Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023. Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Unified Data & Ethical AI will Lead
By members of The Modern Data Company
These
days, data is accelerating businesses forward in countless ways. But with the
increase in data and the dependency on data-driven intelligence, we've seen an
onslaught of data management tools that all promise the moon - and instead,
leave businesses with more complexity and hours lost.
As we
usher in a new year, it's clear that managing overly complex data
infrastructure is so yesterday. To make effective decisions, tomorrow's
business leaders need integrated infrastructures that are capable of data-driven
decisions, ethical, and overall better for the environment. Here are
predictions from The Modern Data Company on the future of the data industry:
What app stores did for smartphone usage; data
apps will do for data usage
Srujan Akula,
The Modern Data Company co-founder
& CEO
2022 was a crucial year for addressing the
complexity of current data management approaches. This year we saw businesses
began to move away from "point-solutioning" their modern data stack and turning
to more unified approaches like data fabrics and unified data ecosystems like
Dataplex. This has the potential to transform non-digital native enterprises
completely - they'll finally be able to focus on value creation instead of just
managing an overly complex data infrastructure in this next year.
In addition, 2023 will be the beginning of the
end for constant integrations. Unified approaches to data are increasing, so
the emergence of data apps intended to accelerate the deployment of
capabilities will likely follow. The result will be the rise of a new type of
business leader with the ability to make quick, data-driven, and, therefore,
trusted decisions. I believe what app stores did for smartphone usage; data
apps will do for data usage.
Just as some trends will begin to emerge in
2023, some trends will - and should - begin to lose popularity as well. One of
those trends is the unnecessary lifting and shifting of any and all data to the cloud as a prerequisite for data
modernization. As businesses realize they haven't been properly and efficiently
making use of the cloud, we're certain to see this shift in behavior.
We'll also see an increase in the adoption of
things like data fabrics and knowledge graphs. With those gaining traction, I
expect analytics hubs to be the next emerging category.
Ethical AI
will be pervasive in 2023-2024
Vishal Venkatram, The
Modern Data Company field chief technology officer of customer solutions
The pivot from point solutions to solve data
issues to the emergence of the data fabric/mesh/integrated approach to
enterprise data operationalization has been the most impactful development from
a technology perspective.
From a CFO's office perspective, increased
scrutiny on data programs and associated ROI have emerged in 2022. The C-suite
is starting to question if the entire "data cycle" has been overhyped. IT needs
to take this seriously and make sure that "data" does not become just another
four-letter word.
The biggest movement in 2023 will be the
emergence of data apps and a true semantic business model that abstracts the
complexity of the underlying data chaos. The ushering in of customer-owned and
defined models to accelerate value creation will change the way the industry
operates.
In addition, ethical AI and knowledge-based
data products will be pervasive in 2023-2024. Data will be seen as a social
object with an operating system. We'll also have the first app store-type
capability for data come into existence.
Data will
enable successful ESG efforts
Langdon Morris, The Modern Data Company's Head of ESG and Net Zero
Enterprises are beginning to realize that data
is integral to successful ESG efforts. You can divide the enterprises
interested in ESG into a few categories - those that really are committed to
action, those that are not sure but are thinking about it, those that see ESG
as a greenwashing opportunity, and those that are not engaged. Those committed
to action are the ones we'll see start taking a unified approach to data.
To do this, they'll need a master plan - which
consists of multiple elements seen in an integrated fashion. These include
defining specific goals, an overall strategy to reach those goals (which will
inevitably involve many parts of the organization thinking through problems and
opportunities), committing to making the system and process changes necessary
to implement that strategy, a plan to convince their stakeholders that this is
the right thing to do, and then the action.
Data will underlie each of these steps - it is
a critical enabler of success.
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