Anthony Spiteri, global technologist at Veeam Software.

With data volume growing at an exponential rate, Veeam Software is positioning itself to be a leader in cloud data management.

This was the word from Anthony Spiteri, global technologist at Veeam, speaking to ITWeb yesterday on the sidelines of the VeeamON conference in Miami.

Spiteri pointed out Veeam's strategy is to be the cloud management provider for data. This, he explained, means refining and making data valuable.

Growth and how to manage data is on trend with global technology predictions, he added. "From our perspective, it's more about making the data available. I think that's the trend that we will see in the next few years, understanding that not only have we got data for compliance, but how to make it work."

Veeam estimates the cloud data management market will be worth more than $15 billion by 2020.

Ratmir Timashev, co-founder and executive VP of sales and marketing, previously commented that Veeam sees cloud, mobile, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and the Internet of things as the areas that will drive data production and consumption the most.

According to Carey Stanton, VP for global alliances, Veeam is not looking to get into the analysis of the data because it belongs to the customer. "We always want to be that trusted partner for the customer. We just want to make sure we are the trusted data protector for data that's being managed, analysed and reported on."

Delivering the closing keynote at the event yesterday, Nancy Giordano, strategic futurist, called on the audience to examine the future needs of a data-driven society and the unique contributions individuals, organisations and industry can make.

Recognised as one of the top female futurists, Giordano's work is geared towards helping enterprise organisations and leaders transform to meet expectations ahead.

Explaining the importance of diverse thinking in a data-driven environment, Giordano used the example of California being the first state to require more women to be on corporate boards because research shows companies that have women in leadership roles are more profitable.

"This is about 50% more profitability, at least. Definitely, the decision-making is different. It is not just about putting more women on the boards but it's about different thinking, education, etc."