The world is excited about big data. it is hard, to avoid the discussions on big data and the impact it has on the world around us. The excitement is warranted not only because of the impact that it has on our surroundings. Even without being consciously aware of it, we are reaping the benefits of big data in our daily lives.

As technology advances, the data size and the sources through which data is collected are growing and will continue to grow exponentially. There is a certain rise in complex data. each passing year, due to the technological advances in collection and storage of data and also the querying technology, one is seeing an increase in the usage of business analytics tools.

Now, this is logical, purely because, how is an organisation going to make sense of the humongous volume of structured and unstructured data. Unstructured data collected through a variety of sources adds up to about 85% of information that businesses store, irrespective of the type and size of the business. Big Data analytics assists in extracting value from this data and uses the insight innovatively to create a positive impact and assists the business to get competitive gain.

If you are thinking, my business is too small, or that Big data might not be of value to my industry now, think of it this way, ‘do you take quick and agile decisions to be at par with the competition?’ And if your answer is positive, then Big data analytics might help you gain a competitive edge in the way you conduct your business.

Travel and Hospitality use the advantages of big data to improve customer experience, big data allows these companies to collect data, apply analytics and identify problems almost in real time, so that time appropriate solutions can be applied.

Healthcare benefits from the data collected through patient records, insurance information and other various kinds of reports and data, that can help in getting key insights once analytics is applied. Insights from this data can help predict or offer an immediate resolution, based on historic information, trends can be identified in diagnosis.

Retail, Big Data analytics helps retailers meet customer demands, they can come up with effective promotional offers for the right target audience. Study their buying patterns, will help them reduce costs by managing inventory according to the demands. It positively impacts profitability.

Analytics widens your scope as an entity, giving you the option of doing things you never thought were possible, for example, it offers you timely insights, which help you in making better decisions, about fleeting opportunities, it also assists you in asking the right questions and supports you with extracting the right answers as well. With all the available insights, you are thus able to see new opportunities, manage and increase productivity, by putting your efforts in the right direction, and better utilizing your time and energy.

Looking at the advantages, most industries are hiring talent with big data expertise.

You can see all sectors are warming up to the benefits of big data analytics, whether you understand the impact or not, or if you want to embrace the technology or not, build a career in big data analytics or not. One thing is for sure, Big data analytics will fundamentally change the way business operate.

Data Science is essentially a process of a lot of iteration. To complete a project in data science, one will have to make many changes, consistently during the process while trying new ideas.

The first step first, lets us make it clear, especially for the ones who would like to pursue their career in data science, to not confuse a job of a data scientist to that of a software engineer. Methodologies of software engineering cannot be used in data science. Data science is more of science and less of engineering.

There are some relevant software’s in data science that assist in optimising workflow, however, it is also the clarity, experience and intuition of the data scientist and the team that sets the preliminary analysis on track.

If a data science project has taken longer than planned to complete, it could be because of iterations. Let us understand, iterations will happen during the course of a project, however, if an iteration is for any other reason besides the flow of new information, it is uncalled for and could have been eliminated.

An unprecedented iteration could be either because the business pain point was not identified correctly, the data scientist was not aligned with the company objective, a data scientist did not initially believe in a collection of a few variables, or it could be because of assumptions and biases in the data were not accounted for. These are just a few scenarios that can be easily avoided.

Imagine if all variables are not accounted for, one will have to do the analysis again, and that would be really time-consuming, also counterproductive for the project and the team working on it.

Some tips to avoid such scenarios:

1. Identify and choose the right issue to use the skills of a data scientist and the advantages of applying data analytics. Do not try to solve every resolvable issue with this technique. Apply data science only if the concern or problem is large enough, and clearly identify as to what objective or hypothesis you are running with. Check for the alignment of that hypothesis with the desired business outcome. Break down a large issue with all possible outcomes and then ask at each step what variables would be required. Defining each factor, and applicability of outcomes would be a great starting point. Make use of pipeline and data sharing tools.

