The future of big data is bright: better technology and greater access to an ocean of information has given businesses the power to gain more insights, improve performance, increase revenue, and innovate faster. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the business world in unprecedented ways, but organizations have adapted to maximize the surge of online interaction and resulting expanse of data. As 2021 nears its end, trends in the world of data are beginning to shape what 2022 and beyond will look like. Staying ahead of these trends will ensure your organization does not get left behind and will continue to thrive as we enter a post-pandemic landscape. 

1. The Cloud Will Become a No-Brainer

Cloud technology is becoming increasingly more innovative, immediate, and flexible. There has been a massive shift over the past year from companies storing their data in physical servers to companies storing their data in the cloud or choosing a hybrid solution. In fact, Gartner predicts that public cloud services will be essential for 90% of data and analytics innovation by 2022 alone. 

Moving to the cloud is a no-brainer: it can slash IT costs, provide more flexibility, increase efficiency, improve security, and provide more potential for innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made the cloud more popular as companies have become acutely aware of the need to be adaptable to changing circumstances and have also focused attention on how to cut costs. 

2. Artificial Intelligence Will Become Even More Intelligent

Gartner also predicts that by the end of 2024, 75% of businesses will move from piloting to operationalizing AI, which will result in a 5x increase in streaming data and analytics infrastructures. Artificial Intelligence is already making remarkable progress in the business world and it will become even better at learning algorithms with a shorter time to market. Techniques such as reinforcement learning and distributed learning are creating more adaptable and flexible systems, meaning organizations in 2022 will be able to handle more complex business situations using AI.

3. Self-Service Analytics Will Rise

Companies need to make fact-based decisions daily and in multiple sectors of their organization. Much of this decision making is data driven, but not all business professionals are data savvy. Self-service data analytics solutions allow those without a technical background or in-depth knowledge of data analytics to access data and create or customize their own reports and analyses. 

It’s expected that in 2022 there will be an increase in companies adopting truly self-service analytics tools that will allow non-technical business users to securely access and glean insights from data. This will create more efficiency within companies, cut costs, and ultimately lead to better decision making.

4. Customer Personalization Will Be King

The COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on consumer trends. Since brick-and-mortar businesses were shuttered, consumers turned to the Internet for all of their shopping needs, forcing businesses to digitize more than ever before. Though this transition had its challenges, with digitalization came more data and better insights of consumers. 

It is expected that in 2022, businesses will be more focused than ever on delivering extremely personalized experiences for their customers. Companies will be designing a data-driven “Personalized Customer Experience Plan” that will be able to target consumers in ways that provide exactly the right offer at exactly the right time.

5. Predictive Analytics Will Increase Performance

Once upon a time, data analysts had to prepare tremendous amounts of data to try to solve problems. However, thanks to the latest developments and predictive methods, it is now possible to examine existing data to recognize possible problems before they even occur. With modern predictive analysis, companies can make confident predictions about what may occur in the future, enabling any organization to significantly increase its performance by identifying customers’ next move before they even do it. According to a report published by Facts & Factors, the global predictive analytics market is growing at a CAGR of around 24.5% and is expected to reach $22.1 billion by the end of 2026.

6. Data Marketplaces and Exchanges Will Ensure a Competitive Edge

Gartner predicts that by 2022, 35% of large organizations will be either sellers or buyers of data within online data marketplaces. These marketplaces and exchanges make buying and selling data more accessible, cost-effective, and scalable than it has ever been before. By taking advantage of these marketplaces, companies can generate new streams of revenue and also acquire valuable data from other organizations without heavy negotiating. 

Data monetization will generate massive waves of revenue in the coming years. According to a recent market study published by Global Industry Analysts Inc., the global market for data monetization is set to reach $4.1 billion by 2026, growing at 16.7% annually. By utilizing data exchanges, organizations can participate in this growing market. 

Get Ahead of These Trends With Narrative

Narrative ’s data collaboration platform makes it easy to buy and sell data. Data suppliers can ingest, package, and deliver their data, and data consumers can discover and acquire valuable data sets that can be delivered to any preferred endpoint. You have access to billions of data points and can also contribute your own to start generating new revenue! 

Want to learn more? Speak to a member of our sales team today!