Part professional services/consulting, part data analytics bootcamp.
As data analysis has risen to prominence in the last few years, we’ve experienced both the good and the bad of data influx.
The good: with so much data widely available to businesses and individuals — and growing everyday — the possibilities are near endless when it comes to gaining crystal-clear insight and strategy from this information.
The bad: as data has increased, so too has the talent gap increased. Every company needs data scientists, yet the available pool is limited — demand is overwhelming, supply is not.
Alton Alexander is a data scientist and co-founder of Front Analytics. He’s very aware of the talent gap and through Front, he hopes to do something about it.
“Right now there’s a talent gap in data science and analytics, all companies are fighting for the same analytical talent,” said Alexander. “There are two options if a company wants to scale, they can find new technology and increase their human capital. It’s really easy to go buy new technology….but the harder part is how do you scale your analytical workforce? We have a way of solving that.”
Front Analytics takes a two-part approach to attacking this analytical gap. The first revolves around a more traditional offering — professional services and consulting, where the data scientists at Front take on another company’s project and give back a solution.
The second approach is not as traditional, at least in the analytics space — a partnership with DevPoint Labs to teach a 10-week bootcamp specifically concentrating on data analytics, in theory providing the necessary tools and guidance to students on their journey to becoming data scientists.
The program began a few weeks ago and Alexander hopes that through a combination of different factors — mentorship, accountability, skills training — they can help to close the gap between the demand for data scientists and the supply.
“Part of the gap is due to companies having more data than they will ever need, just a mountain of information and ways to look at it,” said Alexander. “We provide a technology sandbox and an isolated environment where you can work on the technology stack without being overwhelmed.”
As our access to data increases, our need for data scientists also increases. Front Analytics is doing their part to help shrink this gap, through a combination of services, consulting, and a data analytics bootcamp. Let the data arms race begin!
“For somebody who’s curious, there’s a never-ending set of questions you can ask,” said Alexander. “Really great analysis leads to even better questions of your data, as you peel back insights and begin to see with more clarity.”
