It’s up to the CIO and chief information security
officer to make security a board-level concern.
Breaches will happen, and organizations need
to start thinking beyond prevention alone. The
CIO and CISO will need to align with business
leaders to assume a vigilant monitoring
mindset. Data will provide the clues, but both
IT and the business are needed to effectively
detect and respond to attacks that slip past
the gates. Within the next four quarters, the
CIO and CISO had better have good answers
to the CEO’s questions about the myriad
new risks to data security. They should also
be able to display a detailed roadmap for
how they plan to aggregate the data needed
to monitor the breaches that do occur.
2. Contents
Foreword 2
Introduction 3
Technology Trends
Context-based services 4
Converging data architectures 10
Industrialized data services 16
Social-driven IT 23
PaaS-enabled agility 29
Orchestrated analytical security 36
Implications
The CEO’s agenda 43
IT’s agenda 45
Research methodology 48
End notes 49
Contacts 50
3. Foreword Accenture Technology Vision 2012
We bring the Accenture Technology Vision 2012 to you at a
time of unprecedented change in the global economy and the
technology landscape. Our clients tell us that technology is
more important than ever to their business success. Some of
them sense that the world is on the verge of a new technology
revolution. We agree.
This next revolution will differ from previous It is time to focus on technology as a driver for
disruptions. This time, technology is present growth and take the bold decisions to move
in every aspect of our lives. The lines between beyond IT’s legacy constraints—constraints
consumer and corporate technology continue to that make it too difficult to change, too
blur. On-premise and off-premise technology are costly to pursue new opportunities.
melding to drive much quicker processing—and
The coming transformation journey—changing Pierre Nanterme Kevin Campbell
faster and better business results. The flexibility
IT from roadblock to driver—won’t be easy. It Chief Executive Officer Group Chief Executive - Technology
of new technologies and architectures is forcing
will call for a comprehensive strategy that leads Accenture Accenture
us all to rethink how we harness IT to make
it easier for our organizations to innovate. to new architectures, new services, and new
platforms. And it will demand prompt, disciplined
The Accenture Technology Vision 2012 is execution to bring those new approaches to life.
designed to help you identify these changes—to
make sense of the disruptions. But this year’s The technology that you use will be radically
report challenges companies to go a step different three years from now. Stand still and
beyond understanding—to start taking action. you risk being left behind. Act now and you will
We urge you to plan thoughtful, appropriate be poised for continued growth in the future.
responses and seize new opportunities.
2
4. Introduction Accenture Technology Vision 2012
Responding to what’s ahead
Some drivers have an advantage over other CIOs are feeling the pressure of a bevy Increasingly, business leaders find that their Doing so means starting this journey together
motorists: they can see around corners of technology forces—forces like the organizations’ success relies on keeping pace with the business. It demands detailed
at night. With adaptive headlights in their superabundance of computing power with rapidly shifting technology. Companies discussions with the rest of the C-suite. It will
cars—lamps that swivel a few degrees when and capacity and the soaring technology must be prepared to recognize and take call for CIOs to internalize these trends so
they detect that the car is turning—these expectations of consumers, employees, and advantage of new opportunities enabled by they can start framing these discussions—not
drivers can spot the deer in the road a even CEOs. Discussions on the impact of cloud new trends, like context-based services or talking about the technologies themselves
few milliseconds before the rest of us. computing and mobility have become routine. social technologies. But the new moves will but about the impact they will have on the
IT organizations are just beginning to wrap their come at a price. To change with the world business, and the new initiatives they can drive.
To take prompt action, every CIO requires the minds around Big Data. They’re pushing to weave quickly and cost-effectively, there must be a
information equivalent of adaptive headlights— analytics deeper into the organization. And new IT base—new architectures, new services, Some of you are already leading those
the ability to identify relevant trends before some are asking themselves what to make of the new platforms. And with a new IT base come conversations with your business colleagues—
others do. Indeed, they and their business perennial discussion of the Internet of Things. new risks and new precautions, so information and with your IT staff. For those who aren’t,
colleagues need the clearest possible guidance security has to become a top agenda item. are you ready?
about changes in information technologies. Yet even as CIOs begin to react, the list of
With the right guidance, they can effectively change-making technologies continues to IT leaders must take action now. They must be
lead their organizations as they adapt to grow. Recognizing that forces such as the cloud the ones who lead their enterprises through
the rapidly changing world we live in. are just the starting point, Accenture’s annual this turbulent new world. Inside 100 days
Technology Vision provides our perspective of reading this report, they should have
on the future of technology beyond the begun to map out their strategies to leverage
conversations already on the table. This year’s these trends over the long haul. Within 12
report—Technology Vision 2012—outlines the months, they should be starting to execute
new technology trends that forward-thinking these plans to put their enterprises on the
CIOs will use to position their organizations path to new organizations, new processes,
to drive growth, rather than focusing on new systems—even a new frame of mind.
cost-cutting and efficiency improvements.
3
7. Trend 1 - Context-based services Accenture Technology Vision 2012
Forget about the much-discussed Internet of Things. The really
interesting news is that data from a host of new sources,
combined with technologies that rapidly aggregate and analyze
the data, will deliver fresh insights that can give users much more
immersive and valuable experiences online—and in the real world.
