Big Data, Analytics and Mobile: The Future of Digital Tech.
We welcome Saurabh Tyagi, our guest blogger this week. Saurabh is a blogger with interests in various new media technologies. He made a radical shift from his core engineering degree to this world of internet. A self-confessed gadget freak and social media enthusiast, he keenly follows the latest trends in the tech world and aspires to be a complete Internet expert and a technology maven in the long run. His articles offer resume advice to professionals who are interested in making their career in data analytics, inbound marketing, email marketing, affiliate marketing, SEO and other internet related fields.
In this post Saurabh talks about how the world around is increasingly becoming connected. From mobiles to wearable technology, we have heard and probably even have it all. It’s not just our personal space that is surrounded by digital technology, our work lives are also increasingly affected by the same. But what exactly is the future?
Ever since Internet went main stream almost 20 years ago, the world has seen changes at a pace that is astonishing to say the least. Billion dollar companies like Google, Facebook and others dominate the imagination of today’s youth, all thanks to the Internet. From simple text based sites to Web 2.0, buzzwords like Big Data, Mobile and Analytics are now making the rounds. What exactly are these and why is the world going crazy about them?
Big Data: The five things you should know about it
Big Data is the killer technology of our times and we should know about it. For those who are still in the blind about what exactly this term means, Big Data refers to massive data sets that can be analyzed using specialized tools. Big Data has arrived in a big way so here are six things that you ought to know about it:
The market is big: IDC reports that Big Data market will experience a compounded annual growth of 27%, reaching $32.4 billion in 2017.
The real power is in analysis: Big Data, on its own, isn’t worth a dime. Unless it is supported by the insights and analysis of data scientists, Big Data’s value remains worthless. According to Mike Olsen, CSO at Cloudera, “We can’t act on it until we understand it, and we can’t understand it until we clean it, process it, analyze it, and explore it.”
It is one of the most wanted skills of the future: According to estimates by Gartner, there will be a demand for 4.4 million Big Data jobs by 2015. The McKinsey report also suggests a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 data scientists and 1.5 million managers who need to understand and utilize data driven insights. Companies find Big Data talent an increasingly scarce resource.
Big Data is everywhere: With products like Google Glass, wearable technology, and sensors enabling more such new advanced technology, such as the ‘internet of things’, means that Big Data is available to every company in almost every industry. Right from pharmaceutical to agriculture, Big Data is an ingredient that has the potential to help or change business practices in every industry.
Ignoring Big Data is a bad strategy: A MIT research carried out in conjunction with 179 companies and University of Pennsylvania reported that data-driven firms perform 5%-6% better. A McKinsey report suggests the difference could be as high as 60% in the retail sector.
Mobile is the future of everything
Desktop sales have been suffering for a long time now. Users are shifting towards smartphones, and tablets as their primary device of information consumption. Mobile is an integral part of every business’s strategy and those who are not taking it seriously right now, are surely going to regret in the near future. Whether you are a restaurant owner or a data scientist, mobile is the way to go. Mobile manufacturers are selling their mobile devices with all sorts of functionalities and superb configuration. But the only way they will be able to make use of these features will be through apps and if your app is making the right noise with consumers, it will be good for your business.
In addition to having a responsive website, your mobile strategy should have apps as its primary focus. You should ask, observe and analyze how your customers use their mobile devices as it will clear a lot of misconceptions and assumptions. You can further narrow down your mobile strategy.
Analytics
Analytics is important because it offers organizations the capability of acting on real-time insights to transform their business. With Big Data coming into the picture, analytics becomes an indispensable part of any company’s success strategy. IDC predicts that the business analytics industry will grow to a whopping $50.7 billion in 2016. This stupendous growth is a result of the Big Data hype. As of now, the industry is growing at an annual rate of 9.8 percent.
The three important segments of business analytics are data warehousing platform, analytics application and business intelligence & analytics tool segment. According to the key findings of IDC research more organizations with less business analytics experience are becoming interested in this technology.
Bottom-line:
Thus it is clear that the future belongs to those who have these skills on their resume. The digital world presents the best possible opportunity for professionals to make a killing out of their career, but only to those who are well versed with these future technologies.
Interested in a career in Big Data? Check out Jigsaw Academy’s Big Data courses and see how you can get trained to become a Big Data specialist.
Related Articles:
Top Big Data and Analytics Trends for 2014
Going Back to Basics. Understanding Big Data.
