With the  introduction of real-time event data, data-driven companies have the opportunity to take advantage of information at an unprecedented pace. Whether from sensor readings on Internet of Things (IoT) devices, events from real-time enterprise applications such as order management and payment processing, or information from customer and partner interaction touchpoints such as mobile apps or online websites, organizations can take streams of information and gain insights on internal operations, partners, supply chains, customers, and market trends.

Gone are the days when competitive enterprises could take as many as 12-18 months to deliver a new product or service. Enterprises need to ingest, process, and organize information quickly. One of the best ways to do this is within the context of an analytical app, rather than simply dropping real-time events into a discovery environment or exploratory dashboard. The events have great value, but real-time information needs to be capitalized and linked to an organizationís business operations quickly to truly take advantage of that value.

The goal is to deploy streaming data applications swiftly without just hurrying ideas and deployments that are not ready for "primetime." If organizations rush to production before they are ready, their applications will either fail to get into production environments or end up in failure because they cannot manage production loads. Business stakeholders need to validate the information and insights derived from data streams and pipelines, and technologists need to certify that the apps supporting those insights are ready for internal teams, partners, and customers to use. Without a production-ready deployment, the business opportunities are missed and confidence in the information and/or application is lost.