Two Predictions and a Hope

As we approach the end of the year, it is a custom to try to have some sense of what is coming next year. Here are two predictions and a hope for 2018.

Two Predictions

1. Better answers for “what am I looking at?”. Data is best understood if there is a clear context and definition of what it is, why you should use it, who uses it, for which tasks. There have been many ways to achieve this goal over the years including short and long descriptions captured in metadata. What’s new and growing is establishment of a common shared understanding of what a piece of data or report represents, sometimes called a Data Catalog or Report Catalog. The best and most successful examples will combine or integrate cataloging with a Social Graph for collaboration and storytelling.
2. Oceans more data, and ponds of more governance. All kinds of new and bigger data will be generated by the Internet of Things and much more besides. Governance of that data, it’s storage, and use, is evolving more rapidly too (Google GDPR), but the growth of understanding and application of governance is nowhere near the pace of the growth of data. Growth beating Governance is probably a good thing, but too big a gap can lead to problems.

A hope

1. Better answers for “what is this worth?”. Resources of all kinds are spent on Data and Analytics: buying, building, deploying, improving. While we all get better at those activities, Business Intelligence and Analytics leaders in any business function will find ways of defining, measuring, and managing the value of the activity. The best examples capturing value will find ways of embedding value concepts in both the data, and the use of the data to automatically measure value-added activity.

This work originally appeared on the Purely Analytical blog at www.purelyanalytical.com

Why do this work on the Business Value of BI & Analytics?

Because the topic deserves more and better coverage. Obtaining business benefits (of some value) is the perennial number one interest of buyers of the software. Consequently it is a very high interest to sales people in the industry too.

So why is it so little covered, compared to other topics like Big Data? It is potentially more sensitive. So part of what I'm figuring out is how to describe and document the activity without revealing any business secrets. I'll come to that in another blog post in detail. Here I'll just say that sharing a business success makes some people nervous.

So where to begin? Everywhere. There's so much to do that I don't want to confine myself to one single area. I want to test a whole range of different ideas, and examples of what can be done to see what might have some traction in the market. 

So with no further ado, let's begin. Next post is on some predictions and hopes for next year.