Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023.  Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.

Data Predictions for 2023: Talent, Investments, Privacy, Skills

By Hayley-Jayne (HJ) Cone, VP of Customer, Snowplow

2022 was a year of evolution for many sectors of the tech industry, due to the reality of the COVID -19 pandemic, economic uncertainty, and the war in Ukraine. Because of this, many tech executives had to shift gears and realign their strategies and priorities. In fact, Forrester reports that a main focal point moving forward will be on cutting costs that do not move customers forward, focusing on technologies that offers pragmatic innovation, and to align technology investments to support the business itself.

Looking ahead to 2023, here are predictions for data related to investments, the skills shortage, data privacy and more.

Investments in Data

In the last 12 months, there has been a trend of companies shifting their approach to data and the creation of new data-focused positions, such as Data Product Managers.

These are typically individuals with business acumen who understand the needs of their stakeholders while fulfilling the technical aspects of creating a data product. Larger organizations such as PokerStars (Flutter Group), AutoTrader and NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), for example, have product managers on their data teams, a trend that is beginning to show up in small and mid-sized companies as well.

Within Snowplow's research, it was found that companies are generally investing more in data and data-led initiatives, with around 83% reporting an increased investment in data over the past three years, and 36% saying investment increased significantly. This trend toward hiring more data-focused leadership is expected to continue through 2023 and beyond.

The Skills Shortage and the Data Industry

By 2030, the talent shortage and skills gap is expected to account for a loss of $8.5 trillion in the U.S. alone (PwC). While highly skilled practitioners in the tech industry do indeed exist, it can be very difficult to recruit and retain these employees. According to a study conducted by Snowplow, seven in ten (71%) data professionals said they are likely to leave their current position in 2022.

Many companies are struggling with high turnover of data professionals because they are being approached by companies that offer higher salaries. Another reason for the high turnover is the growing reliance on data teams, which can lead to increased stress levels and an exodus of these highly skilled employees.

This dilemma with skills shortages and talent retention is expected to continue in the new year. To keep pace with rapid technological change, many organizations are looking for new ways to retain these highly skilled employees and avoid the cycle of retraining.

What's Next for Data Privacy

In 2022, discussion of data protection laws has increased on a global scale, such as with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Specifically, many countries are seeking clarity on how and when data may be used so that technology companies can remain compliant.

This issue has resurfaced in 2022 after Google Analytics was found to be not in compliance with GDPR in several countries, such as Austria, France, Italy and Denmark. Many organizations find themselves looking for alternative analytics options for their tracking.

We're also seeing more focus on data privacy in the U.S. at the state level in California, New York, Virginia, and Colorado. Many more states are considering drafting privacy laws. It's a real struggle for businesses to navigate these new legislations, especially when new laws are being enacted at the state level rather than the national level every year.

In 2023, we will see more organizations reckoning with how to effectively comply with the new data privacy regulations while continuing to provide the best possible customer experience.

Managing the Influx of Data

In the next five years, global data creation is projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes, according to the Statista Research Department. Faced with this influx of data and increasing data-related tools in the market, organizations continue to grapple with how to manage and store it. Adding to this is the rise of smart home IoT devices and the question of how to store and track all this data from many different sources.

Companies of all sizes will continue to rely on the cloud because of its plug-and-play nature and cost-effectiveness. As these companies have more and more data to manage, they will look for a suitable set of  solutions to help them, not only from a budget perspective, but from an outcome and management perspective as well. Irrespective of the volume of data that needs to be navigated, the right tools allow companies to unlock the true value of the data they are creating - for example, by leveraging behavioral data.

With behavioral data, companies can ensure the data they create is meaningful to their unique situation and desired outcomes. One way to do this is through Snowplow's Data Product Accelerators, recipes designed to help accelerate the data journey from ideation to outcome. These include DPAs delivering value for Advanced Analytics for Web, Composable CDP with Prediction ML Modeling, Advanced Analytics for Hybrid Mobile, and Advanced Analytics for Mobile.

Looking Forward

As we head into 2023, organizations will seek to maximize the value of their data, created and collected from a variety of sources with the goal of improving organizational performance in difficult economic times, and due to rising costs of people, tools and storage and complexity of utilizing vast quantities of data.

Ultimately, the tech industry has gone through many changes in the past year. Looking ahead, data privacy, the skills shortage and data management are key areas being watched currently, along with new technologies for navigating the data deluge and unlocking value of that data.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hayley-Jayne Cone is the VP of Customer at Snowplow. HJ has more than two decades of experience as a customer-first leader, with a proven record of experience of achieving targets to deliver strategic organizational initiatives, managing rapid scale-up, and transform performances, and results. HJ graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BSc in Chemistry.