You're New Business Partner: Data-First Applications
The third pillar of Data Innovation needed to support Advantage 2.0 is Data-First applications. They take advantage of use-case specific Data Ecosystems and are different from the function-first applications we are used to and that are common in every business.
Data-First applications are, by definition, all about the data:
• They do not create data; they use a specifically created Data Ecosystem
• They are less concerned with presenting data than with finding data to match use-case criteria
• Consequently, the Data-First UX is not fixed but a byproduct of dynamically changing search-focused outputs
Data-First application are a relatively recent phenomenon because the technology needed to support them has only recently been available to the business world; for example:
• AI has come out of the lab and into the real-world
• Natural Language Processing (NLP) has opened up unstructured data for analysis
• Graph databases have provided a new way to model and query complex data relationships
• Useful data online is easily accessible via published APIs
Data-First applications depend on an intermediary schema derived from myriad source data but this schema changes dynamically based on the underlying use case and anticipated evolving data outputs. This is a hallmark of Data-First applications: A dynamic response to changes in the data to reflect the needs of the Data-First application use case.
Data-First applications deliver Advantage 2.0 through an effective search space and search-oriented UX. In other words, the application is the search UX and the search results. So, in that sense, a Data-First application can be characterized as a sophisticated search engine.
The search UX we are talking about is a guided and adaptive search that often flows through varying layers of information that traditionally require intense manual effort to gain value from.
So, a Data-First application is not just a search engine but equally it is impossible to deliver an effective Data-First application without intelligent and adaptive search capabilities front and center.