Technology and big data continues to grow, outpacing organizations and forcing them to constantly invest in new solutions so companies don’t fall behind with obsolete tools.
To predict where the future is headed regarding analytics, Anne Buff, business solutions manager and thought leader for SAS Best Practices, a thought leadership organization at SAS Institute, Matt Laudato, senior manager of big data and analytics at constant contact, and Justin Smith, enterprise director of data analytics at Sanford Health got together for a roundtable discussion at Data Summit 2016.
Asking what the future will bring is like trying to envision a weather forecast, Laudato said.
“I think you have to look at the history of computing broadly to get a good sense of what’s going to happen,” Laudato said.
He said to expect a focus on algorithms, which may enable use cases that aren’t conceivable today.
Buff focused on the self-service aspect and insisted companies remove the stigma of using different tools for specific skill sets.
“There’s a place for everything and as we progress through this commoditization, I think we’re going to find there’s more about provisioning of the data and how you put that out there,” Buff said.
As colleges and universities introduce more classes focused on analytics and big data, the future workforce will come out with more enhanced skills to tackle these issues, Smith said.
“I think those skill sets need to be pulled away from IT,” Laudato said.
Data Summit is an annual 2-day conference, preceded by a day of workshops, that offers a comprehensive educational experience designed to guide you through all of the key issues in data management and analysis today. The event brings together IT managers, data architects, application developers, data analysts, project managers, and business managers for an intense immersion into the key technologies and strategies for becoming a data-informed business.
Many presentations from Data Summit 2016 have been made available for review at www.dbta.com/DataSummit/2016/Presentations.aspx.