Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2021. Read them in this 13th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
The Next Big Thing in Cloud & Data
By Clara Angotti, president of Next Pathway
As 2020 comes to a close, we’re continuing to see the movement to the cloud ramp up, as companies understand that better and faster access to critical data is a “must have” in today’s business environment. Looking at what happened with COVID and the development of a vaccine, we predict that common data standards that are accessible on the cloud will become more important, as they allow industries to share best practices and discover innovations through collaboration.
Looking into 2021 and beyond, here are my top predictions for the cloud and data industry:
Cloud services’ rate of growth
Cloud services will grow at a rate of 40% as companies will drive to replatform in order to be more nimble, cost effective and customer-driven. The movement to the cloud will be seen as a “must have” for every company.
Direction of the cloud
The growth of cloud SaaS offerings will make it easier and cheaper for all companies-large and small- to take advantage of the cloud. Companies will evolve from a “cloud-first” strategy to a “cloud-only” strategy, ensuring that operational efficiencies are realized along with better access to information and more meaningful insights to key data.
Data standards will be essential
Data standards will be designed and used on a global basis across multiple industries, such as Healthcare, Mining, Oil & Gas, Agriculture and Finance. If the race to find a cure for COVID has taught us anything, is that speed is essential-having shared data standards will expedite R&D across countries to find cures and bring them to market quicker for the greater good.
More attention to data for predicting climate change
There will be increased attention in predicting climate change using data. It’s been well understood that data can predict forest fires and other natural disasters. But with the increased intensity of forest fires across the globe (notably in California) and the number of devastating hurricanes that have occurred this past year in the U.S. Gulf Coast, more attention will be spent on using data for predicting and mitigating natural disasters caused by climate change.
Predictive modeling for containing disease
We will see predictive modeling of infectious diseases, more sophisticated methods of contract tracing and the impact of travel and ‘porous’ borders on containing disease in the years to come. This all requires the convergence and use of vast amounts of data.
Data for good
There will be more focus on how corporations are using ‘data for good’. People will value corporations that reinforce ‘stakeholder capitalism’.
Emphasis on data collection experts
Historically, companies put a lot of value on people who were “Data Scientists”. Going forward, there will be a need to hire people that are experts in data collection. For AI models to work, vast amounts of data is required, and moreover, critical data still resides in silos in many organizations; hence, individuals with skills in data collection will be high in demand.
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About the Author
Clara Angotti, president of Next Pathway, has over 25 years of technology management experience. She is focused on Next Pathway’s mission of delivering innovative solutions in the areas of Big Data and Digital Transformation.
