Possible Career Path in Analytics industry

Analytics is a relatively ‘young’ area of work. It has evolved and expanded 100 fold in the last 10 years as more and more companies and their top managements have become convinced about the immense value it adds to decision making. In this increasingly complex marketplace, where net and mobile technologies are adding into the conventional brick and mortar economy, and the life of data is becoming short (ie, data which is very old is not usable); analytics is becoming increasingly useful and moving from the fringes towards the mainstream with regard to business decisions. This of course spells increased requirement for analytics talent. It also increases the responsibility of success and failure to correct and timely decisions made using analytics. In short, the analyst (used loosely to define the analytics fraternity) has many choices in the workplace and can decide which role to play in his career. Broadly, the roles in analytics can be grouped as follows:-

1. Technical Individual contributor: – If you are very strong in a specialised field of work you can land up in an IC role. You will be seen as an SME (subject matter expert).Usually you would have a Ph.D. in your line or may have proven competencies in a new line of work (big data, web analytics etc.). These roles are few, mostly available with the very large corporations and highly paid. You often get to work on multiple projects to do the parts that require your specific skill sets. Client interaction is aimed at filling the client with awe about the expertise available within the organisation! A part of your day will be spent updating your skills and expertise in this dynamic world. Also, you will have to deal with integrating your skills in delivering business value. These roles are few but very highly paid. The success here depends on how well the TCI can deliver or enhance business value using cutting edge / un – common / new techniques and technologies. Often, tracking and adapting technologies from other industries is a part of the landscape.
2. Business Individual Contributor: – Generally a business analyst (rarely at an AVP and above level) who does the normal analytics jobs but does not have a team reporting in to him yet is a Business IC. You will be put into team handling roles as you progress upwards. Client interactions, scope of work definition, analytics and strategy recommendation there-of will be the order of your day. The emphasis is to use proven techniques to deliver value and reverse – mentor the business to make them understand the utility and possible implementation of the analysis done.
3. Team Leader: – A Business IC will, most likely, metamorphosis into a Business Team Leader – handling clients and repartees (Very few become Technical ICs). You will generally be at a Manager level or above and will have analysts and senior analysts reporting in to you. This role will get more like a mentoring role as you go up the ladder with its fair share of operational responsibilities and client management. 80% – 90% of the AVP and above roles in an analytics KPO will belong to this category. So a typical work year will see you involved in hiring, client site visits, backend understanding to scope project, projections , adapting proven competencies or past (but similar) projects to the task in hand, tracking multiple project deliveries, team management , review cycles , business planning and budgeting, increasing scope of current engagement, acquiring new projects etc. This role is very challenging and complex because of the various dimensions involved.

A good look at your individual aptitude and the opportunities that you see around you should guide you to the role you are most suitable for.

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