2. Identify the data requirement, this is simple, define the time period you would need the data from, collect all information and data points even if it might not look important now, and lastly put a structure to your data requirement by designing tables, this will also further add clarity to what variables would be captured.

3. This step is simple yet mostly faltered on, always ensure that the analysis created is reproducible.

4. It’s a daunting task to write codes, now imagine to continue writing it over and over again. To avoid syntax errors, it would be great to make a directory of most commonly used codes and ensure everyone on the team has this, it will ensure efficiency in work and it also takes care of simple errors.

5. Be flexible and adaptive to technologies, there is no process that is perfect. Be adaptive to the limitations of technology and processes, always finding an alternative will help you reach the goal faster.

6. Understand the business, you might be a pro in programming and numbers, and data analysis comes naturally to you, however, if you fail to understand how your business works there will always be a gap in understanding the output.

7. Speak the language of your stakeholders, they might not understand algorithms and you should not assume they understand the technical language. Help them visualise your findings, your approaches. Use visuals and examples to illustrate your plan. Connecting with the audience is half the battle won.

Demarcate the data science project in four phases –

The first phase is the Preliminary Analysis -this is where an overview of data points is done.
Second Phase is the Exploratory Data Phase – Specific to asking the right questions and cleaning the data to answer those questions.
Third Phase is Data Visualisation – Here the focus shifts on how to present the analysis.
The Fourth Phase is Knowledge Discovery Phase – The last stage, where models are made to explain the data, algorithms are tested to come up with the best outcome possible.
This is not a definitive workflow and one could make changes to further increase efficiency and productivity. Data Science is exploratory in nature where the data scientist is constantly innovating and learning, preparing themselves to overcome business and project challenges.

Read More:
Having Technical Knowledge Is Not Enough For Data Scientists
What a Data Scientist Could Do…?
Seven ways a Data Scientist Can Add Value to Businesses

The best possible example of the usage of big data analytics can be found in the legendary fictional works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes, as we all know him today through the famous crime detective show, Sherlock is said to be one of the biggest patrons of this concept. The world’s first consulting detective, Holmes once said, “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.” These words uttered during the case of A Study in Scarlet, hold true as data proved to be his timely assistant in solving extremely difficult cases, by helping him come to perfect deductions.
As we accumulate more and more of this data, we feel the need to have optimal processing skills and analytical capabilities in order to process it. India, as a country has been making a lot of growth with many government agencies and private companies, getting on board with the data analytics revolution. Continuing in the same vein, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has also put together the ‘Big Data Management Policy’ for Indian audit and accounts departments, in order to foster the use of data analytics and ensure the improvement of their functions. Many more efforts are being taken in the same regard, like for instance the Centre for Data Management and Analytics (CDMA) has been inaugurated, in order to synthesize and integrate relevant data for auditing process. The aim here is to exploit data rich environments, on both the state level as well as the central level in order to develop the audit and accounts department.
Data has always helped humans in increasing the level of their decision making skills, in every field of medicine, science, and technology. The recent couple of years saw a great surge in the availability and accessibility of Big Data and its storage options. With big data coming to the fore, it has begun arriving on the scene with alarming velocity, volume, and variety. With so many technological advancements revolving around the accessibility and storage, have led to the opening up of new and empowering possibilities.
On the other hand, there are DISCOMS, which are set up for capturing all the data from the sensors, which are installed in order to analyse the power usage patterns, so as to put together preventive measures for Aggregated Technical and Commercial losses. All the cloud based and predictive analytics solutions given by industries in retail, telecom, and healthcare, have collectively resulted in the rapid growth of the country’s industry and economy. Today as it stands, India has about 600 data analytics firms, in addition to the 100 new start-ups, that have been set up in the year 2015. This clearly reflects on the demand for data scientists in the not so far away future. This is why a number of students have been attracted to the field of data science. As not many generic educational institutes are able to provide the required training, many candidates seek help from professional training institutes like Imarticus Learning, which provide a number of industry endorsed courses in the field of Finance and Data Analytics.