Big Winners, Big Losers In Software And The World Of Big Data In 2018 Posted on : Jan 18 - 2018

Making predictions is easy work. Making the right ones requires clear insights about technology, the market and the data that drives business.

What will be big in 2018 for technology buyers? What will fall flat? What will challenge, excite or perplex? Here are nine predictions for 2018:

1. Artificial Intelligence

A ton of money will be spent and much of it will be squandered. A full 70% of enterprises expect to implement AI in the next year. Why won’t it work out? As I pointed out in an earlier post, the data fueling AI will be such a mess that companies won’t get the AI payback. That’s because AI only works if it has access to the right data, in a format it can use, with proper controls. More companies will test the waters in 2018, and the most effective ones will use modern database technology to improve the data before they ingest it into the AI engine.

2. Blockchain

It will continue to drive headlines, but watch out: History is repeating itself because there is no one blockchain. For the technology to hit full potential, different platforms will have to interoperate, and major service providers will get more vocal about needing heterogeneous blockchain, just like they need to deal with heterogeneous ERP systems. The dream of a single, industry-wide blockchain standard is appealing but unlikely.

3. Blockchain And Data Privacy

The very premise of blockchain, keeping a public ledger, runs counter to the goal of preserving the privacy of sensitive data. As a result, some information can live on the blockchain ledger and other information can’t. Organizations will struggle in 2018 to keep secure, private and incorruptible private data in sync with blockchain ledgers. View More