Services that alert you to the nearest Starbucks mile radius or what route to walk from this meet the renter at the scene, greatly improving
or gas station just aren’t enough for users these subway stop to that unfamiliar office building. the chances of creating a loyal customer for life).
days. Those services don’t “know” you; they
Today, we have ready access to enough historical CIOs and other IT leaders who get it—who
don’t know what you’re trying to do right now.
and real-time data and we know enough about grasp the importance of context-based
What can still attract users? Services that what is happening in enough places to be able to connections—will be able to establish
combine real-time signals from the physical offer services that are enabling and entertaining. themselves, and their organizations, as strategic
world with location data, online activities, social More data, by itself, isn’t enough—technology players. They will immediately be able to offer
media, and many other types of contextual now enables rapid aggregation of data from new levels of insight that will differentiate
inputs. It might be support for a pharmaceutical multiple sources and delivers new insights their organizations from competitors.
sales rep tailored to the context of the doctors that can give users much more immersive and
she will be meeting and the drugs she’s selling. It valuable experiences. The key—beyond the What context-based services aren’t
could be data made available to a technician at proliferation of data and the ability to analyze
It’s important to deflect any misconceptions
an oil refinery, customized to the equipment he’s it every which way—is to ensure that context
about context-based data services. To begin
servicing and what its downtime history looks enables the services that make sense right
with, they are not about “really cool” mobile
like. Or it might be a shopping app that gives a at the point where an action takes place. In
phone handsets—regardless of how much their
customer fast access to more information about effect, context allows organizations to shift
new apps may impress. Although devices such as
a new jacket whose quick response (QR) code their focus from insight (for example, business
mobiles are indeed essential vehicles for some of
she’s scanned in the store; tells her how far she travelers place a premium on the ease and
those services, that is all they are. Mobility is just
is from stores that carry other sizes of the jacket; speed of interaction when choosing rental car
one of many factors that help to convey context.
alerts her to her available credit balance; and companies) to actionable insight (streamlining
gets instant opinions, via Facebook, from her the car rental process allows frequent renters Nor are context-based services all about the
friends about whether they like the jacket or not. to avoid lines, thus increasing customer loyalty) cloud. It’s true that connected devices—mobile
to insight at the point of action (for instance, and otherwise—will exchange data with cloud-
The new high ground for data services is not in
the rental company automatically detects when based service providers, but the cloud is nothing
location-based apps. It is in a kaleidoscope of
an accident with one of its cars has happened, more than a logical data-aggregation point.
context that adds up to rich user experiences—
proactively initiates emergency services if Similarly, “context-based” is not synonymous
far more alluring than simple indications of
needed, and issues a replacement rental car to with “location-based.” The importance of being
how many friends are inside the same one-
6
8. Trend 1 - Context-based services Accenture Technology Vision 2012
able to integrate data from the physical world
beyond location—inputs from QR codes are only
The next few years are likely to see an expansion
in the volumes and types of sensors available
the retailer and the original producer but for
others in the shopper’s social network as well. What it means for
one example—must not be underestimated. And
context is not just another example of social
to add context. The industrial world already
benefits from radio frequency ID (RFID) systems Given richer context—access to the shopper’s
interests, shopping history, or age, perhaps—
the business
media, although social certainly adds context in which RFID-tagged items supply contextual
such as shared interests or opinions. It’s in data about their locations, time, temperature, providers will offer services that better align •
New products and services based on
the aggregation of all of these things that we and much more. Now we anticipate a rush with his needs and wants. Indeed, we expect context from inside and outside of the
truly see the power of context-based services. of specialty devices that will excel in niche that products, services, retailers, and enterprises enterprise
They create an experience that adds levels of areas—health monitors that test for blood will be differentiated based on their ability
utility and richness—and yes, complexity—that sugar levels, for instance, or wristbands that to meet users’ requirements in this way. •
New contextual data services that
were not possible even just a few years ago. transmit signals about a patient’s activity The power of context will enrich not only online enable companies to more easily add
levels to mobile-linked health care systems interactions but real-world ones as well. Today, capabilities to their existing products
Context-based services that that add context about family health history online shopping experiences have surpassed
transcend mobile apps to enable patients to improve their own health what is usually available in the physical world; •
New capabilities to experiment with
care. Apple’s latest iPhone, for instance, it is possible to view different colors, styles, new services and iterate quickly based
Context-based services have existed in contains Bluetooth Smart technology—a on pilots
sizes, and availability of merchandise; to put
rudimentary forms for some time; to an extent, new standard that supports connections to shopping carts on hold; to pay in many different
they are evident in the Internet of Things—for sensors that consume very little power. ways; to redeem coupons easily; and more. The
instance, in the real-time readings on pace
next few years will see a push toward merging
and time that marathon runners receive from The power of context the physical and virtual shopping experiences.
a transmitter tag laced to a shoe. They are
One other source of context is in what is Blippar, for example, offers augmented reality
also apparent in the recommendation engines
shared—which is where blogs, chat rooms, capabilities that allow retailers to experiment
used by sites such as Amazon, Netflix, and
message boards, social media, product with doing just that today. And Shopkick
LinkedIn. Recommendation software not
reviews, and the countless other wells of enriches the in-store shopping experience with
only keeps track of your personalized history
online data come in. We can detect or infer personalized offers, highlights products that
and uses it to infer interests; today, it can
certain information about others based on our others have liked, and rewards customers for
produce suggestions based on what others
interactions with them or, even more simply, walking into selected stores. The reward for
in your social circle or professional group
we can give them the opportunity to share walking in is just the bait; the context piece
are doing. For instance, if other users in your
it themselves. It turns out that users readily comes from location (knowing you’re in the
network are reading a popular business book,
share meaningful personal context; they just store), understanding interests and intent
a site may propose that you purchase it,
need to have a compelling reason to do so. (scanning an item you’re thinking about), and
too—and provide a one-click link to do so.
social connections (knowing what others liked).
And of course many phones—they do not So when a retailer provides QR codes in its
stores, it enables the shopper to access new The emergence of more context-based
even have to fit the definition of Web-
and valuable sources of information about a services will have a compounding— those
ready smartphones that access vast stores
product or service. Because this is something the new services themselves provide additional
of apps—have location-sensing capabilities
consumer wasn’t able to do before—or wasn’t sources of context. The expanding richness
that provide their users with useful
able to do with such ease and reliability—he is of context will be a fast-moving capability
proximity data, route planning, and more.
willing to trade some personal data in exchange. that enterprises will need to watch.
