In Demand – Data Analytic & Reporting Skills

I recently came across a number of articles on the latest hot skill “Data Analytics”.

With the explosion of information in recent years, companies are under severe pressure to capture opportunities ( increase revenue, profit, efficiency and customers) within a limited time period. This has resulted in a substantial increase in positions responsible for data analytics in order to convert massive amount of information (user behavior trending, adoption, etc.) into meaningful data.

By focusing on the technology know-how or purely number crunching abilities, companies might not reap the benefits of hiring additional head count. The ideal hire profile should include good understanding of business operations and processes in order to translate the data into insights.

There has always been a need for people with good analytical skills who can transform information into meaningful strategies for the business to pursuer revenue/cost reduction opportunities…This skill in most cases cannot be taught in school or by courses offered by a number of institutions. This comes about by having hands on experience and innate curiosity and interest in the big picture.

Tips to those who are embarking on this career path, (1) focus on big picture (2) focus on interpreting results and presenting them from a business case (3) technology often changes, methodologies and sound logic rarely do…

For companies, embarking on business intelligence / Data warehouse solutions, focus on business needs and understand your current reporting capabilities and see if your current staff can support the current and future requirements…a new tool might not be productive by itself…a focused training / learning session on adopting best practices in data analysis and reporting might be of great benefit to your current employees and enable them to grow professionally.

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