An interesting consequence of Wuhan Virus (aka Covid-19) in 2020 is rise of Data Analyst in enterprises. These data analysts are taking on a much more prominent role in data management and analytics.
Who are Data Analysts?
Data analysts are non-engineers who are proficient in SQL, a language used for managing data held in databases. They may also know some Python, but they are typically not engineers. Sometimes they are a centralized team, sometimes they are embedded in various departments and business units. Traditionally, data analysts would only handle the last mile of the data pipeline — analytics, business intelligence, visualization. But now, because cloud data warehouses are big relational databases (forgive the simplification), data analysts are able to go much deeper into the territory that was traditionally handled by data engineers, and for example handle transformations, leveraging their SQL skills (using tools like DBT, Dataform and others SQL based frameworks).
Why the Increased Demand for Data Analytics Professionals and Skills?
The amount of data that businesses are generating, storing, selling, and sharing is greater than ever. Customer needs drive everything businesses do, and companies need data to make informed decisions.
we can attribute the increased demand for data (and therefore people who can read and derive meaning from data) to five reasons.
1. Increase in Connected Devices
There are currently more than 31 billion internet-connected devices around the world, according to the data and information analytics firm IHS Markit. At home and at work, we are adding more and more connected devices.
2. Increase in Data Generation
Data is generated every time someone searches on Google, remotely connects to their Nest cam, shares an image on Instagram, schedules an appointment online, or buys something from Amazon.
In terms of the size of data and the amount that lives and moves throughout the internet, Cisco estimates there are 201 exabytes (EB) of internet traffic per month. By 2022, it will reach almost 400 EB. To put that into perspective:
3. Ease of Access to Data
One of the simplest answers to the question of why there’s been such a data boom is “because we can.” Thanks to innovations in technology (reason #1) and an increase in data generation (reason #2), accessing data is easier than ever.
You may have heard the term “democratization of data.” This refers to the widespread availability of data to people who aren’t necessarily data analysts. Executives, managers, and staff have access to data about their own company, their competitors, their customers, prospective customers, and even each other.
This is a good thing, but it can also be a dangerous thing. Organizations need people who are trained to mine data and refine it, so they can make intelligent decisions.
Data is everywhere, and organizations need experts who can help them make smart, data-driven business decisions.
4. Customer Needs and Marketing
Consumers are demanding in the 21st century.
A web-based platform that many businesses use to manage leads and customers, surveyed their consumers and found that 76% of consumers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations.
5. Data-Driven Decision-Making (DDDM)
What is data-driven decision-making?
It’s using hard facts, rather than intuition and observation, to make decisions. It’s not to say that intuition and observation don’t have value. In fact, some business advisers and experts recommend using data to inform micro decisions and using your intuition to make macro decisions.
Data can help retailers know how many three-ring binders to add to inventory before back-to-school shopping begins and inform logistics companies about most efficient delivery routes. Those are essential micro decisions that help managers run businesses.
But simply generating data and producing reports and fancy dashboards isn’t what data-driven decision-making (DDDM) is about. DDDM is about using that data to make organizational decisions — by testing, measuring, learning, and iterating.
Employment Projections for Data Analytics Professionals
IBM projects that by 2020, demand for data and analytics professionals will increase by 3.64 thousand to 2.72 million openings. These are not only data analytics roles, but also other job roles that require data and analytics skills.
Below chart gives an overview of Data Analyst Salary in India in 2020 [For Freshers & Experienced folks]
Hope this article was successful in shedding some light on the role of Data Analyst and potential future in this career.
