2021 BI & data trends: adding hope to the new normal

Analytics solutions led by easy-to-use data visualisations will continue opening up access to an ever-expanding user base. Gartner forecasts that data stories using visualisations will soon become the main medium for consuming analytics.

However, it’s important to understand where that data comes from, how to keep it clean, and how to tell stories responsibly with that data. Since there is potential for data misuse, manipulation or politicisation.

Data, taken out of context, can lead to misinformation and bad decision making. That’s why BI-Survey’s Top Business Intelligence Trends 2021 highlights the importance of establishing a data-literate culture, one of the top trends among the companies surveyed.

• To drive more user adoption with the power of visuals, see our guide to understanding Visual Analytics.

SaaS, such as Slack, Pipedrive and Qlik Sense, are essential for businesses to access powerful solutions, connect up their business systems and save time and costs. In 2021, there’ll likely be more businesses adopting SaaS.

There may also be an increase in Micro SaaS – smaller or add-on type SaaS, such as Grammarly for Google Docs. And Vertical SaaS, which offers solutions tailored to niche markets.

However, with more and more SaaS offerings continually popping up, the likelihood of consolidation increases as larger software manufacturers absorb smaller solutions.

• To extend the value of Qlik Sense, try a free trial of Vizlib’s easy-to-use product range.

According to a recent Forrester report, the global public cloud infrastructure is predicted to grow by 35% in 2021. The current revenue run-rate and growth of the three largest cloud players: Amazon AWS: $46 billion, growing 29%, Microsoft Azure: $26 billion, growing 48%, and Google GCP: $9 billion, growing 70%, is a clear sign of this rapid growth!

Many businesses have already shifted their operations to the cloud to accelerate their digital transformation, especially with current market unpredictability. And many more are following suit since cloud platforms offer significant cost savings, more flexibility and mobility, plus improved speed in handling big data effectively for a quick-thinking and acting enterprise.

Since cloud operations provide more flexibility, a lower total cost of ownership and improved scalability, it is a natural choice for many business leaders. For those enterprises that aren’t ready to shift everything to the cloud, there are hybrid solutions that incorporate both on-premise and cloud infrastructure.

Business intelligence has transformed over the years to mirror user needs. Industry experts even predict the 3rd wave of BI will shift the focus from self-service to self-sufficiency. When this happens, intuitive software, embedded analytics and other user-centric approaches will become standard.

Though users will need to be data literate, these solutions will support how users work with data. Combined with a culture of data literacy championed by the c-suite, 3rd wave BI will put more power in the end-user’s hands.

• Learn more about the 3rd wave of BI and the user power shift.

With Vizlib Self-Service users can easily create the reports they need with the help of intuitive search capabilities

Qlik’s got this trend spot-on: “… as the velocity of data increases, the speed of business must follow.” That’s why accurate data must be available in real-time for operating in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).

Users are already exploring data, forecasting trends and extracting insights on a daily basis, rather than compiling reports on a quarterly or annual basis. And with a faster time to insights, they can also take faster action.

The need for real-time data is especially relevant in operations departments as well as in the healthcare and financial sector, as expectations in these areas continue to grow. A move from historical reporting to near real-time will be the only way to keep pace with business needs.

• Discover practical ways to speed up your team’s financial reporting.

Create impactful financial reports that help users uncover insights quickly with Vizlib Finance

Augmented analytics helps those that aren’t data scientists get to grips with analysing data. Business users and data citizens can comfortably explore data and draw insights while the augmented analytics does the heavy lifting in the background. TechTarget suggests this solution will become a major driver for software purchases.

As it takes a foothold in 2021, businesses will be able to accelerate their BI. Similarly, Gartner predicts an uptake in augmented data management, using AI and ML techniques to streamline operations.

If businesses learnt anything from Covid-19, it’s that uncertainty is difficult to model. This Black Swan event shook up the concept of predictive forecasting. And left many questioning the relevance of algorithms that use historical data to model the future under the ‘new normal’.

To improve confidence in short-term forecasting in 2021, leading organisations will use more models and variables to run scenarios. Scenario modelling will help businesses find the right levers to adapt to ever-changing situations. Together with a fresh approach to analytics and algorithms, one that puts the spotlight on data anomalies and outliers, leaders will have the right tools for enterprise planning in 2021.

• To improve the accuracy of your forecasting post COVID-19, explore Vizlib’s two new forecasting features.

Vizlib’s advanced analytics capabilities for Qlik Sense can help managers plan more accurately during uncertain times

Mobile BI is a prime example of how consumer tech continues to influence business tech. And though the idea of Mobile BI has been around a while, the execution has been challenging. Earlier attempts that focused on making existing BI applications comprehensive and responsive like a website didn’t work. Now developers are changing gears and redesigning BI for mobile from scratch.

It’s not about experiencing the full functionality of dashboards – it’s about bite-sized content. Think TikTok, Instagram Stories or Twitter for your dashboards. Short-form content takes seconds to digest, allows users to follow the source and dig in further if relevant.

Since mobile users are already used to constantly receiving data-driven notifications to their devices, the concept of mobile analytics is likely to catch on quickly.

Managers and BI users can discuss and share key data findings with each other, with the right analytics software. More BI users will be adopting SaaS solutions that support this type of collaboration, but directly inside dashboards and reports.

After the digitisation of workflows, moving collaboration further online and physically on top of platforms is the next logical step. But the shift is not only on where we work, but also when – shifting collaboration online and across multiple time zones.

Closer integrations with data and teams are imperative to tease out actionable and relevant BI. By bringing people and more conversations to the data, processes can be reviewed faster and with more facts.

• Explore how links back to powerful analytics allow more users to explore the what and the why behind insights with Vizlib Teamwork.

Streamlined, in-context collaboration is simple with Vizlib Teamwork

Users need to trust the data they work with. As the number of users increases rapidly, the quality of data must also improve to maintain that trust.

BI Survey explains this well: “Valid data lies at the heart of the strategic, tactical and operational steering of every organization. Having appropriate data quality processes in place directly correlates with an organization’s ability to make the right decisions and assure its economic success.”

To meet constantly changing compliance requirements, for instance, organisations will need to embrace processes that improve data quality and data governance – as these become essential deliverables. A prime example is the growing popularity of writeback solutions.

• Close the analytics loop in Qlik Sense with Vizlib writeback.

Input data on the fly directly in Qlik Sense and maintain a single source of truth with Vizlib’s writeback capabilities

With the rapid migration and adoption of new systems and technologies, the search for better privacy-enhancing and data security solutions is a top focus.

Cybercriminals know that as the number of data sources we feed into our BI grows, the harder it becomes to protect and keep data secure. Particularly as systems become more automated and integrated, security and privacy must not be compromised.

A common concern is the shift from servers to the cloud, outside of the business premises. Eva Chen, CEO at Trend Micro outlines the issue: “Company ‘headquarters’ will be [increasingly] located in the cloud, shifting how we protect enterprise data in the virtual cloud and how we secure data from more diverse endpoints.”

When the sheer volume of data surpasses our human processing speed, that’s where automation enters the picture. A step beyond that is hyper-automation—the idea that anything that can be automated should be automated.

As Gartner explains in its Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2021 , “hyperautomation is driven by organizations having legacy business processes that are not streamlined, creating immensely expensive and extensive issues for organizations.”

Making sense of data as the volume grows exponentially will quickly exceed our human capacity. Increased automation will support and augment how business users work, along with the increased automation of more complex data science tasks.