Big Data Pays Big Dividends, Career-Wise

The NSA's penchant for collecting controversial meta-data aside, more companies and organizations are acquiring huge data troves in need of organization, analysis, and mining than ever before. Savvy IT pros, especially those with an interest or background in databases and data analysis, should be thinking about finding their way into big data jobs where they can help with data acquisition, analysis, and reporting.

There are few subject areas in IT that involve more raw material than the one that falls under the general heading of big data, but may also be called data science, data mining, or data analytics. With data sources originating in social media, customer transactions, web interactions, and through existing databases of all kinds and sizes, the big issues involve how to acquire, store, and understand what these huge collections of information have to tell us. As in mining real gold, there's lots of dross that must first be separated, after which the real treasure has to be refined and purified so that its true value may be understood and realized.

Here are some items to consider or peruse, as you try to make sense of what opportunities big data might present for you and your future in IT.