Corporate India Will Be More Data Driven In 2017 In 2017 more and more enterprises move their big data projects on to the cloud to mitigate the cost of data management.

Big data has been the buzz word in the Indian market for some time now. 2016 experienced new developments in the industry with the introduction of new data centres by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. The cloud already popular in India with the Internet born companies, is gaining acceptance with the traditional companies as they change their strategies to gain most out of their data. Here are three key trends we noticed in 2016 –

• Cloud Migration: With the launch of data centres in India by AWS and Microsoft Azure earlier this year, more and more traditional organizations and financial institutions are moving their data into the cloud. These organizations were very traditional with their approach to data analytics but local data centres in India have given them the confidence to take to the cloud for better storage and analysis of data. The BFSI sectors' migration to the cloud will enable financial institutions to cut costs and provide better experience to their customers.
• Doing more with less: Currently, there are platforms that automate the big data infrastructure management to a large extent. Due to this, data teams using these tools have also evolved to focus more on achieving higher values from their infrastructure rather than putting their maximum focus on the management of the infrastructure.
• Access to Big Data: Across various companies using data to gather insights, the access to data is moving to teams beyond traditional Data Teams – Data Analysts and Data Scientists to even non-IT teams with a focus on maximum usage and security with minimum governance. Thus there was a push towards democratization of data in 2016 and the same will continue going forward.

As we step into a brand new year, here are some trends we foresee that will come to the fore in the world of big data and cloud computing, especially in India -

Big data and the cloud will go hand-in-hand

Security and compliance concerns kept organizations away from embracing big data on the cloud until five years back. Now, best practices and advancements in technology have

allayed those concerns while the cloud's agility and ease of use are becoming must-haves for processing big data.

However, in the recent past, technological advancements and best practices have reduced those concerns. The cloud seems to be the nest option for enterprises as the cost, time and resources required to manage physical data centres does not make sense. Hence in 2017 we predict more and more enterprises move their big data projects on to the cloud to mitigate the cost of data management.

· Rise in volumes of Data

As the Digital India campaign moves forward, there is a huge opportunity to tap into larger volumes of data. Easy access to mobile internet makes data cheaper and faster than ever before. A huge amount of data is being generated by mobile first companies operating across industries such as shopping, entertainment, travel, banking etc.

· Rise of a Data-driven culture

The conversation around implementing big data has largely circled around technologies and open source projects, but as enterprises cement their big data architectures and the cloud frees up more time to think strategically, the focus will shift to fostering data-driven cultures. It's one thing to have data available across the organization, it's entirely another to convince teams that are used to making decisions based on experience and gut to use data and to use it responsibly and accurately.

As the percentage of millennials among the workforce is also increasing among the workforce, traditional companies have become more geared towards providing them with a better digital experience, thus embracing newer technologies and a environment more suited for the younger workforce.