That data in turn becomes valuable not only for
7
9. Trend 1 - Context-based services Accenture Technology Vision 2012
This time next year “CIOs and other IT leaders who get it—who
Over the next 12 months, the IT grasp the importance of context-based
organization should:
connections—will be able to establish
Create strong links with business
•
functions that directly influence the themselves, and their organizations, as
consumer experience.
strategic players. They will immediately
•
Compile a firm list of context-based
services that is regularly updated be able to offer new levels of insight that
as circumstances change—and that
forms the basis of discussion with will differentiate their organizations from
the business side in order to drive
the platform for context across the competitors.”
enterprise.
What’s possible they use. The banks benefit because they can
•
Form a pilot team that blends user reduce the considerable costs of confirming a
experience specialists with data Several interesting examples show how customer’s location abroad and reimbursing for
scientists to experiment with new context-based services may unfold. The any fraudulent withdrawals from an account.2
contextual data services. service from a company called Reach.ly scans
Twitter accounts in search of mentions of However, it is still early days for context-based
•
Establish an environment that enables planned trips; with the information it gleans, services. Current services barely scratch the
experimentation—rapid development, it enables hotels to contact travelers who surface of what’s truly possible. Although
planning, and deployment. have indicated that they are heading to their many of the technology challenges are being
vicinity. In another case, several mobile phone overcome, and although contextual data and
•
Begin developing a data platform to services providers are experimenting with the means to synthesize it have reached critical
handle contextual data and analytics, technology that automatically deactivates mass, other hurdles remain. For instance, privacy
including appropriate privacy controls phones while their owners are driving.1 issues are likely to make headlines soon as
on potentially sensitive personal privacy watchdogs jump in to defend against
information. And Misys, a provider of IT solutions for the unauthorized tracking of citizens or consumers.
financial services sector, is working to combat In the United States, consumer advocacy groups
•
Develop a data roadmap to depict how bank fraud with GeoGuard, its new consumer are particularly vocal about such issues.
to acquire the critical data necessary location-based offering running on the Force.
for the next generation of context- com platform. GeoGuard collates geographic The skills needed to deliver context
based services. information and enables customers to allow
their banks to request their most recent So what will it take for IT departments to help
location information, regardless of the services their organizations deliver rich context-based
8
10. Trend 1 - Context-based services Accenture Technology Vision 2012
experiences to their customers? Context-based
services should be limited only by the creativity
Context-based services require very different
thinking from IT leaders. They call for a Your 100-day plan
of the business, not by IT’s ability to deliver. much broader and more dynamic view of the
possibilities for adding value for the business, Suggested actions to take during the next
It should go without saying that skills in user and they demand different skills and stronger three months:
interface design will be high on the list. At links within the enterprise than has been
the same time, it will be beneficial to have typical to date. But those who grasp the Identify ways to drive the discussion
•
expertise in the design of high-quality customer importance of these connections will quickly toward the value of context; launch
experiences, whether you’re a retailer, a utility, or establish themselves as strategic players. discussions of new context-driven
a product manufacturer. One individual should opportunities with the business side.
be charged with the responsibility of overseeing
customer interactions across all channels. •
Start thinking in terms of multiple
For example, the Washington Post publishing channels and following the mix of
company recently appointed a chief experience interactions that they enable (Web
officer, as did Cleveland Clinic some years ago. page to Facebook to retail to mobile...).
Also needed: strong management discipline
•
Start cataloging the contextual data
to get the best results from a mix of IT
on hand.
traditionalists and creative user-experience
types. Orchestration skills will be essential
Start identifying new sources of data
•
for helping to handle the complex array of
and determining how to acquire it
internal systems, not to mention the vendors
(sometimes it must be bought, and
now populating the data services market,
sometimes new mechanisms will be
where some forms of context will originate.
needed to collect it in current systems).
Because new sources of context are constantly
popping up—and because there are always new •
Sketch out the user experience skills
use cases, new services, new players, and new needed to pilot context-based services.
customer needs—context-based services will also
call for skills that encourage experimentation. •
Plan an environment for
And they’ll require real flexibility and fast- experimentation.
paced ways of working because context that is
constantly in flux will lead to a need for agile •
Draft ideas for how to leverage the
services that change as quickly as users do. IT technology that customers bring with
practitioners who are geared to traditional IT them.
cycle times will not be prime candidates for
the new roles needed; they’re unlikely to have
what it takes to get the best from the new
world of context and from an ever-changing
mix of widely distributed contextual data.
9
13. Trend 2 - Converging data architectures Accenture Technology Vision 2012
Old approaches to data survive because structured forms of
data make IT leaders feel they’re in control. But new approaches
to managing unstructured data provide a whole new notion
of control—the ability to turn data into new streams of value.
Successfully rebalancing the data architecture portfolio and
blending the structured with the unstructured are key to
unlocking that value.
