Data Analysts' Role and trends in 2023 and Beyond

7Mar, 2022

Data Analysts’ Role and trends in 2023 and Beyond

Data analysts have existed for a long time. In 2022, however, the demand for this position is once again making headlines. In this post, we’ll look at why that is and how to figure out what a Data Analyst is in the year 2020.

In 2023 and beyond, data analysts are taking on expanded responsibilities beyond traditional data analysis tasks. Here are some areas where their role is evolving:

Business Strategy and Decision Support:

Data analysts are becoming strategic partners within organizations. They actively participate in defining business goals and objectives and provide insights that inform strategic decision making. They work closely with business stakeholders to understand their needs, identify key metrics, and develop data-driven solutions to address business challenges.

Data Engineering and Preparation:

Data analysts are increasingly involved in data engineering tasks, including data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) processes. They collaborate with data engineers to ensure data quality, optimize data pipelines, and develop scalable data architectures. By actively participating in data preparation, data analysts can work with clean, well-structured data that is crucial for accurate analysis.

Data Visualization and Communication:

Effective data visualization and communication skills are essential for data analysts. They are responsible for presenting complex analytical findings in a visually appealing and easily understandable manner. By creating interactive dashboards, reports, and presentations, data analysts help stakeholders across the organization interpret and act upon the insights derived from data.

Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics:

Data analysts develop machine learning and predictive analytics skills to uncover patterns, trends and relationships in data. Develop and implement predictive models that enable organizations to predict customer behavior, optimize policies, and make data-driven forecasts. Data analysts collaborate with data scientists and engineers to implement machine learning algorithms and integrate them into analytics workflows.

Data Security and Privacy:

As organizations handle large amounts of data, data analysts play a vital role in ensuring data security and privacy. Collaborates with IT and security teams to implement information security measures, assess risks and comply with data privacy regulations. Investigators must understand the ethical and legal implications of data processing and ensure adequate safeguards are in place to protect sensitive information.

Cross-functional collaboration:

Data analysts collaborate with teams across the organization. Collaborates with business stakeholders, data scientists, IT staff, and management to understand business needs, align analytics efforts with organizational objectives, and drive data-driven projects Effective communication, team operations, and technology for a successful business unit -Ability to bridge the gap between those who are not. technical stakeholders are also important.

Continuous Learning and Skill Development:

To keep up with the rapidly evolving data landscape, data analysts must engage in continuous learning and skill development. They stay updated with the latest tools, technologies, and analytical methods. Data analysts actively seek out opportunities for professional development through online courses, workshops, conferences, and networking events. By staying ahead of emerging trends, they can bring innovative solutions to the table and adapt to changing business needs.

The demand for data analysts is on the rise.

Companies increasing the number of interviews for Data Analyst roles. One reason for this could be that they’re aiming for a broader range of candidates in the hopes of expanding their data science talent pool.

Another explanation could be that a Data Analyst is sometimes seen as a “less expensive” counterpart of a Data Scientist. Companies may believe that an analyst may be hired for a lesser wage and trained on the job in data science skills and procedures. Could this be one of the causes for the rise in demand for Data Analysts?

We don’t believe so. It’s more than likely that the role of Data Analyst has finally become commonplace across industries and businesses of all kinds.

What is the reason for this? Whereas data was once collected only by individuals for analysis, it is now obtained and collected by both humans and machines. Every day, the machines acquire more and more data, necessitating the hiring of more people to manage and make sense of it all. This work can no longer be done just by data scientists. Furthermore, they are costly.

What is the role of a data analyst?

The term “Data Analyst” is perhaps more overused and abused than its relative “Data Scientist.” To begin with, a Data Analyst is often referred to as a Business Analyst or a Business Intelligence Analyst. These may or may not be the same person or function, depending on the firm. A “Data Analyst” is generally someone who analyses data to develop insights for a business, regardless of the official title or the subtle variations between these professions.

Depending on the industry, type of company, and department in which they work, the Data Analyst’s tasks and position will range slightly. Typically, they supply data that allows businesses to determine things like the products that will be presented to clients.

This is likely a question you have, whether you’re a candidate seeking for a job as an analyst or a developing company trying to employ big data. With so many Data Analyst job descriptions available and everyone trying to master their big data analytics, determining exactly what a Data Analyst does all day might be difficult.

The illustration above is a nice place to start. A Data Analyst can be thought of as someone who develops charts like the one shown above to assist business users in answering business questions.

Data Analyst Core Competencies

To satisfy the expected need for Data Analysts, bachelor’s degree programmes in data analytics have expanded. MBA degrees, sports management programmes, finance and accounting programmes are all beginning to include data analytics in their curriculum. Data Analyst certification programmes are now accessible from organisations like Cloudera and Dell EMC.

So, what are the essential talents that someone with a related degree must possess?

Data analysts must, of course, possess analytical abilities and be conversant with numbers, math, and statistics. Analysts must also be familiar with standard data analysis tools and be able to use them to create queries. SQL and Excel are the two most important tools for any Data Analysts to master.

Data analysts should be able to use visualization tools like SAS, Cognos, Tableau, and Python and R visualization libraries because their primary role is to develop and present accurate and useful reports.

Data analysts should be familiar with at least one programming language, such as R, SAS, or Python. SAS and R have always been the programming languages of choice for Data Analysts. However, according to a 2019 survey conducted by analytics staffing firm Burtchworks, Python has finally surpassed SAS and R as the favoured language of Data Analysts.

