Top Data Growth Trends for 2016

As data works to transform industries across the board, data growth trends are becoming increasingly diverse. So far in 2016 there’s been a massive push towards adopting big data analytics, as companies recognize that this is the way of the future.
Data analysis is disrupting traditional sectors, but instead of getting angry, companies are recognizing the potential in this new way of doing business.

Disruption a major data growth trend

In the collaborative report “Big & Fast Data: The Rise of Insight-Driven Business,” John Brahim, CEO of Capgemini Insights & Data, and Paul Maritz, former CEO of Pivotal, part of the EMC Federation (NYSE:EMC), identify big data’s disruptive potential as a major trend.
As Maritz explains, “[d]isruption is a constant theme of the study findings — one that is a key agenda item from conversations with clients. Already we are seeing businesses using big data to disrupt markets, and even threaten others outside their traditional domain.”
According to the data collected for the report, 64 percent of executives believe that big data is changing traditional boundaries, and over one-quarter of respondents are already facing competition from new players in adjacent sectors.

Maritz goes on to say that “to use big data in these ways, the businesses need not just to augment existing information landscapes but also to review them fundamentally and build new platform capabilities. The future is a platform-based, algorithmic and data-driven one delivered via a compelling end-user experience.”
The report broadly references Silicon Valley’s data-centric businesses, like Airbnb and Uber, as examples of companies that have disrupted traditional markets using data collection and analysis. However, data’s disruptive impact is more commonplace than just these big-name data startup superstars — indeed, it “is having an impact on virtually all types of business.”

Necessity of big data adaptation and analysis

Big data clearly has enormous disruptive potential, and is already breaking down traditional sectors and reforming how companies think about business. However, with enormous potential comes enormous risk — in this case, that risk is the failure to adapt quickly enough to these new trends in data. As companies gain competitive advantages through data collection, those that don’t use this tool effectively will be left behind.
A Canadian financial services company quoted in the “Big & Fast Data” report notes that “big data … has become something that can deliver a competitive advantage to any company. Failure to harness it or take advantage of its usefulness will result in a company lagging behind its competitors and risking becoming irrelevant in its industry.” 
That’s where companies like VIQ Solutions (TSXV:VQS) come in. The company is dedicated to helping organizations digitize their records, making them accessible in the new data analytics-driven marketplace. For instance, in a conversation with the Investing News Network, CEO Sebastien Pare explained that the company’s products are being used in sectors as diverse as the court and judicial systems and the American healthcare industry. In both areas, companies have recognized the need for big data to create a more streamlined, secure and efficient business.
Similarly, Engagement Labs (TSXV:EL) operates in the social media space, helping companies create more engaged customer communities through innovative analytics. As CEO Brian Segal told the Investing News Network, “big data in isolation means very little if there is not analytics for businesses to activate.” That is where Engagement Labs and VIQ Solutions differentiate themselves from other companies on the market: they don’t just collect data, they take the next step and analyze it as well.

As these companies illustrate, a major trend in data this year is the push to adapt and analyze. Fifty-six percent of companies surveyed in the “Big & Fast Data” report plan to increase big data investment over the next three years. Essentially, companies fear missing out on the potential of big data and are investing aggressively in this area. Investors, it seems, should take note.
This is an updated version of an article first published on Data Investing News on September 20, 2015. 
 
Securities Disclosure: I, Morag McGreevey, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.