IT Industry Trend: Big Data Means Big Jobs

What does Big Data mean? Depending on who you ask, you might get different answers. To an average person, Big Data could sound like the next summer blockbuster starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. But to professionals in the IT industry, big data means BIG potential. According to IBM, we create 2.5 quintillion (1 x 10¹⁸) bytes of data. Within just a week, we create such a powerful web of entangled information, much of which is very valuable. To harness a competitive advantage in the future, businesses need to untangle and utilize this big web of data. They are looking to hire powerful IT minds to analyze the data and gather insight and information that will help the business. According to Garner Inc., Big Data will create 1.9 million IT jobs in the US by 2015.

How is Big Data Creating Jobs?

The IT industry is experiencing a pinnacle moment. The integration and convergence of cloud computing, social collaboration, and mobile information has created a continuous stream of information, and a massive amount of data is the result of this information coming together. Within that data is information just waiting to be analyzed. Garner Inc. projects IT spending will top $3.7 trillion worldwide in 2013. Businesses are willing to spend big money on big data as long as the data provides big results. Not only is big data creating 1.9 million IT jobs, but for every IT job created in the US, three more related job opportunities will arise outside of the IT industry. Therefore, it is projected that 6 million jobs will be created in the next four years because of big data.

What Kind of Jobs?

Companies looking to capitalize on big data are creating analytical data jobs to help them make more effective decisions. According to Computer World, five new job positions will be created to handle the influx of data: data scientists, data architects, data visualizers, data change agents, and data engineers.

Data Scientists are high level management positions that require exceptional analytical skills and a math/statistical background.
Data Architects are programmers who can handle messy data and are creative enough to look at the data in new ways.
Data Visualizers are techies who can translate data to make business sense.
Data Change Agents are the drivers behind change. Change Agents have a six sigma background and will change internal operations based on the data.
Data Engineers are the designers and managers who build infrastructures that will help businesses to analyze and supply data in the most efficient manner.

Big data is set to shape the future of the IT industry. Businesses will develop new data analysis positions to give their company the competitive edge and to make lucrative business decisions in the future.