After 25 years in the business analytics space, I’ve seen enough innovation for a couple of lifetimes. So I’m really surprised that I’m sitting here writing yet another predictions article. Haven’t we seen everything yet? When will the relentless march of technology cease? Don’t hold your breath!

Here are five key trends to watch in 2016. If they come to fruition, they will affect the way your organization uses data to run its business. And for good measure, I’ve added a bonus trend, which is perhaps more aspirational than realistic. Let me know what you think of the predictions, and please add your own in the comments section below.

1. BI Tools Lose Their Desktops

In a few years, we’ll look back with bemusement to the days when we had to load software on desktop machines and download updates with every new release. How archaic! Recent advances in Web development languages and frameworks have turbo-charged once slow and clunky browser-based applications, making them as fast and functional as traditional desktop or client/server applications. In 2016, BI tools (as well as many other tools) will shed their desktop brethren for good. The only people to cry foul will be data renegades who use desktop discovery tools to create data silos. Good riddance to them, too!

2. The Cloud Reaches the Tipping Point

Like e-commerce in the late 1990s, the cloud is at a tipping point. As operational applications move the cloud, analytical ones are following suit at a rapid rate. Companies are starting to recognize that their data is more secure in the cloud than in their own data centers. (Just ask Sony!) In 2016, every major organization will get a cloud strategy. For most, it will be a hybrid strategy, using the cloud to run new applications and handle peak processing on existing ones. Meanwhile, BI and database vendors are quickly porting their products to cloud platforms to meet the coming demand. (See “Which Cloud BI Product is Right for You?” and “Selecting a Big Data Platform: Building a Data Foundation for the Future.”)

3. BI Add-ons Become Standard

BI vendors used to compete by leapfrogging each other with new feature and functions. No longer. In 2016, many features will become standard fare, raising the bar to market entry. These include data preparation, data discovery, collaboration, machine intelligence, mobile delivery, alerting, search, advanced analytics, dashboards, and pixel-perfect reporting. Vendors will now compete on the capabilities of their underlying BI platform to provide rich, scalable, and secure services for building custom and embedded applications while supporting governed self-service environments. (See “Ten Characteristics of a Modern BI Tool.”)

4. Data Lakes Get Management Tools

You know what’s new with big data? Governance. Big data advocates are now mouthing the words governance. That is encouraging. And some are actually rolling out tools for managing data in non-relational data environments. That’s exciting! I’m not just talking about security and auditing, but metadata management tools and processes for defining and managing the flow of data from source systems into and out of Hadoop, including Hive views, Impala and Drill data sets as well as data warehouses, data marts and OLAP cubes running on relational and other SQL-oriented databases. Yes, my friends, we are recreating the data warehouse in Hadoop (and Spark). What goes around comes around! So, in 2016, expect to see the emergence of data lake management tools to govern big data in a systematic way.

5. Data Analysts Discover Data Catalogs 

Last year, business analysts discovered data preparation tools, which empowered them to connect to and mash up any type of data, allowing them to ditch their well-worn copies of Excel and Access.  This year, they will discover data catalogs, which enable them to search, profile, and tag data in any table and system. Rather than rely on tribal knowledge, analysts will use data catalogs to navigate data sources with confidence. Most importantly, they will use the catalogs to collaborate around data, capturing a collective knowledge about the meaning and usefulness of data elements. This metadata for business analysts will enable organizations to crowdsource semantics from the ground up, making governance agile again. (See “The Battle for the Big Data Catalog”.)

BONUS: BI Leaders Gain Clout

Last but not least, BI directors and managers, along with their solutions and data architects, will gain favor as the worlds of SQL and NoSQL collide. To date, BI leaders and data warehousing adjuncts have been pushed aside in favor of the newer and sexier NoSQL tools and approaches. However, as organizations encounter the harsh reality of building production environments on these new platforms, they will increasingly turn to BI leaders who have the skill to wrestle data to the mat and deliver a uniform and consistent semantic experience. Of course, to do this, BI leaders need to become conversant in the new tools, platforms and approaches, and blend the best of both worlds. (See “Wayne Eckerson Speaks on The BI Power Shift”).

So, all in all, 2016 will bring momentous change to our industry and reshape the way we organize our teams and architect our environments. So what’s new?