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Alternatives
Organizations and their leaders are still grappling with how to best use big data and data science.
Most of them know that advanced analytics is positioned to bring a tremendous competitive edge
to their organizations, but few of them have any idea about the options that are available or the
exact benefits that data science can deliver. In this section, I introduce three major data science
solution alternatives and describe the benefits that a data science implementation can deliver.
Assembling your own in-house team
Many organizations find it makes financial sense for them to establish their own dedicated inhouse
team of data professionals. This saves them money they would otherwise spend achieving
similar results by hiring independent consultants or deploying a ready-made cloud-based analytics
solution. Three options for building an in-house data science team are:
Train existing employees. If you want to equip your organization with the power of data
science and analytics, data science training (the lower-cost alternative) can transform existing
staff into data-skilled, highly specialized subject matter experts for your in-house team.
Hire trained personnel. Some organizations fill their requirements by either hiring
experienced data scientists or by hiring fresh data science graduates. The problem with this
approach is that there aren’t enough of these people to go around, and if you do find people
who are willing to come onboard, they have high salary requirements. Remember, in addition
to the math, statistics, and coding requirements, data scientists must have a high level of
subject matter expertise in the specific field where they’re working. That’s why it’s
extraordinarily difficult to find these individuals. Until universities make data literacy an
integral part of every educational program, finding highly specialized and skilled data
scientists to satisfy organizational requirements will be nearly impossible.
Train existing employees and hire some experts. Another good option is to train existing
employees to do high-level data science tasks and then bring on a few experienced data
scientists to fulfill your more advanced data science problem-solving and strategy
requirements.
Outsourcing requirements to private data science consultants
Many organizations prefer to outsource their data science and analytics requirements to an outside
expert, using one of two general strategies:
Comprehensive: This strategy serves the entire organization. To build an advanced data
science implementation for your organization, you can hire a private consultant to help you
with a comprehensive strategy development. This type of service will likely cost you, but you
can receive tremendously valuable insights in return. A strategist will know about the options
available to meet your requirements, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each on. With
strategy in hand and an on-call expert available to help you, you can much more easily
navigate the task of building an internal team.