In 2011, even a casual reading of the technology the status quo facing off against a maverick Three changes that matter
media indicated that big changes were starting camp that is enthusiastically—perhaps over-
to sweep through the IT department—whether enthusiastically—seeing unstructured approaches There are three fundamental data architecture
IT leaders recognized it or not. Big Data—the to data as a panacea for all that ails IT today. technology changes that, individually and
catchall term for the explosion in volumes and collectively, have significant implications for
types of data and the technologies emerging to Neither stance is appropriate. Yes, what’s IT leaders. We foresee a rebalancing of the
support it—was already making big headlines. emerging is a new world of horizontally scaling, database landscape as data architects embrace
Conference speeches and trade press articles had unstructured databases that are better at the fact that relational databases are no longer
begun the conversation about the importance solving some old problems. More importantly, the only tool in the toolkit. We anticipate
of distributed data and the idea of data as a they’re prompting us to think of new problems “bridge technologies” that will mix old and new
service. New technologies such as Apache to solve whose resolution was never attempted database forms. And we fully expect advances
Hadoop—a software framework that supports before, because it just couldn’t be done. (Don’t from the new to re-invigorate the old. In short,
data-intensive distributed applications— misunderstand the “big” in Big Data—for most we expect tomorrow’s conversations about
were already gathering momentum. In our enterprises it’s not about finding ways to handle data architectures to center on rebalancing,
Technology Vision 2011 report, we pointed out massive amounts of Facebook or e-mail data.) coexistence, and cross-pollination.
that companies needed to start conceiving of But that does not imply “rip and replace”; in no
way does it render traditional databases obsolete. IT leaders should be evaluating their data
data platforms in ways that better encompass
The truth is that now that we have technologies portfolios for opportunities to rebalance the
the idea of data as the strategic IT asset.
that can deal with different types of data, there use of relational and nonrelational databases.
Some enterprises are experimenting with data is enormous value in maximizing the value of Today’s data architects now have more choices
platform approaches, but it hasn’t been easy. In the data in existing systems—in hybridizing for solving unstructured data problems than
fact, there has been something of a polarization, it with many forms of unstructured data. simply jury-rigging relational databases to
with many of those steeped in traditional do so. Where today the data landscape is
relational database approaches defending almost entirely relational, we expect that
12
14. Trend 2 - Converging data architectures Accenture Technology Vision 2012
landscape to change significantly. Over the next
decade, the proportion that is nonrelational
pollination is already happening at the vendor
level. Nonrelational databases were the first to
development for several decades. Approaches
to structuring information, gathering data What it means for
will rise. It has been estimated that between
15 percent and 40 percent of all relational
integrate horizontal scaling technologies into
the core; now relational databases are starting
requirements, storing data, and even solving
data problems are driven by a view of the the business
database management systems (RDBMS) to do the same. There is no shortage of start-up world adopted from structured design
implementations would be better suited to activity in the arena, meaning that investment approaches and the trusty relational database. •
Potential advantage for small and
nonrelational platforms.3 But that shift does capital is betting on cross-pollination; midsize competitors since they lack
not imply that relational is somehow inferior. newcomers include Xeround, Scalr, Akiban, and This structured view of the world is entrenched the “anchor” of heavy investments in
IT leaders will need to make their choices Schooner. As these technologies reach maturity, in organizations. Many CIOs still think of legacy systems
based not on ideology but on the forms of enterprises should re-evaluate their readiness themselves not as the stewards of data but as
data they are using and for what purposes. to tackle more complex data problems. the data “owners.” And to a worrying extent, •
More accurate and more usable
many senior IT managers remain convinced business projections through the
The worlds of structured and unstructured data Established vendors don’t plan to be left out that all forms of data can still be dealt with expanded use of probabilistic data,
are rapidly converging. Leading IT practitioners of the new world. Just a few glimpses: Oracle using conventional relational databases, so enabled by new data platforms
must find ways to constructively manage has marched into the unstructured world by they are unwilling to try other options. In
the convergence and enable all forms of data announcing its Hadoop-framework-based Big many cases, the resistance is passive: stay the • moves from blocker to enabler,
IT
management to coexist, sometimes using Data Appliance. IBM has built a new version present course, ignore Big Data, and it will improving the leverage of all available
bridge technologies. That’s the case at one large of InfoSphere BigInsights for its smart cloud go away. In other cases, the pushback is that data, both external and internal to the
high-tech company that is using Hadoop to infrastructure that uses Hadoop to analyze the new technologies are “toy technologies”— organization
process and import data into traditional systems structured and unstructured data. And not considered “enterprise grade.” In effect,
in ways that wouldn’t be possible with just Microsoft recently announced plans to deliver the traditional relational database has been •
Faster responses to queries, and more
the RDBMS approach. In essence, the Hadoop enterprise-class Hadoop-based distributions misused for decades because it has been frequent and increasingly customized
framework becomes a preprocessing engine on both Windows Server and Windows Azure. seen as the only tool in the toolbox—and iterations on those queries
for analyzing raw data to extract important The shifts in vendors’ thinking are also seen because IT departments haven’t had the
events before feeding the other systems. It in consolidation moves as established players vision and skills to use it in any other way. See also “What it means for the business” in
is abstracted and integrated with existing acknowledge that they must move into these Industrialized data services.
reporting in such a way that it minimizes new realms. For example, Teradata acquired Aster Yet we’re seeing the rapid rise of another group—
the impact on the rest of the enterprise. Data Systems, a leader in Big Data analytics. The the iconoclasts who are scraping unstructured
acquisition was designed to expand Teradata’s data off Web sites, wikis, and Twitter feeds in
Over the long term, the high-performing portfolio and bring businesses greater depth order to find insights that can help them discover
organizations will be those whose IT groups of analytic insight and faster time to value as new customer segments, identify new product
recognize the need for coexistence and they unlock the full potential of their Big Data. directions, and more. These individuals are very
effectively marry the two worlds to get the most much in touch with the Web-scale companies
from their data. IT leaders must still be realistic What’s complicating change that are already big names in the consumer
about the limits of what can be achieved via realm—companies such as Google, Amazon,
bridge technologies, sometimes waiting instead Unfortunately, old IT habits die hard. Facebook, and Twitter. They are often plugged
for the next generation of data technologies Legacy thinking prevails. Existing views into the open-source movement and to the
where cross-pollination between the structured of data architecture are a product of the academic and other research communities that
and unstructured worlds will fill gaps. This cross- application lens that’s been applied to system surround these Web-scale companies. For them,
13
15. Trend 2 - Converging data architectures Accenture Technology Vision 2012
This time next year the unstructured data milieu is something rich
and new and fun and cool that they want to play
certainly have to evaluate and implement
bridge technologies. For instance, Aster
with—and that can deliver real business results. Data’s SQL-MapReduce helps IT departments
Over the next 12 months, the IT deal with their lack of skills in nontraditional
organization should: At JPMorgan Chase, for example, many lines database management until they have built up
of business now use a Hadoop shared service that capability. Bridge technologies leverage
•
Run data platform trials that leverage for jobs ranging from extract, transform, and existing investments; they will not immediately
structured and unstructured data—with load (ETL) processing and fraud investigation to disrupt existing IT operations and are unlikely
data in the platform and in use by one or social media sentiment analysis.4 The service also to unsettle the relational database adherents.
