While the last 365-ish days have seen some huge advances in the tech space, next year is poised to be an even more pivotal one when it comes to the way businesses handle and leverage their data. Sharing their insights into some of the biggest data trends in 2024 is Australian software company Zetaris. An already prominent player in the data management and analytics space, Vinay Samuel, CEO and founder of Zetaris shares his predictions for the transformative trends set to take centre stage in the coming year.
Spotlight on confidential computing
As data breaches and privacy concerns continue to escalate (the most recent example being Optus’ network outages), Vinay predicts that the emergence of confidential computing in 2024 promises to be a game-changer. Confidential computing employs hardware based trusted execution environments, securing data within isolated enclaves in a cloud computing environment. With Australian businesses facing the specter of hefty fines for data breaches, the adoption of confidential computing is expected to soar in 2024. This approach offers a robust defense, ensuring data integrity, confidentiality, and code integrity throughout data processing, especially for sensitive information like customer personally identifiable information (PII).
Data virtulisation software overtakes ETL
The rise of data virtualisation software is set to eclipse traditional Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) processes. This shift enables the creation of an open lakehouse, allowing organisations to derive rapid insights without the complexities and security concerns associated with moving, cleaning, and storing data. The open lakehouse facilitates real-time connections between data in the lakehouse and data silos, promoting structured and unstructured analytics at scale. This transformative approach ensures data governance and security by analysing data at its source, irrespective of its location – be it in the cloud, on-premise, or in a hybrid environment.
The emergence of an Analytical Processing Unit
The convergence of CPU and GPU capabilities has given birth to a new computing class – the Analytical Processing Unit (APU). This innovation allows data preparation and analytics to occur on the same machine, leveraging the mixed capabilities of CPUs and GPUs. Poised to streamline data processing, this unified approach will enhance efficiency and performance.
Let’s talk about language
According to Vinay, in 2024, natural language interfaces, large language models, and data analytics tools will converge, and enable users to query data in plain language rather than through traditional tools. This shift enhances explainability and expedites insights, fostering business innovation and boosting competitiveness.
Intelligent on-premise hardware data storage systems
On-premise hardware data storage systems will undergo a transformation, becoming more intelligent, and integrated with the cloud. 2024 will witness an acceleration in multi cloud requirements, including multi data centre and multi cloud solutions. Customers will seek faster speed and agility in joining data across their business for improved decision making and analytics.
Unified semantic lakehouse
According to Vinay, concept of a unified semantic lakehouse will extend to create a single multi cloud virtual data lakehouse. This eliminates the need for continuous data movement between clouds, enabling customers to seamlessly join data sets and discover new insights and hidden business intelligence.
Separating business logic from data storage
Organisations heavily reliant on big data platforms will recognise the value of separating business logic from the storage of data within database engines. This separation minimises the pain of traditional data migration, as business logic, meta data, and schema stores become distinct entities.
Enhancing data observability for informed decision making
In 2024, data observability will emerge as a crucial aspect of data management and analytics. Organisations will focus on monitoring, analysing, and understanding the state of their data, supporting systems, and associated risks. Information management and analytics vendors will encourage the implementation of point solutions or new features within their platforms to enhance data as a valuable asset.
