3. Data mining
In 2001, lower storage costs and a growing variety of useful data analysis tools and services will continue to glean more value from data being mined.
The growth of e-business has created a data overload for many companies, and sorting through it is becoming harder. Through centralized data management and analytical solutions, data mining will play an integral role in all businesses focused on customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning.
A number of vendors offer data mining tools that can handle any company's needs. Vendors such as IBM, Smart Research BV and Blue Martini Software, among a host of others, offer software solutions or data mining engines to environments ranging from Windows to Linux and Unix.
Storage of all that information is becoming less of a headache. Online analytical processing-based data warehousing and services have addressed the critical problems of what to store and where to put it. Companies that have been hesitant to integrate young, untested technology will have more options as the technologies mature next year and beyond.
More flexible tools and warehousing packages will make data mining a category to watch in 2001.
