Unstructured Data and Governance: 2019 Predictions
As we enter the festive season, it's also a time for forecasting the trends and shifts that will shape the world of unstructured data in the coming year. Data governance has evolved from a burgeoning concept to a cornerstone of enterprise strategy, driven by the dual forces of opportunity and obligation. The landscape of unstructured data is at an inflection point, influenced by regulatory complexities, cybersecurity risks, technological advancements in AI and cloud systems, and evolving risk management practices.
Moving Beyond AI Hype
The year 2018 was marked by enthusiastic AI integration efforts, with 70% of enterprises anticipated to implement AI technologies. The focus was largely on customer-facing applications. However, 2019 is poised to be the year where the allure of AI transitions into concrete, governed implementations across the operational spectrum of businesses, especially in handling back-office tasks and data integrations unseen by the end user.
Bridging Structured and Unstructured Data
Unstructured data is set to undergo a transformation, becoming both more intelligible and manageable at scale. Enterprises drowning in data—from text and documents to spreadsheets and beyond—will see deep learning technologies play a pivotal role in making sense of this data deluge. The result will be a newfound ability to derive actionable insights from unstructured data, placing it on par with its structured counterparts.
Extending Data Security Beyond IT
The cyber threat landscape is expanding into the physical realm, with IoT devices and physical data centers becoming new frontiers for security breaches. This shift necessitates a broader view of data governance and security, extending protective measures beyond traditional IT boundaries to encompass all facets of enterprise operations.
From Data Lakes to Data Fabrics
The concept of data lakes has been integral to managing the vast amounts of data generated by enterprise applications. Yet, as these repositories become more complex and siloed, there's a natural progression toward the development of data fabrics. These sophisticated information networks offer real-time, automated, and scalable data access, transcending the limitations of physical and virtual borders.
The Rise of Multi-Cloud Strategies
The era of reliance on a single cloud provider is giving way to a more diversified approach. 2019 will witness enterprises adopting hybrid multi-cloud environments, enabling data storage and management across various platforms and providers. This trend underscores the move towards big data fabrics and necessitates a reassessment of data management and architecture strategies.
Looking Ahead
The domain of unstructured data and its governance is set for significant evolution. As we navigate these changes, it's imperative for enterprises to keep a pulse on where data resides, who has access, and how it's utilized. The coming year promises to bring both challenges and opportunities in harnessing the power of unstructured data, making governance more critical than ever.
As we stand on the brink of these developments, the anticipation for how these predictions will unfold is palpable. The journey of unstructured data governance continues to be an exciting one, with 2019 shaping up to be a year of substantial progress and innovation.
