So what might we expect for Big Data?

Tom Taulli for Forbes writes: While the media has put a focus on Big Data for the past few years, the industry has actually been around for quite a while. Keep in mind that one of the top players in the space – Splunk SPLK +4.68% (SPLK) – got its start back in 2003.

If anything, Big Data is in the midst of another transformation, especially with the cloud and mobile. The result is that the explosion of information has accelerated.  So what might we expect for Big Data? To see, I reached out to the following:

Vineet Jain, Founder & CEO, Egnyte

“Data is one of the most valuable assets today and as data continues to be collected, analyzed, and monetized, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for companies to identify the best way to manage it. Companies that aren’t tech giants such as Google GOOG +2.02% orFacebook who can deploy state of the art data centers and employ the brightest engineers, have to think differently. And while the cloud has become a popular choice for many businesses, it’s marginally effective as a standalone solution, especially for larger companies. I think there will be an evolution in data management where companies will combine the strength and security of data centers/on-premise hardware with the ease-of-use and accessibility of the cloud. This new era of hybrid data management will enable efficiency that will enable companies to monetize data in real-time. It’s yet to be seen in what capacity real-time monetization will happen, but it’s where data collection heading.”

Ajay Patel, Founder & CEO, HighQ

“The right decisions are made when the right people have the right information at the right time. Any organization that makes data more transparent and discoverable will make their workers more efficient and productive. It’s about moving from working in silos to working in teams, from e-mail to social tools, and from closed systems to open networks. The movement and availability of information allows companies to harness the collective intelligence of their workers, create a more connected workplace, and ultimately monetize their corporate data. Moving forward, cloud platforms will become more than just a place to store information, rather, the foundation of where work actually gets done. These enterprise ‘collaboration’ platforms will be driven by intelligent engines running on large amounts of user information, helping to personalize the customer experience.”

Marius Moscovici, Founder & CEO, Metric Insights

“We are in a ‘Big Data’ transition. Enterprises have historically focused on the collection and storage of the massive amounts of data that are now available. However, times have changed. Now is the time to start reaping real business value out of this information. However, it is not sufficient to just serve this data up on a platter to users because getting to what’s important turns out to be an impossible task. We are starting to see a trend where enterprises are taking a page from the consumer model (think Spotify, Linkedin and Google now as prime examples) where people are alerted in real-time to what’s important – and why its important. In the future, this will significantly enhance productivity, revenue and drive real business benefits.”

Sean Whiteley, Co-Founder, GetFeedback.com

“If you aren’t careful, you can drown in the sea of data you capture. It’s important that you are rigid about which data is most important to your core business, and how this information translates into higher value customers and revenue. This is one of the key drivers for integrating getfeedback.com to salesforce.com. Beyond the ability to provide better customer satisfaction, better customer service, and improved operational efficiency, being selective about the most meaningful data to your business is going to make or break a lot of companies in the ‘survival of the fittest’ technology realm.”

Christopher Justice, Chief Marketing Officer, Magnolia

“Undeniably, data is permeating businesses of every vertical, be they large or small. Organizations and their staff are getting increasingly used to interacting with data, analyzing it, visualizing it, and using it to make better business decisions. We believe that in the next few years, this data oriented approach will become more commonplace and crucial – and that it will benefit both businesses and customers.”

Tom Taulli (@ttaulli) is an advisor of tech companies and author of books on venture capital, M&A and IPOs.