The future of data engineering

When you think of a data engineer, you may think of a solitary person sitting alone in an office, watching over their data pipelines.

However, the role has now significantly evolved. Data engineers are now more likely to work in teams and more likely to be involved with analysing the data as well as collecting it. Most importantly, they are more likely to get involved with other parts of the business too. Now is a very exciting time to be a data engineer as some of the leading employers look to use their data effectively and are making room at the table for data professionals to drive business decision making. 

The data they create and administer has evolved too. Originally under lock and key, data is now openly available and accessible to all, even to those outside of the business.

What do we see as the future of data engineering, and how will the industry grow over time? 

Here are our five predictions moving forward so you can navigate the jobs market with full understanding of what employers are looking for and intend to do with their data teams in the future.

1. Data roles will get a board-level seat

For a long time, data roles have been kept out of the boardroom, or have fallen under the remit of the operations director or CIO.

However, senior management teams are starting to see that data engineering departments have the experience and skills required to drive business forward.

Robust datasets and quantitative data help businesses solve problems and give directors the confidence needed to make significant decisions. This means that chief data officers and heads of data are now finally finding their place in the boardroom.

2. Dedicated data engineering support for every team

All departments within a business are reliant on data to grow and thrive. Most importantly, they need the help of data engineers to manage, collect and interpret this data on their behalf.

Let’s take the sales team, for example. A sales team may use data engineering to identify customer sentiment analysis from the emails and phone calls they receive. They may use metrics to determine how they can reduce customer churn rate. They can even use data to predict future sale levels and mitigate against seasonal slumps in revenue.

This means that data engineers and the support they provide will be in high demand across businesses in all industries. As a result, data engineering departments will see their budgets grow to accommodate additional staff, future training requirements and the technology needed to carry out their roles effectively.

3. The technology for moving data will become commoditised

Cloud computing has had a major impact on the way that data is moved around. 

Before the cloud came to prominence, data had to be loaded to an on-site data warehouse and moved around servers, limiting data engineering to only the largest and wealthiest businesses. Now cloud computing makes moving and optimising data easy, secure and affordable.

In fact, 45% of businesses are running at least one of their big data workloads in the cloud.

This has led to the commoditisation of technology for moving data. Software as a Service (SaaS) providers have made moving data a straightforward process, meaning that more businesses can utilise the technology at a cost-effective price point.

4. The ‘data gap’ between producers and consumers will shrink

More and more data is available than ever before, and the volume is growing all the time. It’s estimated that 181 zettabytes of data will be created by the year 2025. To give you context, a zettabyte is enough to store 30 billion 4K movies!

This means that the data gap between producers and consumers will shrink. Not only is more data being created every day, but more sources are capable of producing and storing this data.

As consumers, an increased amount of data is available to us too. We can access statistics on-demand with a quick Google search, view analytics on social media profiles and buy datasets from third-party suppliers like Experian and Nielsen.

Speaking of buying datasets…

5. Data will become a product

Like office furniture, laptops and stationery, data will be something business leaders we buy to help our businesses achieve our their goals.

Businesses that do not have data engineers will be able to buy the datasets they need to help grow their business, either as raw data or interpreted analytics.

This means that all companies will be able to take advantage of data engineering to assist them in making well-informed business decisions. However, internal data teams who are able to apply product thinking to datasets will see the benefits of a series of added

capabilities such as discoverability, explorability, scalability and trustworthiness. Ultimately, data engineers who are able to be the meeting point of analysis and commerciality will see themselves in high demand. 

What are your predictions for the future of data engineering?

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