Resolve to Make More Data-Driven Decisions: 5 Trends to Consider

Lance Walter works in global marketing for Datameer.

In our new data economy, the best business decisions are data driven. To stay ahead of the curve, companies must use data to better understand and reach customers, develop new revenue streams, and dramatically improve operational efficiencies.

Without data they will fall behind. As companies map out their goals for the next year, they should commit to making data analytics the crux of their strategies. In order to build a comprehensive data strategy, businesses should be aware of these top five trends shaping the industry:

The Internet of Things

As the complexity of data accelerates, the barrier to entry for data analytics grows bigger and bigger. This barrier will exponentially increase with the Internet of Things (IoT) as the number of connected devices is predicted to rise by 285 percent, according to a recent report from Juniper Research. Organizations that want to bridge the technical gap to enable data-driven decisions across teams must find a way to deliver user simplicity while remaining under the umbrella of data governance.

While the IoT has already emerged as the next mega-trend, it will continue to grow beyond just hype. Companies must actively change their strategy and infrastructure to harness the power and insight of IoT technologies and their data.

New Big Data Case Studies are Emerging

Big data also allows companies to find new revenue streams with new data-driven products and services. By combining, integrating and analyzing data – regardless of source, type, size, or format – business leaders can quickly and affordably scale to huge volumes of data and analyze them for insights.

Customer analytics is traditionally considered the primary use case for big data analytics. However, as companies better understand their customer base, use cases will expand from external to internal – making operational analytics the main use case.

Cloud Analytics is a Game Changer

Right now, a few cloud-only Hadoop players exist, while other vendors offer distinct on-premise and cloud editions of their products. As companies recognize the advantage of sidestepping Hadoop hardware requirements, which become outdated every 18 months, cloud adoption will surge. A Gartner report cites the skills gaps continue to be a major adoption inhibitor for 57 percent of respondents. Vendors, particularly distributors, will pivot their offerings in order to keep up with demand for cloud-based solutions.

Streaming Data Goes Mainstream

The desire to gather data – and analyze it – in real-time is growing immensely, driven by IoT applications and our increasing tendency toward instant gratification. Mitigating the complexities of mashing up real-time and historical data will become a focal point – pointing toward technologies like Kafka and others.

The Big Data Industry Will Undergo Major Transitions

Best-of-breed solutions are starting to lose their luster. As big data has grown as a technology category, multiple companies emerged with individual products that provided a solution for a portion of the space. This has forced customers to buy multiple tools and learn how to use them together. Customers are seeing that multiple tools often slow down the process, create data redundancies, and complicate compliance. This is driving them toward more integrated, comprehensive stacks.

Likewise, industry consolidation is reaching critical mass. A number of acquisitions have taken place over the last two years as larger organizations try to fill holes in their offerings, shrinking the number of pure-play, standalone big data vendors.

Companies not using data to guide decision-making are at a serious competitive disadvantage. As more businesses resolve to make data-driven decisions, staying on top of these trends will help guide the most successful data strategies.

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