How will Business Intelligence develop in 2018?
As the year winds down and 2018 creeps closer I thought it an appropriate time to put ‘pen to paper’ and look at where I think Business Intelligence will develop over 2018.
Whilst in no means do I call myself a BI Developer or profess to know the fine details of how to extract and manipulate data, I do spend the majority of my day speaking to either candidates or managers who do.
Through these conversations my BI 2018 predictions are as follows:
Increased Prominence of the Data Engineer/Analyst Role
Data engineers will increasingly be an integral part of the movement to use data for making better business decisions. Between 2013 and 2015, the number of data engineers more than doubled. And as of November 2017, there are over 3,500 open “data engineer” positions on LinkedIn, indicating the growing demand for this specialty.
Data engineers are responsible for extracting data from business’ systems in a way that can be used and leveraged to make insights and decisions. As the rate of data and storage capacity continues to increase, candidates with deep technical knowledge of the systems, architecture, and the ability to understand what the business wants and needs becomes more crucial and sought-after.
Rise of the Chief Data Officer
Data and analytics are becoming core to every organisation. But in some cases, a gap forms between a CIO and the business while battling data security and governance versus speed to insight. With that, the C-Suite is becoming more accountable for creating a culture of analytics.
For many clients, the answer is appointing a Chief Data Officer (CDO) or Chief Analytics Officer (CAO) to lead business process change, overcome cultural barriers, and communicate the value of analytics at all levels. The role of the CDO/CAO is increasingly becoming outcome-focused and they ensure there are proactive board conversations happening about how to develop an analytics strategy from the get-go.
New BI Tools Will Liberate Users (and IT)
Leading organizations will rely on fewer, better tools to achieve new levels of user-friendly utility. As data sources become more diverse and fragmented, organizations will say goodbye to rigid dashboards and ‘Hello!’ to dynamic, customized dashboards created through the deconstruction and rebuilding of current tools.
We’ll also see a big increase in the use of bots, natural language analytics, and smart devices to make data insights as universal as possible. Getting prepped for a big video conference? Don’t wait for Sarah from Marketing to get back to you with the info you need simply Ask Amazon Echo and instantly get your answer through Alexa. This kind of user self-service will finally become a reality, how very 22nd Century.
With that, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2018!