more business processes. provides low-cost storage for varied types of Deeper conversations with the software
data; for instance, it stores traditional financial vendor community can help to accelerate
records and semi-structured Web logs as well as
•
Create a list of other business the introduction of bridge technologies.
unstructured text and social comment feeds.
processes that can begin to leverage
We expect that the rebalancing will happen
data in the platform. Oil and gas companies are using SAP’s HANA as a slow evolution as IT departments
in-memory appliance to review massive amounts retire applications and start to replatform
•
Create a tangible, funded roadmap, of their raw exploration data. Utilities are using in the cloud, on mobile devices, and using
subsequent to successful trials, to it to analyze large volumes of data from smart bridge approaches. Rebalancing is likely to
expand replatforming to a growing meters and to optimize energy generation achieve strong momentum where there are
amount of data and other business based on predictive patterns of consumption.5 the most gains to be made—in customer-
activities.
To a large extent, the maverick groups that are facing business processes, for example.
•
Appoint a top-level executive who is quite comfortable with all things Web scale Forward-thinking CIOs will make strong
responsible for an overarching data- are working in fields such as marketing, new business cases for new investments in select
centric perspective—perhaps even product development, and customer relations, systems to accelerate the retirement of existing
appoint a chief data officer. but as they derive new data and new scraps of software. They will need to identify “burning
insight, they are increasingly recognizing the platforms” that they can use as spurs for
•
Create a recruiting pipeline for data need to work with IT to get actionable outputs their new initiatives; a prime example would
specialists in areas such as alternative from what they’re producing. Forward-looking be a business process that can benefit from
database technologies and analytics. CIOs will want to hire those mavericks. being able to concurrently and rapidly access
multiple forms of data from a host of sources,
•
Demonstrate a “data stewardship”
How to think about the both external and internal to the organization.
mentality rather than one of three underlying changes Over time, of course, concern about the
ownership. We predict that, increasingly, the effectiveness
balance between relational and nonrelational
will eventually become a tactical detail.
of IT leaders will be gauged by their ability to
See also “This time next year” in Industrialized
data services.
bridge the gap between the structured and Furthermore, as CIOs envision how they can
unstructured worlds. Again, the important thing foster coexistence between structured and
is that this must not be an exercise in “rip and unstructured forms of data, they will need
replace.” CIOs who are serious about enabling to resist popular notions that the Big Data
the coexistence of all forms of data will almost
14
16. Trend 2 - Converging data architectures Accenture Technology Vision 2012
“The rebalancing of data architectures Old approaches to data survive because
structured forms of data make IT leaders feel Your 100-day plan
will happen as a slow evolution as IT they are in control. But it’s time to reframe the
whole notion of control. It’s time to stop viewing Suggested actions to take during the next
departments retire applications and start to data as a means to an end—a platform that is
designed to support an application—and start
three months:
replatform in the cloud, on mobile devices, seeing it as an underutilized asset. CIOs cannot
stop or slow change as the fundamental trends
•
Identify the “burning platforms” among
the organization’s business processes that
and using bridge approaches. It is likely to toward rebalancing, coexistence, and cross-
pollination proceed. But there is so much that
can become the vehicles for change.
achieve strong momentum where there are they can do to prepare for those changes. •
Map out individuals on the business
side who are current “data owners.”
the most gains to be made—in customer- Map available IT skills in light of
•
facing business processes, for example.” the need to rebalance database
approaches.
“revolution” is all about victory over SQL. Many to think in terms of reskilling. If IT groups •
Draft new methodologies for data
voices push forward the idea that scale is the have professionals who know only relational design in new projects.
driving reason why relational databases won’t databases, they will perpetuate the “everything
be used in the future. But that’s not universally is a nail” problem. The IT leaders themselves •
Assess where current approaches aren’t
true and not always applicable; the arguments will need to play the roles of orchestrators— meeting enterprise needs (for example,
about scale serve as a distraction from the main adept generalists who excel at managing where data integration is fragile or
issue. In practice, a lot of the conversation about disparate sources and forms of data to create where replication is unmanageable)
Big Data is not necessarily about its “bigness.” a symphony of new business possibilities. and sketch out early retirement of
Very few organizations are going to need the applications wherever needs are not
type of scale that often makes the Big Data At the same time, there will need to be
individual experts with skills in areas that being met.
headlines. So, far from rendering the relational
database obsolete, the new advances will be realistically do not exist in the traditional IT
world—for instance, specialists in alternative Begin listing opportunities to provide
•
incorporated over time into the traditional
database technologies who understand which new value-added data services.
databases, extending their performance.
to use in which circumstances. IT departments
See also “Your 100-day plan” in Industrialized
New skills, new structure will probably post vacancies for specialists
data services.
with statistical and analytical skills; in general,
for IT departments there will have to be a steady rise in the
With an eye on the long term, CIOs will analytic literacy of the IT group. And as more
have to think in terms of restructuring their of these kinds of specialty skills come on
organizations. As a starting point, most board, and as they reshape the interactions
enterprises need to build better data architecture with the business side, the orchestrators
skills across the board. They will also have will become more and more influential.
