Big data as a concept may not be something new, but in the past few years, it has gained a huge amount of interest and media attention. It’s the volume of a dataset that primarily defines big data. In general, big datasets are huge, crossing the threshold of petabytes sometimes. Traditional data analysis methods fail to deal with this amount of data.
1- What is big data analytics?
Put simply, big data analytics refers to the process of extracting valuable information by analyzing different kinds of big datasets. It’s used to uncover hidden patterns, consumer preferences, market trends etc in order to help organizations in decision making.
There’s a massive amount of data available today and there’s an urgent need to capture, analyze and preserve that data for getting actionable insights out of it. By looking at the data available to a business, it can determine different ways to make good strides to attain positive results.
Today, every company, from small businesses to giant multinationals, has become dependent on data. Now, just think for a moment, what if you could be the person businesses turn to before making any business decisions? This is exactly the place that future big data analytics will hold for you.
2- Why should you learn big data analytics?
If you’re still not convinced enough by the above example, here’re the reasons you should try to become a part of the future big data analytics.
2.1- HUGE JOB OPPORTUNITIES
As organizations begin to realize they cannot make use of big data in terms of capturing, interpreting and using that data, they’ve started to look for professionals who’re capable of doing so. Just have a look at any major job portal and you’ll find that there’re lots of job postings by companies looking for data analysts. This number will eventually continue to increase as data will become more abundant and the number of professionals with skillsets needed for the job will remain low. So, now is the time to get prepared to become a part of future big data analytics.
2.2- DATA ANALYTICS IS AND WILL BE A PRIORITY FOR TOP COMPANIES
To remain competitive in the business landscape, top companies are looking to implement data analytics to explore new market opportunities for their products and services. Today, a huge percentage of major companies consider data analytics as a crucial component of their business performance and a key approach to rise above the competition and this will become even more important with competition increasing over time. It means today’s aspiring big data professionals will be able to become an inherent part of future big data analytics.
2.3- GREAT SALARY ASPECTS
Across the globe, the demand for big data analytics skill is steadily going up with a massive deficit on the supply side. Despite big data analytics considered as a hot job, there’s a large number of unfilled jobs because of the acute paucity of required skills. The difference between demand and supply is only expected to increase. As a result, wages for professionals with data analytics skills are boosting and companies are ready to offer fattier pay packets for the right people. In some countries, data analytics professionals are getting substantially higher compared to their peers in other IT-based professions. This monetary benefit can surely be considered as a great reason to become a big data analytics professional.
2.4- BIG DATA ANALYTICS IS INCREASINGLY GETTING ADOPTED BY ORGANIZATIONS
New technologies in the field are making it easier to perform sophisticated data analytics tasks on diverse and massive datasets. A lot of professionals are using advanced data analytics techniques and tools to perform tasks like data mining, predictive analytics, among others. With big data analytics offering businesses an edge over the competition, companies are implementing a diverse range of analytics tools increasingly. Today, it’s almost impossible to find a top brand that doesn’t take help of at least some form of data analytics. In light of the increasing adoption rate of data analytics, it can be said that the landscape of future big data analytics will hold a good place for skilled professionals.
2.5- YOU’LL BE A PART OF THE CORE DECISION MAKING
For the majority of the companies, big data analytics is a major competitive resource. There’s no doubt that analytics will become even more important in the near future as competition will keep on increasing. This is mainly because there’s a massive amount of data which is not being used and only rudimentary analytics is getting done. It’s an undeniable fact that data analytics is and will be playing a crucial role in decision making, regardless of the volume of an organization. Not being able to be a part of the decision-making process is something that generates dissatisfaction for a significant number of employees. As a big data analytics professional, you’ll be a crucial part of business decisions and strategies, catering to a major purpose within the company.
2.6- YOU’LL HAVE A DIVERSE RANGE OF JOB TITLES TO TAKE YOUR PICK FROM
As a data analytics professional, you’ll have a wide range of job titles as well as domains from which you can choose according to your preference. Since data analytics is used in different fields, lots of job titles like big data engineer, big data analytics architect, big data analyst, big data solution architect, analytics associate, big data analytics business consultant, metrics and analytics specialist etc will be available to you. Also, an array of top organizations like Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, ITrend, Opera are utilizing big data analytics and thus huge job opportunities with them are possible.
2.7- YOU’LL BE ABLE TO BECOME A FREELANCE CONSULTANT
A vast majority of today’s workforce keeps on looking for ways to diversify their income sources and ways through which they can maintain a perfect work-life balance. Data analytics professionals being able to offer valuable insights about major areas hold the perfect position to become a consultant or freelancer for some of the top companies. So, you don’t need to be tied to a single company. Instead, you’ll be able to work with multiple organizations who’ll depend on your insights when making crucial business decisions.
3- Key skills you should focus on to become a part of future big data analytics
To become successful in the future big data analytics landscape, you need to have the ability to derive useful information from big data. There’re different approaches to learn the key skills needed to become a data analytics professional like self-learning, learning from tutorials etc but we’d suggest you take a course in order to learn from instructors with real-world experience. Let’s have a look at the skills.
3.1- PROGRAMMING
A big data analytics professional needs to have a solid understanding of coding because a lot of customization is needed to handle the unstructured data. Some of the most used languages in the field include Python, R, Java, SQL, Hive, MATLAB, Scala, among others.
3.2- FRAMEWORKS
Familiarity and a good understanding of frameworks like Hadoop, Apache Spark, Apache Storm are needed to become a part of future big data analytics. All these technologies would help you in big data processing to a great extent.
3.3- DATA WAREHOUSING
Adequate knowledge of data warehousing is a must to become a good data analytics professional. You’ll be expected to possess a good understanding of working with database systems like Oracle, MySQL, HDFS, NoSQL, Cassandra, among others.
3.4- STATISTICS
While you’ve to have a robust understanding of the technologies used in the field, good knowledge of statistics is also a must for working with big data. Statistics is the building block of data analytics and expertise in core concepts like random variables, probability distribution etc is extremely important if you want to hold a strong position in the future big data analytics landscape.
3.5- STRONG BUSINESS ACUMEN
One of the most crucial skills to become a big data analytics professional is a solid understanding of the business domain. In fact, one of the key reasons behind the huge demand of big data analysts is that it’s highly difficult to find someone with adequate knowledge in statistics, technical skills, and business landscape. There’re professionals who’re expert programmers but don’t have the needed business acumen, and thus may not be the ideal fit for future big data analytics domain.
Final takeaway
The advent of IoT together with the developments in the AI field has simplified implementation of big data analytics to the degree that even small and medium scale businesses can benefit from them. And since almost every sector from banking and securities, education, healthcare to consumer trade, manufacturing, and energy is directly or indirectly making use of data analytics, the importance of it increases even further. As we’re moving toward a more connected future, big data analytics is going to play a major role in the future. With technologies around the world becoming more interoperable and synchronous, data will become the most important avenue that connects them together. So, it can be said that this is the ideal time to start developing the skills and become a master of them to hold a good place in the future big data analytics landscape.
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