In 2023, the following trends will redefine data analytics.

The market for data analytics is exploding. According to IDC researchers, businesses will spend $215 billion on big data and business analytics solutions in 2021, up 10% from 2020. Data analytics professionals are likewise in high demand. Researchers from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics predict that the field of data science will grow at a rapid rate (31 percent) through 2030.

Artificial Intelligence

For businesses all across the world, artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and machine learning are changing the game. AI is rapidly advancing, particularly in the field of data analytics, where it not only augments human talents but also aids in the extraction of greater economic value. The epidemic and remote work have greatly increased the number of opportunities to track and measure data, resulting in a new data-driven culture in businesses. Investments in AI-based analytics are being fueled by this data culture.

AI can be used in a variety of ways to increase corporate value. Increasing revenues by forecasting demand and guaranteeing proper warehouse supply, enhancing customer happiness by lowering delivery time, and increasing operational efficiency by automating operations that would otherwise require a human are just a few examples.

Data Analytics with Composability

Composable data analytics is a process by which organizations combine and consume analytics capabilities from various data sources across the enterprise for more effective and intelligent decision-making. Such tools can provide greater agility than traditional approaches and feature reusable, swappable modules that can be deployed anywhere, including containers.

With composable analytics, companies can reduce data center costs even if they’ve migrated to the cloud

Consumer Experience Driven by Data

Customer experience is critical in any business, whether it’s a product or a service. Because of the current market conditions, customer service is inextricably linked to branding. Data-driven customer experience refers to how businesses collect and use customer data to offer increasingly valuable or delightful client experiences. Consumer interactions with businesses are growing more digital, from AI chatbots to Amazon’s cashier-less convenience stores. This means that practically every component of client interactions may be evaluated, analysed, and converted into insights in order to better understand how procedures might be improved or made more delightful. As a result, there has been a push to personalise the products and services that businesses deliver to their clients. Its demand will continue to rise in the future.

As A New Industry Standard, Data Fabric

Data fabric is a novel approach to the age-old problem of combining diverse data sets for analytics. IT can make mission-critical data more discoverable, pervasive, and reusable across all settings of an organisation, including hybrid and multicloud environments, provided it can create a unified data architecture that serves as an integrated layer connecting data endpoints and processes.

It’s not simply about gaining access to more data sources for analytics. The true value of data fabric architecture is in uniform data management and making it easy for users to access data across several settings.

Rise of Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics is a use of Big Data and Business Intelligence in practise. Various Big Data analytics elements are being successfully used by several organisations to foresee potential future trends. Predictive analytics can be performed on seas of market data, new consumers, cloud apps, social media, or product performance data. According to a recent Facts and Factors analysis, the global predictive analytics industry is expected to reach USD 22.1 billion by 2026.

Analytics Everywhere

Consumers will be empowered in the future by tailored and dynamic insights that can help them get the most out of their data or achieve their goals more quickly. Companies who anticipate this trend may have a considerable competitive edge over those that do not provide such capability to their clients. Customers can benefit from personalised services powered by analytics thanks to a combination of AI/ML, automation, and business intelligence.

Analytics In Edge Computing

The edge computing industry is expected to increase at a 19 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from $36.5 billion in 2021 to $87.3 billion in 2026. As processing power moves to the edge, supporting technologies (such as data analytics) are likely to move there as well, putting them closer to the physical assets.

This decision allows for increased speed, agility, and flexibility, as well as real-time analytics and autonomous behaviour for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. According to Gartner researchers, data created, maintained, and analysed in edge environments will account for 50% of data analytics leaders’ responsibilities by 2023.

FUTURE SCOPE OF DATA ANALYTICS

In India, extensive usage of Big Data assures high employment, raises income, and allows people to connect with new technologies. By acquiring a significant amount of data, analytics can dramatically alter the current business scenario, expand business models, energise creative processes, and contribute to a company’s overall growth and development.

Indians Growing Big Data Future

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), India’s largest reviewer, has established a “Big Data Management Policy” for Indian review and records divisions in an attempt to encourage the use of data analysis to improve their capacities. It entails taking care of the union and state governments’ massive datasets, as well as filing a check with the Indian review and records office.

Lux Research Analytic has put together continuous monitoring systems and associated stages to coordinate and send sensors and track various parameters to make logistics of immunizations and organic reagents more secure and efficient in India by ensuring continuous access to data and critical bits of knowledge to streamline their administrations.

DISCOMS, on the other hand, accepts data from sensors installed at the last mile of power usage to break down alongside documented actions to avert Aggregated Technical and Commercial (AT&C) calamities.

With aggressive use of cloud-based and predictive analytic solutions in BFSI, retail, telecom, and social insurance, the company expects tremendous growth. There are 600 analytic data companies in India, with 100 new companies launching in 2015. It would necessitate a large number of data scientists.

According to TeamLease Services, a staffing arrangements firm, India would face a demand-supply gap of 2,00,000 analytic data experts by 2020.

Consistent use of Big Data is required to ensure the growth of Data Analytics in India. This will also open up new avenues for growth and opportunities across the board. You could start as a data analyst, progress to data scientist after a few years, and finally become a data advocate. In India and worldwide, data science offers attractive professional opportunities. You could work as a data scientist or in government or private sector advising jobs.

Data management, machine learning, and natural language processing solutions, as well as leadership abilities, are some of the most important qualifications for a Data Science job. On a related note, Vista Academy has created Data Science Master Courses that will teach you everything you need to know about data science.