Big data is the driving force behind more business decisions than ever before. As the amount of data being produced in real time continues to grow, so does the demand for people with the skill sets to help business analyze and manage all this data effectively. What does this mean for you if you’re deciding on a career path or a career move?
Big data equals big opportunities
According to IBM, the market demand for data scientists will increase 28% by 2020. It is expected that the number of jobs for big data professionals will reach 2,720,000 in just two short years. What can you do now to get ahead of the trend and land a career with a great outlook, and a median starting salary of $120,000 a year? It starts with a great education.
Why you need a big data certification
Big data analytics has moved beyond the status of being just a trend or a buzzword. Businesses everywhere are realizing that big data analytics is crucial for success in industries that are constantly changing and learning to adapt.
Anyone with an invested interest in analytics, from the data engineer to the CEO, can only benefit from expanding their knowledge in this more important than ever field. Research these top programs and discover what a big data certification can do for you and your business.
Top universities around the world have responded to the rising need for talented and skilled data scientists by developing programs that meet the demand. Here are 10 universities that are at the top of their game with big data certifications.
Duke – Integrated Program In Big Data And Data Science
Duke University’s Big Data and Science Program, offered through the Office of Continuing Studies and Summer Session, is perfect for professionals interested in entering or boosting, a career in the field of big data analytics. This program was developed for those interested in developing and broadening their areas of expertise in the data science field.
The success of this program can be tied to an in-depth focus on the industry recommended learning path that includes Data Science with R, Big Data Hadoop and Spark Developer, Tableau Desktop, Data Science with Python and Machine Learning.
Gaining experience and expertise in these multiple data skills is essential to adapting and growing as a professional in the ever-changing field of big data analytics.
The Duke program is best suited for professionals who are looking to further their careers in
- Analytics
- Software Development
- Business and Data Analytics
- Data Warehousing
- Project Management
Stanford Executive Education – Big Data, Strategic Decisions: Analysis to Action
Stanford Business School offers a continuing executive education program in big data called Big Data, Strategic Decisions: Analysis to Action. According to the Stanford description, this program will allow professionals to “Harness the power of data analytics to improve decisions, gain a competitive edge, and enhance your company’s performance, products, and processes.”
Senior level professionals and major decision makers in every business can use this course to become more competitive in their fields and drive their business forward with an increased knowledge of data analytics.
Stanford’s Big Data program focuses less on concrete learning of technologies, as with Duke’s program, but instead leans toward the how and why of big data. Seminar topics include Why Big Data Matters, Using AI to Understand and Influence People, and Using Data to Make Better Marketing Decisions. Along with this, participants gain practical experience by working as part of a team with a Stanford Data Scientist in data simulation projects.
When it’s all said and done, what do you walk away with after completing the Big Data, Strategic Decisions: Analysis to Action program?
- You will have the ability to apply what you have learned to form big data solutions that offer real value to your business.
- You will have the ability to see patterns and trends and to recognize connections through analytical expertise.
- You will have a solid understanding of the future of big data, AI and machine learning, and what it means for your company, and for you as a professional.
- You will gain invaluable experience and a fresh perspective from working one on one with data scientists and peers from diverse industries.
Northwestern Kellogg University – Leading With Big Data And Analytics: From Insight To Action
Northwestern Kellogg University takes the leadership approach to big data learning in their program Leading with Big Data and Analytics: From Insight to Action. The focus of this executive-level program is to help leaders make better decisions by providing them with the practical leadership tools of big data analytics. The strong theme here is real-world applications.
This program contains courses that help company and industry leaders understand their unique roles in big data and analytics. Some of the courses that participants will develop these skills through include:
- Why Analytics Is Every Leader’s Problem
- How a Working Knowledge of Data Science Drives Business Value: A Primer on Big Data and Analytics Concepts
- How to Build Organizational Muscle in Analytics
And possibly, the most important course of all:
- Applying Analytics to Your Business
As a bonus, this program also offers optional tutoring sessions in key big data technologies, such as Tableau.
Rochester Institute Of Technology – Advanced Certificate In Big Data Analytics
With the Advanced Certificate in Big Data Analytics program at RIT, we move away from the executive leadership role in big data and focus in on the individual professional who is looking to forward their career by building their expertise in the field of analytics.
This advanced certificate program is geared towards professional with a BS in some fields where an understanding of data analytics is essential. This is the place for people with careers in computing, engineering, retail, manufacturing, and finance, that are looking to become formally qualified and increase their professional value with an important and relevant skill. All without the need to commit years to a graduate level degree program.
