As a whole, Gartner’s trends define the field and its future. You may recognize some of these trends from last year seeing that some of these items remain relevant and continue to evolve each year. Other items on the list have come to the forefront only recently. There are a dozen trends, and you need to decide where to concentrate your efforts.

Gartner Trend #1: Data Fabric

What Data Fabric Is
Data fabric combines data sources and data-management/data-delivery services into a fully integrated and flexible system. It streamlines processes and enables users to access enterprise data no matter where they are.

Benefits of Data Fabric for a Retailer
Retailers rely on comprehensive data collection, and both goods and data are more widely dispersed in 2022 than they ever have been before. Consolidate your data from inventory, order management, supply-chain systems, and customer transactions.

Flexible data fabric allows retailers to access to-the-minute data, taking advantage of real-time insights. Data fabric also positions you for future data applications and revenue streams. Its flexibility allows for discovery beyond what you can currently imagine.

Promising Tools/Companies in Data Fabric
SAP Data Intelligence. A single-solution application for hybrid data management and analytics designed to work at scale.
HPE Ezmeral Data Fabric. Formerly MapR, a data store and file system that unifies core, edge, and multicloud sources.

Gartner Trend #2: Cybersecurity Mesh

What Cybersecurity Mesh Is
Instead of single-perimeter cyber defenses, Gartner’s 2022 trends include cybersecurity mesh. Cybersecurity mesh is a more holistic approach to network security that integrates different, independent security services into a flexible architecture. Assets are independently protected with top-of-class security solutions for their kind, providing more local control and greater protection overall.

Benefits of Cybersecurity Mesh for a Retailer
Retailers can take advantage of the flexibility and additional protection of cybersecurity mesh. As people and devices are spread out, enterprises need a comprehensive system in which every user has exactly as much access as they need — and no more.

You can adopt the strategy to cover on-site devices and emerging physical retail technologies as well as enterprise operations.

Promising Tools/Companies in Cybersecurity Mesh
Fortinet. More than 50 security and networking technologies designed to work together, sharing threat intelligence, correlating data, and responding to threats as a unified system.
Blumira. Cloud-delivered SIEM that prides itself on its rapid response and ease of onboarding.

Check out my source to read more of the Gartner Trends 2022 and how to use them for retail.