Data Science – Best Upskilling Investment

Data Science has been gaining prominence and momentum over the past decade. With the need to disentangle huge amounts of variegated data, eminent business houses as well as start-ups are looking for data scientists. There is an estimated $1.3 trillion worth of bad data in the US alone; conscious Data Analyses can weed out and optimise this bad data. For instance, recent studies have shown that Big Data can help save $300-450 billion in health care spending, alone.

There are various kinds of analyses and insights that data scientists can provide; from customer profiling to purchase trends and these analyses are attracting massive investments. Organizations, big and small, have realised the importance of Data; but the big guns have gone all in, integrating Data Science into their existing workforce as an upskilling practice. Here are a few reasons why the big guns are looking at Big Data and Data Scientists as their best upskilling option:

1. Prevent fraudulent activities:

One common enemy that most industries in the world face is fraud. Big Data Analytics is one of the best tools to avert and detect fraudulent activities. A lot of data on previous frauds and risks is available for these companies and it would only make sense to use it to their benefit. This need for Big Data Analytics has been realized by the entrepreneurial giants like Flipkart in India. HP has a stake of $1 billion and IBM has a stake of $24 billion in Big Data Analytics. PayTm has recruited big data scientists so as to look into their data warehouses and locate deceitful activities. Despite costing them approximately Rs. 12.5 million per scientist; such companies and more, like Wal-Mart are proactively investing to this end.

2. Detect, discover and develop solutions:

Problem solving and troubleshooting have come to rely heavily on Data Science. Through locating volume spikes and trends, detection and prioritization of prominent areas is easily possible. Similarly, product managers use the help of analytics and machine learning to create products that design optimum solutions.

3. Taking the higher road and gaining profit:

A pattern emerges, that above 80% of those companies which have hired data scientists have seen an increment in their revenue. About 44% of these companies believe that they have outpaced their shareholders’ assumptions regarding growth rates in revenue. 64% of the companies now claim that after data scientists have come into the picture, they have left their competitors far behind in the rat race in any of the fields that they are in.

4. Expert insights and tracking:

Whether it is Amazon pushing ads on the basis of your search history or Facebook suggesting known friends to add to your list; personalisation is enhancing user experience over the internet. Insights will help look at customers in an individualized way, providing personalized prospects as well offers which are trending and provide information on the best selling merchandises. They are always on the edge looking for changes in established patterns of data.

Data Science Courses and Data Science Training have therefore become the talk of the time. A well established data scientist with a few years of experience is capable of fetching Rs. 1 crore, if not more. Big guns are willing to invest a large sum since they can foresee the success that comes with it. The demand for data scientists is rising at such a quick pace that McKinsey believes by the next one year, there will be 50% more demand than supply of these data experts. Thus it is perceived that a massive potential lies untapped in data science as well as in the auxiliary fields which will be explored in coming years.

What are some of the other upskilling that Data Science provides for industries that you have come across? Tell us in the comments!