Just days after EMC's Jeetu Patel talked to me about how
data analysis skills will become part of every business unit, it's interesting to read that
Google is beefing up the ranks of data scientists in its venture capital arm to help guide its investment in Big Data. My colleague Loraine Lawson at IT Business Edge collected articles yesterday on
how to get started in Big Data, especially if the bosses are asking why you haven't done it yet. She made the point that if your small amount of data is a mess, it's time to get that in order before taking on massive amounts of unstructured data. She also pointed to
this article at databaserevolution.com offering a checklist by role. Obviously, what you need to do is different if you're not the top boss. Writer Rajeev Rawat, CEO and founder of BI Results, offered this advice for IT professionals:
- Get smart on business needs and IT requirements for Big Data insights.
- Get smart on new Big Data solutions: legacy and best-of-breed solutions.
- Determine potential options to provide functional bridges.
- Complete training, certification to leverage experience and remain relevant.
- Take leadership roles to mentor and guide the team, educate other users.
The advice is similar to
that offered at Redmondmag.com by Concentrated Technology's Don Jones when talking about cloud computing and some companies' bad decisions:
... be prepared to benefit ... whether it's the right thing to do or not. In other words, don't be caught flat-footed.
