The top five data trends coming in 2018

The digital landscape moves so fast that it’s difficult to accurately predict what 2018 holds in store. What’s certain, however, is that big data will continue to impact every corner of the business world. And, if advances in artificial intelligence and the internet of things continue to dominate, we are likely to see more businesses become data-driven than ever before.
As 2018 approaches, organisations of all sizes will be exploring the many ways that data can drive business decisions and improve the bottom line. Here are the top five data trends to be aware of.

1. Data visualisation will become a must-have in business
Today’s organisations are embracing a culture of analytics that requires data to empower their every move. However, traditional approaches to business intelligence (BI) have often failed to unlock the power of data because they’re often just too complicated, too rigid, and too slow.

Data visualisation – or dashboards – will therefore become increasingly popular as they help people quickly digest the most relevant information. Combining graphs and charts with powerful and accessible business analytics means users in every department can not only see how their organisation is performing in real-time, but take the necessary actions earlier to prevent small issues becoming bigger problems as well as harness new opportunities.

2. Data visualisation will clean up ‘dirty data’
Given the growing number of data sources and the focus on using it to develop and drive business and marketing strategy, the need for clean data is increasingly important. However, research by W8 Data found that just 35% of organisations have a regular data cleansing process in place. That leaves a lot of businesses with incomplete, incorrect, inconsistent and duplicate data – all of which leads to lost revenue, wasted marketing efforts, misinformed decisions and, eventually, damaged reputation. Dashboards can tidy up this dirty data by helping businesses see their most important data at a glance, and monitor their data quality regularly and in real-time.

3. Improvements in data security
Data is only useful when it’s accessible, but there must be a balance between data access and security. People pose the biggest risk to an organisation’s data security and responsibility will extend beyond the leadership team in 2018. Businesses will once again be on the receiving end of a barrage of cyber attacks as hackers take advantage of the shift to employees using self-service data applications.