It will be easier to understand data thanks to augmented analytics
In 2017, for the first time, Augmented Analytics were included in Gartner’s Hype Cycle. It was described as the next wave of disruption in analytics and data. This was certainly the case, with it dominating the data landscape last year.
This has been shown to be the perfect solution when it comes to the timely procedure of analysing and interpreting data. The technology is basically aimed at empowering non-data/non-technical scientist users so that they have the ability to perform analysis on their own. It also means that data scientists do not have to concern themselves with having to select the correct algorithms and write a code in order to get the data.
The power of NLP (Natural Language Processing) and machine learning are combined here. Augmented analytics tools are able to handle big data sets and they can be integrated effectively with analytics platforms, which can save a lot of time.
One thing that is definitely interesting is the fact that these systems are able to organically interact with data on their own. They will also locate any trends that are unusual, reporting them to companies.
In the 2019 report put together by Gartner, they predicted that augmented analytics will be a dominant driver when it comes to new purchases of business intelligence and analytics. It is not hard to see how augmented analytics is going to make waves throughout the year ahead.
Understanding legislations concerning data and protecting customers
Last year, we saw a large number of lawsuits when it came to data privacy. Consumer privacy is something that has a considerable amount of occupied space in both state legislatures and key courts. It all started back in 2018 with the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. After this, other tech giants like Google, Apple, and Amazon faced litigations too.
For the vast part of the year, big brands kept on making moves to a model of privacy-first. With both GDPR and CCPA coming into effect, this has become a necessity for every company that runs operations online. You will probably have received lots of emails with titles like “Terms of Services and Privacy Update” and “Privacy Policy Updates” if you check your inbox. This shows how companies are scrambling to ensure they are safeguarded from reputational damage and heavy fines in the future.
Throughout the year ahead, we can expect to see that marketers will continue to assess the consumer data that is already in their possession. All members of the marketing department are going to need to understand how the company that they work for collects, processes, and stores data. It is certainly not a case of ignorance being bliss, as was once the case.
It is also worth pointing out that the state legislations that are in place are expected to evolve further, as tech consumers and businesses will continue the conversation in the courts. We will see that there are going to be different definitions when it comes to the likes of private information and privacy, depending on the specific legislation. For example, just because you fully comply with CCPA does not mean that you are going to meet all of the obligations that are in place with regards to GDPR.
We may also see new federal legislatures. It has never been more crucial than it is now to stay in-the-know regarding all updates. We are also going to see more money being spent on systems and consultants for compliance purposes. This will be a greater challenge for B2B businesses, as it may be difficult for them to retain user data for advertising and marketing purposes.
Statistics show that lawsuits are set to increase by a monumental 300 per cent in 2020, which shows why marketers must carefully evaluate their third-party data vendor ecosystem to make sure they do not face a lawsuit. It is also worth pointing out that because more customers will be looking to thwart government surveillance through the use of anti-surveillance technologies, companies are also going to lose access to consumer data, for instance, facial data, location, IP addresses, and so on. If you have shoddy data ethics, you can expect to experience the loss of employees, consumers, and your reputation.
Connecting all of the dots with unified data
Companies run different applications, using various technologies for a broad range of business purposes. All of this has meant that there is a monumental quantity of data that can be unstructured, structured, and semi-structured.
If you do not have a central system for data management, you are not going to have accurate insights. This often results in decisions that are poorly informed or uninformed. Once your data is unified, you will be able to plan better, as well as building services and products more successfully, and budget and forecast too.
Natural language processing and conversational analytics
All of the trends that are mentioned in this post are expected to have a considerable impact on the world of data analytics, however, if there is one trend that is going to be truly revolutionary, then it is this one. This is because NLP and conversational analytics get rid of the need for queries to be programmed for advanced analytics. It means that computers and humans can have interactions through the use of natural language, meaning a larger pool of users are going to be able to access data.
This is something that search engine giant Google is already making the most of in order to make the Internet accessible to everyone. The next step in this trend is going to be companies using this in order to make it easier for queries to be made about data and insights to be explained. We will see conversational analytics go to a whole new level this year, with questions being processed and answered verbally, rather than through text.
There have been some interesting statistics posts in Gartner regarding this, showing their optimism for the future. It predicts that conversational analytics and NLP will boost business intelligence and analytics adoption among employees from 35 per cent to more than 50 per cent by 2021. There will be a completely new class of users who will adopt this, including front-office employees.
Innovation in data management and data storage technologies
Up until a couple of years ago, most businesses and organisations used their own captive data centres in order to store and process data. The onset of cloud services changed this. The result was hyper-scale cloud companies. These solutions give companies the capacity to boost profits while also lowering expenses.
Forrester has predicted that the public cloud market is going to grow to $299.4 billion. This compromises of infrastructure (IaaS) services, development and data platforms (PaaS), and cloud applications (SaaS). We will see a healthy, albeit slow, CAGR of 21 per cent. This growth is going to cause more development of enterprise data solutions, as well as more demand and spending.
Leaders in the global hyper-scale public cloud will refocus on their core strengths and form more alliances. Proprietary infrastructures will be ditched by leading business app vendors. We will also see machine learning and artificial intelligence increase their enterprise-level data management solutions penetration.
Gartner has stated that because data is growing exponentially and technical skills are in limited supply, businesses must automate tasks relating to data management. Because of this, vendors are adding artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to make the data management process self-tuning and self-configuring so that highly skilled technical staff are able to focus on tasks that are of a higher value.
Final words on the biggest trends in data and analytics for 2020
As you can see, there is no denying that 2020 is set to be a massive year when it comes to data and analytics. Companies are storing and using more data than they ever have been. They need to make sure that this data is being used in a safe and effective manner. By being aware of the biggest trends in data and analytics for 2020, you will be able to make sure that your business is prepared for what lies ahead.