Kurian told TOI in an exclusive interaction. The two key elements in this, he said, have been cloud and data. “In the digital world, cloud as a technology platform, and data as the understanding of your customer and the way you accelerate business, have always been the two cornerstones of our strategy and our customers’ strategy,” he said.
Under Kurian, NetApp, which had started as a data storage company, has evolved to help customers get the most out of their data with cloud data services, storage systems, and software.
“Everyone from McKinsey to Boston Consulting Group to Accenture to Microsoft and IBM have written about the fact that if you have the ability to use data strategically, you can drive a much better return on investment, or return on equity, profit margin, improvement of top line growth. You name the financial metric, you’re going to outperform, not just incrementally but by several orders of magnitude,” said Kurian, a Bengaluru boy who took over as CEO of the $6-billion company five years ago.