Why 2023 is the year for activating real-time data across all your apps

There's no doubt that we’re in the age of data. Today, enterprises get insights by gathering, storing and analyzing it. But the biggest impact comes from activating data in real time to drive actions. 

Winning enterprises take data, process it and use it quickly to deliver an instantaneous experience to end users. In fact, the recent DataStax "State of the Data Race 2022" report found that real-time data is a key differentiator between data-driven enterprises and laggards. For instance, 71 percent of all respondents said that they can tie their revenue growth directly to real-time data.

Here are our key predictions for 2023 that will shape business operations as they strive to deliver great real-time apps:

Organizations more concerned about a potential recession are raising IT spend. Our recent survey found that of businesses concerned about a downturn, 55 percent to 68 percent were spending more on their tech stack to mitigate looming risks. In comparison, just 30 percent of companies with 'no plans' to make major preparations for a recession reported that they were getting ready to hike IT spending. Successfully delivering the kind of apps that delight end users and unlock business value during hard times hinges on the right tech stack. The coming year will underscore the fact that those who lean into this will pull away from those who haven’t.

Paying more attention to developers will be crucial. Developers are, by and large, practical problem solvers and it is also wise to sit up and take notice when they form strong opinions. By the mid-2000s, developers were convinced open source would change how software was built. By the mid-teens they were sure cloud was the future. And now our survey finds that the top three professional factors for developers were remote work, using real-time data, and building AI apps. 

86 percent of participants at organizations committed to real-time data believed that "technology is more exciting than ever" — which was 24 percentage points more than organizations that did not have real-time deployments.

Simply put, the "jury is in" that apps using data to be smart in real time are the future — offering a powerful way to solve problems or delight users, while being exciting and fulfilling for developers to work on.

Open source will offer intimacy where hyperscalers can't. Leveraging open source enables businesses to have a core set of customers who are strategically committed to both the project and a multicloud posture. By serving them well, and building intimacy with the project community, you build trust and make the most of the technology. 

Then by deploying "cloud first," organizations open the door to a broader set of customers who intentionally lean in to "best of breed." Here is where the work really starts; because the job isn't to simply run a bunch of Apache-licensed code. It's to use the scope, scale, and depth of data that this affords you, to be a steward and an innovator that enables current and prospective users to solve more problems, in more ways, not just with "your" product, but the entire OSS ecosystem. That's the kind of clarity of mission that no hyperscaler will ever have — and is how you attract partners and employees, not just customers.

AI and ML workloads running in Kubernetes will overtake non-Kubernetes deployments. AI and ML workloads are picking up steam, but the dominant projects are still currently not on Kubernetes. Expect 2023 to mark a shift in the opposite direction. There’s been a massive amount of focus put into adapting Kubernetes over the last year or so, through new projects that make it more attractive for developers. These efforts have also focused on adapting Kubernetes offerings, allowing for the compute-intensive needs of AI and ML to run on GPUs to maintain service quality while hosted on Kubernetes.

The killer app for WebAssembly (WASM) will surface in 2023. WASM data analysis projects will grow in popularity in 2023. WASM is a way to run code inside a browser. Browsers typically prefer JavaScript, the most popular language in the world. However, WASM enables you to run programs in C++, Rust and others that allow for faster, stronger performance needed for the likes of 3D CAD. There is limitless potential, but it isn’t being fully realized. However, we are already seeing that start to change with an influx of forums and posts about WASM on New Stack and other developer forums. As a result, 2023 could very well be the year we see the WASM killer app rise and change the game as we know it.

Real-time data is all about powering user experiences, driving critical processes and, ultimately, increasing end-user satisfaction for better business value. It all comes down to delivering data-driven actions when it matters most. In order to achieve successful business outcomes heading into 2023, enterprises must embrace these opportunities to leverage real-time, data-driven decision-making to navigate the challenges that lie ahead.

The article has been written by Deb Dutta - General Manager, Asia Pacific & Japan, DataStax