Dr. Athanasios Gentimis

Blog Outlet: DATAFLOQ
Blog Title: Why Big Data Degrees Have Big Returns
Author: Dr. Athanasios Gentimis

 We live in a world of constant change. With global paradigms and market demands shifting at a rapid pace, it is difficult to predict which career tracks will flourish and which will become obsolete. As technology is a widely pervasive innovation, with over 70% of the global population expected to own smartphones by 2020, each individual has become a meta data powerhouse.

The concept of big data is growing at such an exponential rate, the field of technology and web structure demands an equally large team of specialized technicians to facilitate, regulate and innovate. A degree in big data analytics and related programs can enable students to be a part of the market revolution.

Job Availability

Jobs in researching, understanding, developing and utilizing some of these big data streams are not only growing as exponentially as the data itself (almost at a 100 percent rate), but are also paying out big time. With the technology boom came a sustaining demand for IT professionals. Now that internet technology has developed to such a sophisticated global outlet, employers are pining to find analysts who can help turn public data into profit.

By the end of this year, the big data analytics market is projected to reach $125 billion worldwide. As a recent installment in the industry, IT companies are making a point to develop skills in this area, as there has been a shortage of professionals with this specialized skill set. A McKinsey Global Institute study states that the US will face a shortage of about 190,000 data scientists and 1.5 million managers and analysts who can understand and make decisions using big data by 2018. This has been affecting not only the United States, but also the entire global population as industries are making a priority to staff a team of big data analysts.

High Salary

A profession in big data analytics has increased in the number of available employment opportunities and annual income. In an article written by Forbes, it was projected that the median salary for a professional with big data expertise is $103,000 annually.

A career in this emerging field proves not only to be profitable, but also yields promise to make new discoveries, revolutionize the markets and completely shift the technological paradigm.

Business Innovation

Companies that have done this (think: Google, Facebook, Pandora) have been able to cater advertisements and points of interest specific to each person based upon a careful analysis of the individual’s previous searches and produced data. Companies all over the world are following suit and investing a large sum of their social media, digital marketing and PR efforts into big data analytics.

Aside from industry’s external efforts, companies are also using big data to make improvements in their internal business initiatives. Since big data analytics allows insight into the current and target audience, companies can effectively make better business decisions. They can develop more focused strategies, obtain a clearer sense of risk, build deeper customer relationships and in turn, financially outperform their competition.

Individuals in the big data analytics field must keep up with an ever-adapting industry and be a part of history. I think it’s well worth the challenge.