"Data! Data! Data! he Cried Impatiently "You can't make bricks without clay." Sir Arthur Connan Doyle
The words of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes are the Tag line for this blog and underpin our philosophy on data and the modern world. Data is the building block of modern business and when used correctly can drive decision making, improve performance, engage customers, stream line processes and generate profit. Without a coherent Data strategy in your Business you are reducing your decision making process to at best a punt, a hunch or more accurately a gamble.
According to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt every two days we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003. That’s something like five exabytes of data every other day that will hold vital information as to how people engage with the world in the Digital Age. With all of this valuable Data available why would you gamble on your decision making and not make an informed business decision. The answer of course is cost as getting the right people in place to actually derive actionable insight from all this Data can seem daunting and expensive but with the right support it is an invaluable investment.
Why invest in Data Science? Elementary my dear Watson!
With the amount of data being created daily the work of Analysts or Data Scientists has never been so in demand. In 2012 Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research suggested that the world of Big Data would generate 4.4 Million IT Jobs but he warned that the increase in demand could not be met by the supply of talent.
As someone that has worked in the field of Analytics recruitment for a number of years I have seen first-hand how the desire for highly numerate, Tech savvy Analysts with the ability to communicate effectively has become the go to hire for anyone looking to improve their data proposition. The Holy Grail in this area is a PhD. Stats “Story Teller” that can number crunch like a machine and make his or her findings clearly actionable to the business in through effective communication (and a pretty visualization is they can.)
Finding this Stephen Hawking meets Barack Obama hybrid can be tricky some say it’s like finding the Unicorn but they are out there and they are integral to your company’s growth.
If you feel you are in need of making some Bricks from all this clay then get in touch I know quite a few unicorns that can help you out.
Mark Stevenson