15
19. Trend 3 - Industrialized data services Accenture Technology Vision 2012
Now that data is being decoupled, enterprises are using it in
many different ways to unlock far more of its potential value.
They’re actively hunting for other useful data—outside their
organizations as well as inside—while keeping their eyes open
for opportunities to share their data. But most early data-
sharing activities are ad hoc. Needed next: fresh approaches to
data management.
You’ve got a problem if, several years from now, The outcome: companies are rapidly creating As things stand, most companies have some way
your IT organization is still organized chiefly patchwork quilts of data integration systems to go before they fully grasp the implications
around applications. whose sheer randomness and variety is of decoupling data and then sharing it across
leading to inefficiency and complexity the enterprise. The tendency is still to treat the
These days, data should be free to roam, and
that is unsustainable. Put simply, increased emerging opportunities as data integration
that is a very good thing. Once unshackled from
sharing of data through data services calls projects—as point solutions, not as ongoing
this or that application, it can be moved, shared
for a radical rethinking of how IT should data services. After working lifetimes spent in
with alliance partners or suppliers, divided up,
handle data management. Data management complete control of how and when their data
analyzed every which way, blended with other
shifts from being an IT capability buried is stored, accessed, archived, and destroyed, it’s
data—whatever it takes to unlock much more
within application support to a collaborative not easy for many IT managers to accept that
of its potential value. And that’s exactly what
effort of IT and business leaders working they must now collaborate with others with
some far-sighted organizations are doing now.
in tandem that enables data to be used far whom they share “ownership” of their data.
But freedom isn’t free. There are hidden costs beyond the applications that created it.
in properly valuing and managing data now Industrializing the approach
In the next few years, we believe, leading
that it can be decoupled. Most organizations’ to sharing data
organizations will master the types of data
efforts to share data broadly are ad hoc. Let’s
management necessary to strike the right Accenture’s Technology Vision 2011 report
say the marketing group is grabbing data from
balance between constraint and freedom for identified decoupling as a wide-scale trend
the customer relationship management (CRM)
their data, based on a clear-eyed view of the worth watching—and doing something about,
system so it can study recent loyalty trends.
real value of the data. They will start to think especially as it relates to data. Many enterprises
The system it sets up to capture, stage, and
in terms of industrializing the sharing of data. are starting to recognize that their data has value
store the data is probably entirely different
beyond its original purpose. More companies
from the system that the finance department
are beginning to engage in richer data sharing
creates when using the same data sets to
as analytics increases their appetite for more
calculate, say, customer retention costs.
data and drives them to better utilize existing
18
20. Trend 3 - Industrialized data services Accenture Technology Vision 2012
data. In the financial services sector, for instance,
enterprises are fusing customer data, finance
anchored by an agile data services architecture.
According to chief executive Jeff Bezos, the
data management. By creating an abstraction
layer between data and applications, IT has the What it means for
data, and risk data to spur development of new
products. In the process, organizations like
advances in data management developed by his
company’s engineers were the starting point
opportunity to standardize and industrialize
data management. In this model, consumption the business
these are creating, formally or informally, new for the architectures that underlie the cloud of the data is what matters, not management
data services to respond to the opportunities. storage and data management services offered of it. The path toward centralization •
Broader opportunities to leverage
by Amazon Web Services.6 Amazon’s CTO, becomes easier and more cost-effective. data—both internal and external to
A virtuous cycle comes into play. The emergence
Werner Vogels, has mentioned that Amazon’s the organization—to gain insights that
of the data platform will enable organizations Interestingly, this new world of data sharing is an
loosely coupled services model enables the can enrich new product development,
to expose more data as a service, accelerating about-face for systems administrators who have
company to respond very quickly to new ideas.7 strengthen customer loyalty, and more
the trend. It is starting to break down data silos traditionally been charged with owning the data.
and hide the complexity of underlying storage As the horizontal-scaling technologies of these Under the data-sharing model, the concept of Increased agility to respond much
•
and access. As a result, sharing and integration pioneers spread to mainstream business, they data ownership is no longer valid. By its nature, faster to data-driven opportunities
get easier as at least some barriers are removed. have been open-sourced, improved, and made the more data is shared, the more value the
Today, these data services are being built on an ready for the enterprise. Previously, it has been company sees. So, instead of ownership, CIOs •
More accurate and more usable
as-needed basis as new use cases are discovered. necessary to “overprovision” a resource; now, must begin to think about data responsibility business projections through the
Decisions about sharing data—and the chances data services enable users to provision for today as well as data accountability. For the most expanded use of probabilistic data,
of a business process owner knowing where and expand when they need more. So, on day part, data accountability is familiar ground: enabled by new data platforms
to find useful data in the organization – are one, the sales organization doesn’t need to CIOs will still be squarely charged with laying
one-offs. How does the production manager anticipate all possible data consumers for the the groundwork for data design, governance, New discussions of data’s value and
•
who needs better forecasts find the sales order tracking system and doesn’t have to invest and implementation. IT will be accountable for decisions about how to charge for its
analyst whose market research data fills in in infrastructure for users that don’t yet exist. creating a centralized mechanism for how data is use
gaps in projections? But the continued push managed throughout systems and IT processes.
toward data platforms will soon enable this A new era of data management See also “What it means for the business” in
However, things shift from the traditional Converging data architectures.
