In the latest infographic from the InterQuest Group, IQ Analytics share some of their insight into Big Data roles and the skills that are currently in high demand in this area...

1. SPOTLIGHT ON
BIG DATA
SCIENTISTS, ARCHITECTS, OFFICERS AND DEVELOPERS...
WITH BIG DATA EMERGING AS ONE OF THE MAJOR
FOCUSES FOR MANY ORGANISATIONS IN 2013, THE ROLES
WITHIN THIS FIELD SAW SOME SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN
DEMAND OVER THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS.
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HERE IS A ROUND-UP OF SOME OF
THE MOST IN DEMAND ROLES
WITHIN THE BIG DATA ARENA...
1. DATA SCIENTIST 2. DATA WAREHOUSE HARDWARE SPECIALIST
3. INFORMATION ANALYST 4. CDO
LAST YEAR MUCH OF THE BIG DATA DISCOURSE
REFERRED TO DATA SCIENTISTS AS THE ‘NEW
ROCK-STARS’ OF THE TECHNOLOGY WORLD...
DATA SCIENTISTS, WERE EARLIER REFERRED TO
AS DATA ARCHITECTS, WHEN THEY WERE MORE
CLOSELY ALIGNED TO IT; NOW THE ROLE
REQUIRES A NEW KIND OF TECHNOLOGY
PROFESSIONAL WHO IS CAPABLE OF BRINGING
DATA ORGANISATION INTO BUSINESS VALUE
PROPOSITIONS. DATA SCIENTISTS MUST BE
CAPABLE OF ANALYZING DATA AND SPOTTING
TRENDS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF IMPROVING
STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES WITHIN
AN ORGANISATION. ANALYTICAL AND
COMMUNICATION SKILLS ARE VITAL IN THIS
KIND OF ROLE.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTS PLAY A VITAL ROLE
WITHIN AN ORGANISATION’S PLANNING,
ORGANISING AND DOCUMENTATION OF DATA,
ENSURING THAT IT IS BEING INTERPRETED IN
AN EFFECTIVE WAY.
BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE AND DATA MODELLING
ARE ESSENTIAL SKILLS FOR AN INFORMATION
ARCHITECT.
IQ ANALYTICS ARE SPECIALISTS IN
CONNECTING MATHEMATICAL AND
STATISTICAL ANALYTICAL SKILLS,
EXPERIENCED IN EVALUATING
VOLUME BUSINESS DATA WITH
CLIENTS SEEKING UNIQUE TALENT.
A KEY FOCUS HERE IS DATA INTEGRATION AND
OPTIMISATION OF PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATED
WITH MACHINES LIKE EXADATA, TERADATA
AND NETAZZA.
THESE ARE THE MACHINES THAT
ORGANISATIONS USE TO PROVIDE MASSIVE
PARALLEL PROCESSING; UTILISING MEMORY,
DISK AND DATA ARCHITECTURES PARTICULAR
TO AN ANALYTICS PROCESSING ENVIRONMENT.
DATA WAREHOUSING AS A WHOLE IS AN AREA
WHICH IS QUICKLY GROWING AND ADVANCING,
SO DATA WAREHOUSE HARDWARE SPECIALISTS
NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE KEEPING
FULLY UP TO SPEED WITH THE LATEST SKILLS
AND DEVELOPMENTS AROUND THEIR
MACHINES.
THE NUMBER OF ORGANISATIONS APPOINTING
CHIEF DATA OFFICERS WAS ON THE INCREASE
IN 2013, AS WAS HIGHLIGHTED IN A RECENT
GARTNER REPORT PREDICTING THAT 25% OF
GLOBAL ORGANISATIONS WOULD HAVE
APPOINTED A CDO BY 2015.
IN MANY CASES THE CDO SITS ALONGSIDE THE
CIO, IN A ROLE THAT IS FAR MORE DATA
FOCUSED; CALLING FOR A TECHNOLOGY
PROFESSIONAL WITH A MORE DATA ORIENTED
BACKGROUND AND SET OF SKILLS. WHILE MANY
PREVIOUSLY SUGGESTED THAT IT WAS TIME FOR
THE CIO TO STEP ASIDE IN FAVOUR OF THE CDO,
IT HAS ALSO BEEN SUGGESTED THAT THE
APPOINTMENT OF A SENIOR DATA
PROFESSIONAL AT THIS LEVEL WITHIN AN
ORGANISATION ALONGSIDE A CIO CAN BE AN
INVALUABLE TOOL IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
LONG TERM DATA PROJECTS.