The Latest Technological Phase and What IT Pros Should Do About It [INFOGRAPHIC]

We are in a new technological phase spurring innovation and job creation. One job, the big data architect, offers IT pros great prospects in the growing field of big data analytics.

In 2013, 65 percent of IT buyers indicated cloud computing as a top area of investment for 2013. In addition, it’s predicted that by 2015, 60 percent of information workers will access their content via mobile devices. Aaron Levie, CEO of cloud-computing company Box, described the rapid adoption of mobile and cloud computing as the next phase in technology. For those in the IT space or just the business world in general, technological phases are nothing new. As first mainframes and then PCs were adopted, companies learned to adapt. They adapt their IT infrastructure they run their business off of. They change the way they interact with the consumer, and of course, new technology requires new skills and expertise introducing new job positions in the IT industry.

New IT Infrastructure

For several decades, the typical enterprise infrastructure consisted of an in-house, SQL database run on hard disk. Now, with big data, cloud computing and flash storage going mainstream, there has been a major disruption of the enterprise storage industry. Options for meeting a company’s specific needs abound, such as big data technologies that are available for in-house deployment or in the cloud. Likewise, flash storage is available as a service with many providers specialising either in all-flash or hybrid solutions. Although the majority of these options weren’t available several years ago, the majority of businesses have started adapting their infrastructure to this new technological phase.

Interactions with Consumers

Businesses aren’t the only ones changing the technology they use day to day. Consumers are also adopting mobile technology and cloud storage at a rapid pace. This constant connectivity gives businesses an opportunity they’ve never had before to connect with consumers at any time and place. The rapid accumulation of data produced by consumers also provides new insights via data analytics that companies can exploit in order to better segment consumers and adapt their marketing messages in real time.

Examples of how big data analytics can aid businesses include:

Optimize Funnel Conversion: Track a consumer through the entire sales process to see how to improve conversions.
Behavioral Analytics: Analyse consumer behavior to determine how to improve customer retention and boost marketing efforts.
Predictive Support: Use machine-generated data to predict potential malfunctions and make repairs.

Rising Job Positions

In order to take advantage of the big data analytics mentioned above, there has been an increasing demand for data scientists who can make up a big data dream team. Members of this team perform different functions, but they all work together to run and use big data technology. One position, the big data architect, acts as a database administrator who uses software to store and organize data. These experts average an annual pay of $112,000 per year, and demand for workers with this kind of expertise is expected to grow quickly over the next five years.

Based off this trend, students and current IT professionals would be wise to look into the career opportunities for data scientists. To learn more about the job outlook for big data architects, check out the infographic below.