to happen at scale—“scale” not in terms of It has always been difficult to provide business when data starts flowing through the system,
accommodating colossal volumes of data but users with the data they need to make effective becoming more and more distributed throughout
in terms of industrialization, where a structured decisions. At every stage, the siloed nature of the company. Business units from all over
platform approach enables such decisions to data tied directly to applications has thwarted the enterprise will be creating, consuming,
be made over and over again consistently. IT’s efforts to manage data consistently across and sharing data with each other, making it
To a large extent, enterprises can do this the organization. Data management efforts important to focus on data responsibility. Who
because there have been dramatic advances must be duplicated for each silo, driving the is responsible for the data at each stage of its
in the technologies and capabilities used to cost up and ROI down—think North American life cycle? The shift has, essentially, resulted in
manage, process, and store data. Many of versus Asia-Pacific sales, perhaps, or different the creation of a data supply chain. It will be up
these have been incubated by Web pioneers product groups for hair care and for skin care. to the CIO to start working with business units
such as Amazon, Facebook, Yahoo, and Netflix, Taking data management from good to great to coordinate data responsibility from creation
rather than traditional technology vendors. often becomes an unappealing exercise after to distribution, more as if they were managing
Essentially, the pioneers developed solutions the third or fourth implementation. A data- the end-to-end manufacture of a bicycle than
for their own data-management challenges. sharing model, by its nature, will accelerate a workflow of electronic ones and zeros.
companies toward the notion of centralized
For instance, Amazon’s service-oriented model is
19
21. Trend 3 - Industrialized data services Accenture Technology Vision 2012
This time next year “Put simply, increased sharing of data
Over the next 12 months, the IT through data services calls for a radical
organization should:
•
“Re-architect” the organizational
rethinking of how IT should handle
structure to gear it toward data
services.
data management. Essentially, data
•
Create and fill new roles: Senior role
management shifts from being an IT
in charge of data management, along
with data scientists, data curators, and
capability buried within application
others.
support to a collaborative effort that
•
Organize active, ongoing discussions
with business functions about new data enables data to be used far beyond
services needed.
•
Develop a basic internal data exchange.
the applications that created it.”
Run data platform trials that leverage
• One data-management mechanism that Figuring out the value of data
structured and unstructured data—with will likely become more popular is the data
exchange—a forum where data can be published However, before data can be shared—even
data in the platform and in use by one
and accessed. Some organizations are already informally—it has to be valued. Today, we
or more business processes.
trying out rudimentary data exchanges internally. think about the value of data in terms of
•
Develop a reusable framework for We believe that these kinds of exchanges will what is required to store it. In the future,
data valuation that can guide data grow organically within organizations, and the value of data will be determined when
management decisions. best practices will begin to materialize in the it is used, in terms of its potential business
next year or two. A next step would involve impact. (See The dimensions of data
•
Create a list of other business processes “open” data exchanges—exposing data to and value.) Organizations need to create a data
that can begin to leverage data in the seeking data from external partners such as management strategy to support the data
platform. suppliers and customers. Of course, publishing services that make sense for them, considering
data to open data exchanges will not suit every the dimensions of data value and tying them
•
Create a tangible, funded roadmap,
organization or every piece of data. And there to a broader set of envisaged use cases.
subsequent to successful trials, to
expand replatforming to a growing is nothing yet that is clearly destined to evolve
Traditional approaches to data management
amount of data and other business into a kind of New York Stock Exchange for data.
have viewed it as a cost center to be controlled;
activities. today’s technology, tools, and practices reflect
See also “This time next year” in Converging that goal. A new approach will encourage
data architectures. organizations to think in terms of trying to
squeeze every bit of value from the data.
20
22. Trend 3 - Industrialized data services Accenture Technology Vision 2012
As yet, there is little concrete guidance for how
to value data across the entire organization—
Rethinking the organization
structure and skills needed
the business. Industrializing these data sharing
and data management approaches will be key Your 100-day plan
let alone across the ecosystem of suppliers, to enabling the business to unlock data value.
customers, and other stakeholders who may One central challenge for IT leaders is how to Suggested actions to take during the next
need to use it, at least at some time or another. support the shift to data sharing. Forward- three months:
The more widely a data set is used, the more thinking IT leaders will move quickly to “re-
valuable it becomes. But how do you assign architect” their organizations in support of Identify the “burning platforms” among
•
worth to it when it is combined with other data services. Should IT’s data specialists even the organization’s business processes
data? Or split up? Or used multiple times over reside within IT, or should they be integrated that can become the vehicles for
many years? Or when it might be at risk of with line-of-business functions? That’s the change.
being misappropriated? Not all data is valued kind of question that CIOs, together with
positively; viewed in terms of security, some the CEO’s office, must be able to answer. Assess where current approaches aren’t
•
personally identifiable customer data, for meeting enterprise needs (for example,
instance, could conceivably have negative value. Central to those moves will be a hard look where data integration is fragile or
at the skills required. The more that data is where replication is unmanageable)
As a rule, we expect data that concerns shared, the more there is a case to be made and sketch out early retirement of
customers to be of high value. But even for a chief data officer position. We’re already applications wherever needs are not
there, few, if any, active conversations are seeing new job titles such as data curator, being met.
under way about how to assign value to, data scientist, and data steward. The curator
for example, CRM data that could be used will be the “product manager” for a set of •
Map individuals on the business side
to improve market share, benefit customer data, responsible for its proper valuation but who are current “data owners.”
loyalty ratings, and reduce customer retention also managing the services that share it. The
costs. Or imagine an electrical utility that uses scientist will be the next-generation analytics •
Begin promoting the CIO as the
electrical consumption information from its professional, responsible for turning the data facilitator of discussions about data
operations data to propose time-shifting deals into insight. And data stewards will be latter- services.
for certain customers—incentivizing them day database administrators (DBAs). In general,
to use power when the utility has a surplus we expect an evolution and proliferation •
Map available IT skills in light of
and conserve it when demand is high. of data roles, with data management skills the need to rebalance database
becoming much more dispersed than they are approaches.
