Consumer intelligence technologies, such as fitness monitors, are changing people's behaviour and driving business intelligence (BI) trends.
So says Sean Paine, COO at EnterpriseWorx, who adds: "Consumer technologies have started taking BI into some consumers' lives, but with the arrival of BI-based applications in mainstream products like next-generation smartphones, we can expect massive uptake of personal BI," he says.
The widespread availability of software to track everything from exercise and weight, to fuel consumption is instigating changes in the way data is used by people, with these changes extending to enterprises. "We are likely entering an era when enterprise BI becomes more intuitive, pushing relevant information to the user shaped around who they are and what they wish to accomplish," explains Paine.
"Push analytics is possibly the biggest innovation coming to the fore in BI today," he continues. "With the advent of technologies like Google Glass, we are beginning to see the potential for BI and analytics tools that deliver the relevant information to the user - before he asks for it."
Another upcoming trend identified by Paine is self-service BI, driven by users who have grown accustomed to using intelligence tools in their personal lives and are now demanding access to BI tools in the workplace. The push towards self-service BI is also driving data visualisations and infographics, which cater to people's tendency to better understand data when presented in visual form.
"The downside of this may be that untrained employees could make costly mistakes because it is possible to be misled by data and numbers. For example, correlation does not always equal causation - just because figures appear to be related does not mean they are," Paine adds.
The growing need for accurate interpretation of data could influence hiring trends in the future, says Paine. "This could see the emergence of the data analytics worker or data scientists, as companies seek to interpret their data more effectively."
All these trends are constantly pushing towards the realisation of real-time BI, notes Paine, adding that this buzzword is often applied incorrectly. "Real-time BI is not applicable or necessary for all information. This year, enterprises will move to maturity in real-time analytics and BI, understanding that it is not necessary to apply it to everything, but it is important for real-time data on what is relevant to the business and its operations."
Additional trends in BI, beyond the now well-accepted rise of big data and mobility, include the increasing use of sentiment analysis to allow businesses to make sense of their online engagement, as well as an increased pace of database evolution.
As vast amounts of data constantly become more available, new developments in BI will centre on taming the beast, says Paine. "Today, the focus is on controlling the data deluge, filtering all the relevant information and making it available exactly when it is needed."
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