As the global economy struggles to recover from the impact of the pandemic, companies are facing a new reality of doing more with less. The pressure to cut costs and increase efficiency is greater than ever before, and one effective way to achieve these goals is by investing in data infrastructure. According to Gartner, worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is forecast to grow 20.7 percent to a total $591.8 billion in 2023, up from $490.3 billion in 2022. This trend highlights the growing importance and adoption of cloud-based solutions for businesses of all sizes.

The data and cloud landscape is constantly changing, and several key trends are expected to shape the way we work with data in 2023. By staying informed about these trends and understanding how to best leverage them, organizations can achieve their goals in this challenging economic climate.

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1. Increased reliance on cloud-based data infrastructure and services

One of the most significant advantages of moving data infrastructure to the cloud is the ability to easily scale compute and storage resources as needed, without the need for large upfront capital expenditures on hardware. The separation of compute and storage provides scale, elasticity and an ability to better control data product and service costs.

For example, leading online specialty retailer Backcountry needed a competitive edge to attract customers during the holiday season and make the most of the seasonal demand. With a cloud-based infrastructure, Backcountry was able to easily scale compute and storage resources as needed, take advantage of a variety of cloud-based tools and technologies and gained insights into customer behavior and preferences. The separation of compute and storage in the cloud allowed for greater control over data product and service costs. Backcountry's experience demonstrates the potential benefits of cloud-based infrastructure for companies that need to quickly adapt to changing business needs and handle large volumes of data.

2. Rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly prevalent in helping organizations across industries automate manual tasks like feature engineering, model training and model selection. For instance, in the financial services industry, an organization can use machine learning to automatically identify fraudulent transactions and free up analysts to focus on more high-level tasks, such as interpreting results and communicating findings to stakeholders. Additionally, the use of ML/AI can lead to more accurate and sophisticated insights, as these techniques can identify patterns and trends that may not be immediately apparent to humans.

3. Growing importance of data governance

As data becomes more central to business operations, effective data governance is crucial. This includes ensuring the security and integrity of data as well as managing access and use. Healthcare organizations, especially, must comply with strict regulations around the handling of sensitive patient data, and data governance is essential to ensure compliance. Effective data governance is important for all organizations as it helps ensure data is accurate, consistent and of high quality, which is essential for decision-making and analysis.

Recognizing the growing importance of data governance, Health Data Compass is one company that is improving efficiencies and delivering more value to researchers by adopting cloud-based infrastructure and automation to drive impactful research analytics.

4. Expansion of data democratization

By making data more accessible, organizations can tap into the collective knowledge and expertise of their entire workforce, rather than just a select few individuals who have access to certain data sets. For instance, democratizing data at a manufacturing company can enable its engineers to collaborate more effectively on maintenance and repair decisions. Additionally, data democratization can help promote transparency and accountability within an organization, as all stakeholders can see how data is being used and how decisions are being made.‍

Accelerate data movement into Google Cloud with Fivetran

The Fivetran and Google Cloud joint solution will allow organizations to maximize their data potential in 2023. Fivetran provides organizations with a seamless and secure way to integrate, transform and load their data into Google Cloud, allowing businesses to scale and take advantage of powerful analytic tools.

By leveraging Fivetran’s automated data platform and Google Cloud’s analytics and ML/AI capabilities, organizations can benefit from a flexible, scalable and cost-effective solution that allows them to stay ahead of the curve and achieve their goals in this challenging economic climate.

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