New data valuation approaches will also
today, as has happened with programming.
influence the ways that data is stored, shared,
published, secured, and destroyed. Do we save Sketch out a preliminary blueprint for a
•
Businesses are actively hunting for ways to
everything under the assumption that it will data management organization.
extract value from their data. As this drives
soon be useful to somebody somewhere? Or just an increase in data sharing, IT leaders will See also “Your 100-day plan” in Converging
the data that we guess will be most valuable? find that a one-size-fits-all approach to data data architectures.
What rules govern the deletion of data? A plant management will not work. They’ll need to look
supervisor can’t simply archive machine data for ways to centralize the processes and tools
from a production line if it’s now critical for for data management. At the same time, the
other business processes, such as new product notion of data ownership must become more
engineering or analysis of product recalls. distributed, involving data consumers across
21
23. Trend 3 - Industrialized data services Accenture Technology Vision 2012
The dimensions of data value
Data-savvy CIOs understand the impracticality • tility
U • Usage and sharing restrictions • upport
S
of trying to build frameworks that enable Our notion of data utility is a cornerstone Are there any restrictions, such as In situations where the data is
them to put actual dollar values on data. of data value. The concepts of quality, confidentiality or regulations, on how acquired or purchased from a third
provenance, freshness, and so on all play the data can be used, shared, stored, party, will the data be “supported” by
With that in mind, Accenture has key roles in determining the value of data. and so on? The more restrictions on the that third party? If not, then the data
developed these qualitative guidelines: data, the less valuable it may become—it will have limited long-term value.
• Uniqueness or exclusivity becomes more of a liability than an asset.
Is the data unique or exclusive? Is access For example, the many restrictions and • Consumer demand
to the data controlled and owned by a regulations on personally identifiable Ultimately, the value of data will be
few (meaning that it’s proprietary data) information severely limit the value of this influenced by consumer demand,
or is it available publicly? For example, type of data for those that possess it. and this demand will be driven by
call logs are exclusively owned by the whether the data impacts business
telcos, but government census data is • Usability and integration functions such as improving operational
available to anyone who wants it. How easy is it to use and integrate efficiency, enabling better forecasting,
the data from a data consumer’s increasing market penetration or
• Ease of production perspective? If the data (assuming customer engagement, and so on.
How easy or difficult is it to “produce” it’s external) can be easily used (and
(collect, assemble, etc.) the data? This integrated) with internal data, then it is
dimension is orthogonal to the previous more valuable than data that cannot.
one. For example, sentiment data on
a company’s products is all over the • rustworthiness
T
Web, but producing this data is difficult, Here, we define trustworthiness not in
because sentiment information is terms of the data itself (that dimension
widely dispersed, locked in unstructured is covered by “utility”) but in terms of
text, and hence difficult to extract. the sources and processes used to create
the data. If these sources and processes
are questionable (or even illegal), then
the resulting data becomes a pariah
that very few will touch, even though
the data itself is extremely accurate.
22
24. Social-driven IT
Social isn’t just a bolt-on marketing channel—it
will transform interactions in the business world
23
25. Trend 4 - Social-driven IT Accenture Technology Vision 2012
26. Trend 4 - Social-driven IT Accenture Technology Vision 2012
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other forms of social media are
not just new communication channels to customers. They are
powerful catalysts that are changing the ways your customers,
employees, and partners use technology to interact with the
world around them. Most organizations have yet to catch up to
that reality, and almost none take full advantage of it. They must.
Who doesn’t have a Facebook page? more efficiently, and with better outcomes. directly to him to address it before he calls to
They will also see value in using enterprise social complain. At the same time, enterprises need
The social media trend has swept across the platforms for connections with and among to be on the lookout for opportunities to invent
world with breathtaking speed—and with employees—and even among enterprises. new channels through social, such as social
astonishing impact. In the United States, polling via WayIn or Yahoo’s IntoNow.
Facebook is largely supplanting e-mail and text The opportunity is to capture, measure, analyze,
as the primary tool for communicating with and exploit these social interactions in new ways. The challenge for IT managers, then, will be
friends. Social media has become de rigueur It means that social media must be seen as much to revisit business processes and the systems
for businesses too—although mostly as an more than a new “bolt on” channel; it has to be that implement them. They will need to look
add-on marketing tool. And in more and more viewed as a catalyst for revisiting everything across channels to define interactions. They
instances, online forums and Twitter feeds are that touches a company’s customers and, must look at new forms of data generated by
becoming valued sources of insight for marketers increasingly, other communities of stakeholders. those interactions and evaluate the potential
and product developers eager to learn what It provides pathways to convey to the rest of the insights they can get from them. They will
consumers really think. organization what has been learned by listening be obliged to revisit the organizational
to consumers. The most immediate implication is structures that perpetuate the separation
But that’s not the only way that social platforms that a company’s call center applications, its Web of channels. They will have to think in terms
will be used by businesses in the future. presence, its customer relationship management of industrializing social platforms. And they
The social media phenomenon has not just (CRM) applications, its mobile experience, are likely to have to update the metrics that
created a new channel to communicate; it has and other consumer channels all need to all define success for customer interactions.
fundamentally changed the ways in which be integrated with each other and be “social-
people communicate. Looking at the broader enabled.” So, for example, when a customer No business is going to be able to exclude
impact, we predict that leading organizations will tweets about a bad experience with buying a social. Those that dismiss its rising influence as
soon start applying social platforms and social mattress, it can be linked to his purchase history a fad—or worse, as a preoccupation only for the
design mechanics to manage interactions across and to the reviews that he has posted on the young—will be doing their organizations a gross
all communication channels to consumers, retailer’s website to determine the problem disservice. They will be effectively removing
fostering greater intimacy with their customers, and—since he’s a repeat customer—to reach out themselves from the conversations that their
25