Forrester Analyst John Rakowski In theCUBE at Splunk.conf 2014

Splunk Inc. has achieved phenomenal growth because they make it simple for nontechnical professionals to “quickly interrogate data” and mine it for insight, said Forrester Analyst John Rakowski. For him, Splunk’s ability to deliver more automated services around data analytics could both empower brands from the IT department and beyond, and change the role of data experts as we know it. In fact, Rakowski suggested that Splunk’s easy-to-use query system will soon render the role of data scientist obsolete.

While Splunk applications help the workplace to become more productive, the data management platform also helps companies engage with customers. Predictive analytics, for example, is designed to help businesses understand customer behavior quickly, and this, said Rakowski, is where Splunk is headed. When companies have a better understanding of the customer, it enables better business and engenders customer loyalty.

Rakowski expects that an outside-in, customer-centric approach will change how quickly businesses gather data, and also enhance the IT department’s relationship with the services they develop, deliver, and support. It will drive IT to see itself as part of the business brand that engages with customers and delivers speed as well as quality. Optimizing feedback loops, Rakowski noted, is part of a “good analytics solution” that allows businesses to respond quickly to customer behavior.

Faster delivery also depends on making the right decisions, which is why business intelligence (BI) and monitoring are so essential to commercial success. The notion of “situational awareness,” noted Rakowski, “comes from the U.S. Marines.” Though the battlefield is different in IT, it’s still necessary to have the right information at the right time to make the right decision.” He believes that automation will play a key role in monitoring and analytics in coming years, especially as businesses get to the point “where [they] trust the machines.”

See the analyst’s entire segment below.

 .