As companies hit 2015 in full sprint, they need to stay ahead of the shifts that will define business in the coming years. The changes I believe are on the horizon will enable teams and individuals to manage their data and make decisions at the speed of business.
The term ‘cloud data’ enters everyday vernacular
For the last five years, we’ve been fascinated by big data, but the conversation in 2015 will shift toward cloud data: all of the data that’s locked away in the many cloud services – such as MailChimp, Shopify, HubSpot, Zend
Data aggregation from disparate cloud services becomes paramount
As cloud services continue to gain popularity to power businesses forward, we’re experiencing a disconnect in our cloud data. An overarching theme this year will be the need to bring together data from disparate cloud services to understand the pulse of the business, much as the increasing decentralization caused by data silos in the ’90s ultimately drove the consolidation into data warehouses.
The number of companies that build tools to help developers aggregate data from multiple cloud services increases
In 2014, we began to see more companies focused on delivering value-added services through the aggregation of cloud services. Segment is an example of a startup that provides developers with a single API to aggregate data from more than 100 different cloud services and recently raised a $15 million Series A round from leading investors. Segment has opened the door for this market, and we anticipate the number of companies that build tools to help developers aggregate data from multiple cloud services will explode onto the scene in 2015 (a key indicator of an emerging technology market).
‘Self-service’ BI will actually become self-service
One of the challenges to these new trends is the ability for individuals to quickly make sense of their data in order to make decisions to propel business initiatives forward. However, today’s BI tools, even those that claim to be “self-service,” require assistance from IT or data analysts to configure the data and/or connect to the data sources. Relying on experts to do the dirty work with the data kind of takes the self-service out of it.
For a BI tool to be truly self-service, it must allow any user – regardless of their data analysis background – to answer business questions and allow them to access the data they need without relying on data professionals to connect it to the sources they need.
If we can make self-service BI tools truly self-service, IT and data analysts should welcome them with open arms as they will allow them to focus on the bigger projects they are faced with every day, while marketers will be able to access the data they need instantly without their help.
Data-driven decisions will become paramount in just about every function of a company – marketing, sales, operations, customer service, customer development and finance. Be aware of the dynamic landscape or you might get left behind.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column where C-level executives and advisory firms from across the mobile industry share unique insights and experiences.
