What’s On The Horizon For 2018?

Simultaneously, it’s a great time to determine what 2018 will bring. Sure, everyone will be doing their Q4 and end of year measurement, but if you aren’t anticipating what comes next, your organization could get left behind.

The trends for 2018 are what everyone is looking to hear and I consider myself very fortunate that I have an ace in the hole here at Qlik. Dan Sommer, our resident BI and analytics market expert and former industry analyst took the time to share a few of his thoughts about what 2018 will bring. Here is what he shared with me:

Why are successful worldwide companies today successful? They’ve found their own unique ways of connecting disparate sets of data, people and ideas. They have realized that data today is modern-day gold-dust. Take Facebook as an example: a few years ago there were numerous add-ons you could bolt to the platform, including a social graph data visualization where users could map their entire follower network. If you were to look for the same social graph today? You no longer can find it. Facebook has it, but it’s not to be shared because the data is so valuable.

Successful companies are taking advantage of the unstoppable market forces moving data, computing, and usage in a decentralized and fragmented direction. The smarter organizations are the ones who have recognized this sprawl and sought to build new business models on it. However, trying to adjust to this new reality is hard, and not without its challenges.

In 2017 data made big headlines. There were breaches of data privacy of companies like Equifax and Uber, there was the cloud hanging over European businesses of being compliant with the new GDPR, and of course, the ongoing conversation of deploying data as a misdirection tactic for political gain.

As a result what we are seeing in the market right now is increased need for governance, security and data quality. It’s critical to get this right. However, the answer isn’t to retreat to data lock-down, and put information only in the hands of the few. That strategy won’t usher an organization into today’s light-speed data economy. It’s about taking information, but also people and ideas out of their silos, and connecting them in agile, innovative and governed ways.

Hence, we are introducing a new word – the “desilofication”* of data, i.e. finding trust in distribution. If interested, you can join us on January 17. We will highlight several trends – around the areas of “All Data”, “Combinations of Data”, and “Your Data Insights” that will start to make this possible in 2018, enabling more companies to embark on their journeys to become truly data-driven.

Need a little bit more information to join Dan’s 2018 Trends webinar? Just take a couple of these trend teasers into account:

One area that we are watching very closely for 2018 is the rise of data literacy. Next year it will become both a company and social imperative to combat misinformation and confusion. In a recent Qlik-run survey of knowledge workers, nearly half admitted that they are struggling to differentiate between data truths and manipulations. This cannot continue if these organizations, and our society at large, seek to become more data-driven.

Another area where the market is primed for a boost is around cloud architecture. 1000s of companies have established a cloud service to run some of their enterprise but the organizations that will truly thrive will be able to support multi-cloud. Having all the company’s data living in one cloud environment has not proven realistic, especially given regulatory, security, cost and performance concerns. The ability to support handle multi-cloud, multi-platform and hybrid environments will dominate the landscape.

There are many other areas we will touch on January 17, but those are just a couple of the examples.

My thanks to Dan Sommer for offering his take on today’s BI Trends and where we go from here!

*Thanks to Jan Sipek of Climber, in the Qlik Ecosystem, for the inspiration