By Picturepark Communication Team • May 09, 2022
Most businesses need to find efficient ways to collect, store and manage their data in the digital age. In the last several years, we have seen a massive shift to cloud storage prompted by remote and hybrid business models. This has led to the need for scalable and agile solutions that can adapt to any company's needs. However, new trends are constantly changing how we view and use the data we have at our disposal. Here are 6 data management trends for 2022 you need to watch out for.
1. Data safety has become a prime concern
No discussion about digital assets would be complete without mentioning the recent rise in cybercrime. Certain businesses didn't use to be attractive to hackers, and they were safe simply by staying off the radar. However, we have seen digital attacks evolve, and now they can compromise the security of both huge companies and the personal data of individuals. Unfortunately, this trend will only continue to grow, and you need to take steps to ensure the safety of your data.
There are numerous options for keeping your data safe, and at times it almost feels like an arms race. Remember that even third-party digital security solutions can have built-in vulnerabilities and may be easy for attackers to overcome. This means that you need to be extremely careful with your choice of digital security provider. Thankfully, Picturepark uses a secure authentication system build on Open ID Connect that will only allow the right people into your system. If you are looking for solutions that you can apply yourself, the least you could consider is multi-factor identification.
2. Multiple cloud storage
When the global pandemic hit, most businesses were scrambling to implement storage solutions to allow their employees to access data remotely. This has given rise to an already existing trend of storing data in the cloud. At Picturepark, we also helped many of our clients deal with data migration from old file servers into the Picturepark cloud. Interestingly, many businesses didn't decide on only one storage solution.
We have seen the rise of hybrid and multi-cloud storage emerge as new data management trends for 2022. There are numerous benefits to accessing decentralized storage and spreading your data across multiple clouds. However, that approach also comes with its own set of challenges. Businesses now need to make their digital assets portable and compatible across several platforms. The Picturepark cloud offers an efficient API framework and SDKs to avoid data silos. We are excited to see which new solutions will become mainstays in this environment.
3. Data-driven decisions
As businesses continue to improve their ability to gather and process large amounts of data, we have also seen them come up with creative uses for their available information. Data-driven decisions now let executives make good business choices and improve their customer service. This means that businesses no longer need to second-guess their strategy since they can rely on hard facts.
Previously, this approach was especially difficult for customer-related decisions since every member of the customer management team would have their own ideas, which were sometimes hard to quantify. Putting their theories to the test would usually be slow, cumbersome, and expensive. Now you can use accurately defined performance metrics and get results faster than before - and thus provide the customer with the right content at the right time.
4. Increased need for handling unstructured data
When most people think of computers and data entry, they usually imagine Excel sheets. Honestly, that is a decent description, but it represents structured data that fits into a pre-set data model. However, modern businesses also need to convert data to store in traditional databases or search indexes.
Unstructured data is commonly text-heavy or represented as visuals, and it can contain plenty of information that is important for making business decisions. Your company will need to develop a consistent internal structure (think file naming conventions) if you want to use unstructured data for commerce. Thankfully, Picturepark offers business rules and machine learning algorithms that can analyze visual content and suggest text or convert any text-heavy, unstructured data set into structured keywords based on your business definitions. These automated data solutions are required for any solution and will continue to improve and shape data management for 2022.
5. Automation and machine learning
Large companies can generate massive volumes of data daily, far too much for any employee to use. Naturally, we have seen dependence on artificial intelligence automation for mundane tasks such as data entry. However, machine learning algorithms have evolved to the point that they can be used to automate content management. This can be extremely helpful, especially when dealing with unstructured data types, as we previously mentioned.
Artificial intelligence can also improve data quality by detecting anomalies and cleansing entries. Storing and analyzing data have been figured out for the most part. Now machine learning can help us with the next steps by improving data quality and allowing us to interpret it.
6. Use digital tools to weave data fabric
Another new trend that we expect to explode in the coming years is the data fabric concept. It can be boiled down to collating data from multiple sources and weaving it into a logical unit. If you have been paying close attention to the other trends we mentioned, it should be evident that multiple types of data can't simply be added together in a linear fashion. The idea here is to use distributed management platforms (content hubs) to connect data across multiple databases in a network. By weaving data fabric, you will be able to access, move and copy hybrid points of information across different clouds. Unfortunately, this sort of combination of structured and unstructured data still requires some development before it is ready for widespread use.
The bottom line
The combined need for distributed storage solutions and giant leaps in technology have led us to an exciting point in data management. Although the future is still unwritten, you can already see a clear outline if you pay attention to the most promising 6 data management trends for 2022. We suggest that you continue to watch how these trends evolve since they will dictate how companies create and govern information.