The rumors of the demise of data analysts have been great exaggerated. It seems that the latest trend in BI is talking about how now because tools are so powerful that there’s no longer a need for data analysts. And certainly while vendors have done a good job of driving down total cost of ownership and implementation time if anything there’s more of a need for good data analysts now than ever.
The prior five years was the age of the Developer. Stuffed into their corners they dreamed up and built all kinds of systems to take in data and get data out. But now technology has gotten to a point where a developer isn’t the lynchpin anymore. Some have taken this to mean that there simply isn’t a lynchpin but that is not the case.
Companies have never had so much data so easily accessible to them. But even though our airplanes have very advanced autopilot functions no one would fly without a pilot. So too are companies in need good data analysts to help them traverse the swathes of data that are available, ensure that the right questions are being asked and that the answers given by the data are pertinent and helpful.
Through technology we have pulled data out of its dragon guarded castle and have begun to socialize it. Data analysts are there to make sure the data socialized is data worth having. We are now in the age of the data analyst. Viva the data revolution!
