With so much information being generated every single day, businesses moving faster than ever before, and constant new technologies arising, it can be difficult to sort signal from noise.
Let’s look at some of the trends and developments to look out for in 2022 that could help you improve your data and analytics processes.
Collecting data is wasted effort if you don’t take the steps to understand and act on it.
Last year, we noticed that many of our clients wanted to get deeper insight into their data. They were moving away from manual report compilation towards a more automated approach that would allow them to reliably track changes over time and measure the effectiveness of improvements.
Generating and interpreting insight is often a challenge, and in 2022, you should ensure you’re reviewing exactly what it is you’re collecting, where it’s stored, and who is responsible for managing it so that you can open it up as a resource for your entire organisation to capitalise on.
Speaking of which, data is often kept in silos by individual teams or project groups, rather than being made available for a whole organisation. This isn’t usually done from any conscious desire to hide data away, but is simply a by-product of the way data is assembled and deployed by different teams. By developing a culture of sharing and discussing data and insight, you can expose your whole organisation to a very stimulating resource that you are likely already sitting on.
Data can be a big part of all projects, letting you accurately measure value when at go live. This doesn’t just apply for new website launches – it can be used to evaluate smaller projects like new site features or design revamps too.
Google Analytics 4 has been improving its ability to work in a cookie-less world. It now uses data modelling to fill in any gaps, and properly understanding it may require greater data fluency within your organisation or external support via consultancy.
In 2022, expect more and more people to move to Google Analytics 4 while skilling up to ensure they understand it and all its complexities.
AI has been trending for a while and has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives, McKinsey estimates that by 2024, AI-generated speech will facilitate over 50% of interaction with computers.
2022 will see the hardware and software skills needed to implement AI processing reach price levels that are available to most businesses, or even directly to consumers.
Most modern flagship phone SOCs and desktop CPUs already have dedicated AI accelerators built-in for tasks like improving photography, analysing and improving power consumption, or biometric security such as FaceID. The rollout of these technologies to the wider market will allow businesses to start analysing any data they collect and generating new, original data from it. This can then be used for a number of different tasks, whether that’s targeted marketing, hunting cybersecurity breaches, or even making changes to applications.
So, now for the big question. How long until you can order a Big Mac from a robot?! Well, McDonald's has a long way to go before bots fully take over its 36,000+ restaurants worldwide, but as it stands, 20% of orders in their top 6 markets are already made digitally through apps, kiosks, or delivery apps according to Restaurant Dive, accounting for nearly £10 billion in sales. Restaurants are experimenting more and more with AI and robots, and this only looks to continue in 2022.
For a simpler take on automation for your business, move your website data and analytics reporting to a fully automated monthly report. This allows you to more concisely see how your changes and improvements are having an effect over time, whilst cutting down enormously on the hours it would normally take to assemble that level of insight.
In the wake of extreme weather and climate change, 2021 saw a massive rise in consumers and businesses alike seriously considering their impact on the environment and purchasing or implementing more sustainable solutions and products. It’s been estimated that up to 2% of CO2 emissions globally are produced by datacentres.
While we may not all be able to put servers under the sea like Microsoft, some changes are starting to be made in datacentre technology to help reduce impact.
Cantarus’ primary datacentre has recently made a huge investment in sustainable solutions in both power delivery and cooling systems, reducing our CO2 output by > 500 tonnes per year.
Whether you’d like a deeper understanding of your website’s effectiveness in meeting your goals, or to gather detailed in-depth analysis into what your business needs to succeed, we’re here to help. Find out more about our Data & Analytics services here.
