Event-driven data is data that is sent or received based on something that happens. For computer programming, that could be a click of a mouse, typing, etc. For apps, it can be similar, but we focus on event-driven data as something that happens outside the app, that impacts what the user will do e.g. there is no more stock for a specific product someone is looking at in-app, a driver is late to a pickup that a client needs to know about, odds are changing on an in-play betting opportunity. Event-driven data is an important part of any enterprise or consumer app on the market today, helping to drive innovation and competitive edge.

Gartner says, “As availability of event data from a growing number of sensors and monitoring applications has greatly expanded, enterprises have come to realize the value of this data as a vital source of information for making timely business decisions that will uphold and strengthen their stature in a competitive marketplace.”

Event-driven data has always existed, but enterprise organizations are finally looking to exploit it. To do so, they must overcome the challenges suggested by Gartner: The first is that, with surges in event-driven data sources, traditional strategies won’t be able to effectively accommodate growing data use cases, and we are seeing these use cases throughout mobile, Web and IoT applications. The second is that there is significant complexity around the tools for “for ingesting, processing and integrating event data with other data in support of overall information integration.” The complexity has hidden the value of this event-driven data as companies cannot quickly use it in real-time.

Event-driven data is all about real-time. The value is in the moment and while, yes, there are cases where reviewing event-driven data can be powerful, if users have left an app, the event has ended. Reliving that moment for revenue opportunity is unlikely.

Exploiting Event-Driven Data

The challenges around event-driven data require two things – the first, the ability for real-time data delivery and the second, for the complexity around it to be removed.

For real-time data delivery to be possible, app developers must move away from developing apps that offer static representations of data, refreshing displayed information only when a user explicitly asks for an update. Event-driven applications are vastely more engaging, updating in real-time as new data becomes available. As Gartner put it, it is necessary to move away from traditional strategies. We see that as abandoning traditional request/response data integration, and instead adopting an event-driven integration model, allowing applications to subscribe to the updates they are interested in and receive events in real-time.

Removing data complexity requires apps to leverage a reactive integration and abstraction layer – which hides the complexity of a data model – and decouple applications from potential backend changes. By abstracting backend data models into a single, Reactive Data Layer, organizations can hide data complexity and protect applications from changes – while at the same time offering the flexibility to surface future additions to the data model.

REAL-TIME Messaging & Event Driven Data

Real-Time Messaging delivers the event-driven data required of any mobile, Web or IoT app while ensuring real-time data delivery and the ability to decouple apps for a Reactive Data Layer. Easily built into an app, Real-Time Messaging from Push Technology is available to try for free – you can get our on-premise version Diffusion or Diffusion Cloud, available on IBM Bluemix.