Program highlights include:
- Introduction to Big Data
- Big Data Analytics
Plus, a choice of program electives in
- Secure Data Management
- Data Warehousing
- Data Driven Knowledge Discovery
- Foundations of Parallel Computing
Columbia Business School – Business Analytics: Identifying And Capturing Value Through Data
The 3-day program Business Analytics: Identifying and Capturing Value Through Data is laser-focused on helping business professionals of all levels understand the many ways in which big data analytics can provide valuable insights for critical thought and decision making.
Columbia Business School is ranked No. 2 by analytically focused journals due to their innovative thought leadership and research. It is obvious that Columbia showcased these qualities in developing this business analytics program.
Course structure includes:
- Predictive Analytics, which focuses on analyzing prediction quality and quantifying the economic tradeoffs involved in decision making.
- Prescriptive Analytics, where participants learn to leverage data and optimize the decision-making process within the binding constraints of business management.
- Analytic Lifecycle, the culmination of the program where participants put it all together by learning how to diagnose inefficiencies, create solutions through an analytical approach and how to build and implement a decision support system.
University Of Washington – Big Data Technologies: Design And Build Big Data Systems
The Big Data Technologies program from the University of Washington was developed for professionals with a working knowledge of programming and working with big data sets.
With the list of admission requirements mentioning skills such as knowledge of SQL, experience with programming languages such as Java, Python or C3, experience with Google Compute Engine and knowledge of basic system management and configuration skills, this program is meant for those who are in the deep waters of analytics, more so than business executives.
The aim of this program is to enhance knowledge of the concepts involved in big data engineering, streaming applications, and distributed data storage. With a deepening knowledge of data engineering tools, participants will discover how new data technologies can be optimized to solve the challenges and frustrations of the data engineering field.
The program is split up into three sections that include:
- An Introduction to Data Engineering
- Building the Data Pipeline
- Engineering Technologies in Big Data
The cumulation of which is a certificate that will ignite your career in the field of big data technologies.
Harvard University
The Principles of Big Data Processing course from Harvard is for those who have some experience in the field of Big Data. After taking this course, students will be able to understand the basic rules of creating distributed and easily accessible processing systems.
Using these systems will help in analyzing large volumes of historical and real-time data. The course focuses on data processing stages that are common to real-world systems. People taking this course are required to be able to work comfortably with at least one programming language like Java or Python and must also be familiar with cloud environments like AWS or Docker.
The course includes:
- Scaling Concepts and Parallel Processing
- Distributed Data Persistence with HDFS
- Batch Tier: Processing and Batch Views
- DevOps in the Distributed World
The course is available both online and offline, so students from all over the world can access it.
University of California, Irvine (UCI)
The Big Data course by UCI is for professionals and individuals who want to learn how to manage and analyze large volumes of data. This Big Data certificate gives individuals the skills required to gather and sort huge volumes of data effectively as well as make data-driven analysis and use algorithms to predict and extract competitive intelligence for their organizations.
Program Benefits
- Convert large, structured and unstructured data sets into useful information
- Extract valuable insight to solve business issues
- Use common analytic tools such as Hadoop, Knime, Statistica, R, Python and Crystal Ball
- Create skills to gather Big Data and make data-driven discoveries
- Frame Big Data architectural strategies for your organization
- Enhance business efficiency and improve customer satisfaction
- Familiarize yourself with data architecture software like Hadoop and Aster as well as related tools (Java, SQL, and MYSQL)
University of Toronto
With this Management of Enterprise Data Analytics course, students will be equipped with the skills necessary to become qualified managers in the field of predictive analysis. This course looks at the management perspective and weaves managerial practices into statistical and technological domains.
After taking this course, you will be able to use tools and techniques used by leading experts all over the world. The course comprises of case studies, demonstrations, projects, guest lectures from highly experienced instructors and will help you apply what you learn to real-life situations.
What You’ll Learn
- Take a Big Data/predictive analytics initiative in your organization
- Understand the differences between data warehousing, business intelligence, and Big Data
- Create security, privacy and risk-management standards for your organization
- Administer up-to-date procedures, standards, and techniques to an ongoing project
After taking this course, participants will be awarded a certificate that is offered in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.
York University
The Certificate in Big Data Analytics course trains you to use and outline key opportunities to help your organization meet its strategic objectives. The course looks to train students on the applications of Big Data principles.
The course is great for specialists in areas such as marketing, insurance, finance, human resources, and policy deal with big data every day.
The course comprises of two certificates:
- Certificate in Big Data Analytics
- Certificate in Advanced Data Science and Predictive Analytics
Students can take either one or both certificates. Each certificate is eight weeks long and students can earn their first certificate in six months. The university plans to release a full-time version of the course to allow students to finish in the certificates in 4 months.
