The announcement that IBM will open an analytics center in Columbus, Ohio, won't do much to fill the national analytics gap, but it does hold out the promise of a tech boost for that region.
A topic frequently addressed here is the shortfall in trained analytics specialists. The explosion of big-data has enterprises crying out for expertise in collating, cleaning, integrating, and mining the rushing stream of invaluable, real-time information. Top analytics talent, however, remains at a premium, and McKinsey is forecasting that the shortage will get worse.
A recent collaborative report by IBM and the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School underlined the problem. Based on a survey of over 1,000 business and IT professionals worldwide, the report found that the shortage in advanced analytics skills was inhibiting the development of big-data programs:
Fewer than 25% of the survey respondents worldwide said they have the skills and resources to analyse unstructured data, such as text, voice and sensor data. "While the hardware and software in these areas are maturing, the skills are in short supply," the report's authors said.
IBM's Ohio initiative points to one way of addressing the problem.
With a heavy regional focus, the IBM Client Center for Advanced Analytics will partner with Ohio State University, JobsOhio, Information Control Corporation, and other organizations to create an "eco-system" serving the region's business analytics needs. Despite the economic pressures on the state as a whole, Columbus has recently proved a model for agile investment and job growth.
Rather than wait for college curricula to catch up, regional business analytics hubs of this kind might just provide a template for addressing the big-data skills gap. The involvement of the private sector should ensure the relevance of training to actual market needs. Public sector involvement will provide incentives for the center, although the details have yet to be finalized.
Is it too much to imagine a national network of private-public centers focused on developing the skill sets needed not just for business analytics, but for enterprise architecture and other rapidly developing fields? Communities, enterprise, and, of course, vendors all stand to benefit.
A company opening up a data center that isn't in California, Washington (the state, not DC), New York or Massachusetts? Isn't this against the law or something?
As anyone who saw my comments on Mitch's post knows, following the roads less traveled gives you a much better chance to get people. I personally would have chose Cleveland, because (a) Case Institute of Technology has a better math program and (b) the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals are constantly looking for people to crunch medical data. But you have Nationwide, the Limited and the State government down there, so you can argue it either way..
Plus, you have to salute IBM's commitment to hiring the mentally handicapped (Ohio State graduates). What can you say about people who couldn't recognize a "horse chestnut" and invented a new name for it? Smart people check reference sources before they define a name like "Michigan Badger" for a "Wolverine."
What I don't like about the project is the mainframe-style thinking. They need to hire one person to do analytics-- all the tasks? Wouldn't it make a little more sense to train teams of people,, each with a critical skill, such as:
Operations analysts, who understand the business's needs and can frame questions about its problems.
Data analysts, who look at the data and figure out what type to tests to run to get the best results.
Progranmer analysts, who write the code to extract and process the data.
As a practicing generalist, I'm a big fan of looking for someone with breadth of skills, rather than propeller-heads who only know one thing. But these skills are not interrealted-- you wouldn't look for just one person to do all three types of work on a traditional development project So why, just because it's a new field, would you do it here?
By distributing the processing, you make it much easier to find people who can do the work. You also teach teamwork, something in short supply in most IT shops.
But, hey, it's IBM. Not fair to expect them to have two unconventional and brilliant ideas on the same project.
Direct involvement of companies like IBM is certainly valuable, but if classes are too specific, there may be a risk that students will be turned off by learning skills that have limited transferability. Obviously, it should be relative simple to design classes that aren't too limited. But the challenge may be to make these lessons interesting or attractive to a broad audience of students.
Sponsorship -- funding -- is clearly key, but I think the direct involvement of enterprises like IBM in the curriculum and outreach is also important, if the training is to be of real relevance to the workplace. I'm concerned that just adding an academic elective in "analytics" to a degree course might just produce students with credentials, who then need to be trained from scratch by businesses.
Maybe IBM and other companies need to sponsor a corporate/vocational version of the Khan Academy -- and make it easier for anyone to pick up business intelligence skills and earn credits for learning these big-data skills...
Good example of data being a competitive edge, Alison. That is what truly is changing business.
I think this model that Kim is reporting on is excellent. As we produce more development centers for the talent/use of analytics, I believe it will move organizations forward to help overcome the barriers to widespread use. We have needed a bridge between supply and demand.
I guess I am referring to the heterogeneous nature of data mentioned. However, what we see is the technology is now catching up to meet the fluid nature of the way real people data collect. For example, how about setting up a Kinect for Windows to see the way people move around the store, or how they reach or reject certain items. Tablets, sure. Or how about using a smart phone to take pictures of each of your customers when they come in...but then putting it in a visual database and using facial recognition to alert the salesperson, hey, your best customer just walked through the door!
As far as analysis, there are two revolutions. One is the big data and new analysis tools...but also in the types of data available in social and multi-media, and the way we can collect it.
Alison, of course I remember Mark Gastineau despite my best attempts going to dr after dr trying for true deletion of those Mark Gastineau memory holder braincells. And if Gastineau isn't enough you trump him with Dee Snider! I have a pretty good idea where that food market was located.
I worked at a small, privately-owned supermarket through high school and college. One way we competed against the large chains was through customer service, which included giving loyal (and some new) customers credit. They'd then come in once or twice a month and write a (big) check (our prices were a lot higher). As one of the top p/t employees, I was often asked to make decisions on whether we could let someone "charge," the only collateral being their phone number on the back of the receipt. Customers didn't want to wait around for someone to find the manager or assistant manager. It was all based on gut. I am sure, however, that the owner lost money on bad loans.
But I did get the numbers for several celebrities and people with minor star status that way, including Dee Snider and (if anyone remembers him) football player Mark Gastineau.(And, no, I never called any of them. And, yes, they all paid their bills!)
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A study of US ecommerce trends in the run up to Mother's Day points to what Jay Henderson, Global Strategy Director for IBM Smarter Commerce, called "a pretty seismic shift" in online shopping habits.
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The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
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New tools like laptops, tablets, smartphone, and wireless connectivity let us work from San Diego to Katmandu, and anywhere in between. But time management remains a problem.
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New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
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