Every true scientist must also be a type of data scientist, although not all self-proclaimed data scientists are in fact true scientists.

True science is nothing without observational data. Without a fine-grained ability to sift, sort, structure, categorize, analyze, and present data, the scientist can’t bring coherence to their inquiry into the factual substrate of reality. Just as critical, a scientist who hasn’t drilled down into the heart of their data can’t effectively present or defend their findings.

Fundamentally, science is a collaborative activity of building and testing interpretive frameworks through controlled observation. At the heart of any science are the “controls” that help you isolate the key explanatory factors from those with little or no impact on the dependent variables of greatest interest. All branches of science rely on logical controls, such as adhering to the core scientific methods of hypothesis, measurement, and verification, as vetted through community controls such as peer review, refereed journals, and the like. Some branches of science, such as chemistry, rely largely on experimental controls. Some, such as astronomy, rely on the controls embedded in powerful instrumentation like space telescopes. Still others, such as the social sciences, may use experimental methods but rely principally on field observation and on statistical methods for finding correlations in complex behavioral data.

Winter is coming; the year is quickly drawing to a close, and its time to a look back and see how accurate our content security crystal ball was for 2011.  Last year we predicted three trends; two were accurate and one was partially correct. Let's take a closer look.

1)  Content security spending will slow down - We were right. According to our latest survey data, the content security budget represented 6% of the total IT security budget; this is a 1% decrease from 2010. Content security remains one of the lowest budgeted technology areas in IT.

2)  Consolidation will continue to drive suite offerings - We were partially correct. In 2011, we didn't see any significant M&A activity in the content security space.  While we were wrong on the vendor consolidation prediction, we were correct on the prediction that market leaders would increase their data loss prevention and mobile capabilities to further solidify their market positions.

3)  Mobile filtering will enter mainstream IT - We were correct. Laptop filtering is mainstream, and mobile device filtering is gaining momentum and getting significant attention. Content security vendors are currently testing content filtering on mobile phones and tablets.

What about 2012?  To see what five trends we predict will impact your strategy next year, check out the full document: "Content Security: 2012 Budget And Planning Guide."  Here's a teaser, is your content security strategy ready for the extended enterprise?

There are four main business and market drivers pushing IT to put – and keep - mobility front and center in their 2012 planning.

Enterprise mobility will dominate IP priorities in 2012. Moreover, this trend will continue during at least the next three years. Some of the big drivers for prioritizing mobility that we’ve identified during 2011 include:

1)      Users are demanding improved mobility support: This includes supporting more personal mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), expanding use of mobile apps both inside and outside the office, and supporting new mobile operating systems, especially Android and Apple iOS in addition to BlackBerry.  

2)      The business is finding ways to deploy apps they want without you: IT needs a strategy for prioritizing mobile apps development and deployment. The business also needs updated guidance about who pays for smartphones and tablets, and the associated mobile services, endpoint security, and appropriate use of personal devices.

3)      Customers are voracious about multichannel access to your content: Mobility will be key in social computing initiatives to drive deeper customer engagement. Customers (and suppliers) will love you for giving them great mobile apps like a product catalog, maintenance schedules, or project calendars accessible using their Internet-connected mobile device (smartphone, tablet).

Retail is experiencing substantial change because consumers are now empowered by the web with information about price, availability, and merchandise features.

The retail industry is still served by solutions that are too fragmented to adequately balance the asymmetry introduced by radical price transparency. There are solutions for transactions, web site, stores, and so on but little to empower the cross-channel retailer to really meet the consumer’s needs.

I’ve recently been looking at IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative and its portfolio that integrates:

1)    Store applications. IBM has well-established high-volume store apps appropriate to high-volume, low-touch retailing but correctly identifies these as inappropriate for fast-growing specialty retail with low-volume “high touch.” This is why it acquired the “asset” of Open Genius.

2)    Web metrics. IBM acquired Coremetrics in order to bring the discipline of measuring traffic, conversion, and average order to cross-channel retailing. It’s only by monitoring such metrics that retail can understand which marketing strategies are really successful and which market segments are most receptive.

3)    Direct-to-consumer initiatives. IBM acquired Unica as a platform for integrating automated direct-to-consumer marketing with its cross-channel offering.