Executive Summary

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It is our job as analysts to research and comment on current developments in the software market – on both the supplier side and the buyer side. Interestingly, we observe that what is promised by software vendors, what is actually offered, and what is needed by companies today are oftentimes three very different things.

Of course, artificial intelligence (AI) has been the most important buzzword of 2024, and not only are software vendors working on implementing AI in their product strategy, but buying companies are actively asking for AI features when selecting new software, too.

At the same time, however, we see more often than not that businesses are still struggling with very basic topics like data quality and streamlined data processes, suggesting that AI implementation remains a project somewhere further down the road of their digitalisation journey. Still, many companies have started to experiment with AI capabilities to optimise internal processes and reduce manual effort. This focus on data streams and operational efficiency leads to a more holistic view of a company’s information and data supply chain, which is a positive development.

For our 2024 Analyst Atlas of Switzerland, we asked companies for their most important goals and challenges in our Swiss DEN study. From that information, we derived some interesting insights on which we base this list of current top trends that will drive businesses’ 2025 agendas.

• BI and analytics
  More than half of the respondents of the Swiss DEN study plan to explore business intelligence (BI) and analytics tools, which comes as no surprise given that many companies are striving to build data-driven organisations.
• Operational performance
  Almost 75 per cent aim to increase the efficiency of their internal processes. Higher cost sensitivity and increasing pressure from the global competition are driving the need for more productivity.
• Data quality
  15 per cent have no data governance at all, and while nearly 70 per cent have some rules, they haven’t been implemented in all processes. Against the backdrop of AI strategies, having AI-ready data is paramount for businesses. Hence, data quality will become one of the most pressing topics of 2025.
• AI implementation and automation
  Having explored potential ways to use automation to optimise internal processes or productivity outcomes, we expect businesses to outline thorough AI and automation strategies in 2025 and start integrating certain features into their workflows.
• Data culture
  Given the importance of data quality, there will be a mindset shift in that data competency will become an essential skill. This will be a substantial organisational transformation for many established companies.

On the following pages, we will give you a little more context to these areas and offer you the opportunity to take notes for your own strategy in 2025. Use these notes to prepare for your free analyst consultation hour that we offer at the end of this document.

BI and analytics

An increasing number of companies are adopting the vision of becoming true data-driven organisations. Analytics and BI are essential tools for this endeavour as they provide decision-makers with the insights they need to steer their company in the right direction. But it’s not only the C-level who benefits from analytics tools. We predict that analytics will become an integral element in any business process as companies evolve into data-driven organisations. That said, there will be a growing need for competencies to deal with those tools properly and make sense of their results. For instance, defining KPIs is not an easy task – many people measure areas that have no strategic impact, or they accept the results without critically discussing them.

One area where we see growing interest is digital shelf analytics in combination with product information management. Product communication is an essential pillar of a company’s business success and there are lots of opportunities to grow awareness, personalise product messages, and optimise the product content life cycle.

In order to innovate and improve, however, companies need reliable information on how their current marketing strategy performs. While it’s easy to measure communication success on owned channels like online shops and social media, things look very different when it comes to third-party platforms like online marketplaces. Big retailers often provide their brands with some numbers, but rarely in the depth required and at no additional cost. Digital shelf analytics (DSA) tools crawl these online platforms and retrieve relevant data like customer reviews, sales numbers, price information, and so on. In addition, the tools can track the product data of the most important competitors, enabling a thorough competitive analysis of all important channels.

If you are interested in how DSA connects to your entire information supply chain, we recommend our roundtable discussion with Sebastian Klumpp from XPLN and Stefan Reinhardt from Informatica.

Operational performance

For many companies, 2025 is not so much about developing or redesigning their information supply chain but rather about optimising the status quo. Hence, the focus will lie on the data flows and how to make them more efficient and profitable. We plan to publish a series of guides that will help companies measure and continuously optimise central data processes to support this challenging but highly rewarding task.

However, sometimes a software replacement is inevitable. Particularly for central systems like PIM, software evaluations become more and more difficult as the markets become increasingly heterogenous and project requirements and complexity rise. Our analysts put together a comprehensive guide that summarises all best practices for your next PIM evaluation. If you need a thorough view of the current PIM market, we recommend our recently published Analyst Atlas of Product Information Management, which covers 65 PIM vendors globally and shares some insightful details on the market’s potential as well as on how companies can leverage it.

Data quality

As we mentioned in the executive summary, data quality is becoming a critical topic for most companies – especially when they aim to implement workflow automation and AI in their business processes. Data quality is a major pillar of success – it affects all major business areas such as customer and partner relationships, the organisation’s trust in its own information supply chain, and brand growth.

While it’s simply common sense to have good data quality, there is no common definition of data quality – not to mention a common understanding of how to implement thorough data governance. We talked with data expert Tiankai Feng about this important topic and learned a lot about what it takes to build a true data culture.

AI implementation and automation

Even if the term “AI” continues to be applied to anything from simple if–then business rules to natural language processing (NLP), we don’t expect the market’s communication to become more transparent or correct – quite the opposite, in fact. We recommend our interview with data, BI, and AI expert Alexander Thamm on this interesting topic; he sees AI as still being in its infancy despite what the market tries to convey.

Of course, automation will continue to play a major role in 2025 – even more so as companies start to seriously implement automation features into their central data processes. While we expect many AI projects to fail in the coming months, this will lead to important learnings for both the companies using AI as well as for the technology providers. 

Next year around this time, we will talk about establishing automation use cases and how software vendors in fields like PIM, MDM, DAM, and e-commerce differentiate themselves in covering them. This will have a great impact on software selection projects as well as on vendors’ product and marketing strategies.

Data culture

When we look at the top trends of 2025, one thing becomes crystal clear: data is at the core of companies’ evolution and will drive innovation, sustainability, and progress. Building a data culture, however, is a prerequisite for exploiting the full potential that data provides for businesses. This means that data skills are needed for each and every position in a company, starting with an understanding of basic data and the implementation of data governance in every business process.

To achieve this aim, data literacy needs to be driven from the management level. Data projects that are not backed by the C-level will ultimately fail. Data must be top priority to be perceived as the asset it actually is. We talked with Dr. Joe Perez about this very important topic and asked him about best practices and his unique perspective as an educator.

Are you wondering how you can benefit from these top trends, or do you need some insights or tips for other topics that will challenge you in 2025? Talk with our seasoned analysts and benefit from an objective view and in-depth market expertise. 

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