In the wake of International
Women’s Day, the creator of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee, has issued
a warning in an open letter marking the web’s 31st birthday.
“The world has made important progress on gender equality thanks to the unceasing drive of committed champions everywhere. But I am seriously concerned that online harms facing women and girls – especially those of colour, from LGBTQ+ communities and other marginalised groups – threaten that progress.”
Berners-Lee makes this warning just a year after launching the Contract for the Web, an action plan to prevent the world from turning into a “digital dystopia.”
Remember when Amazon started testing
its cashierless technology in Seattle?
If you
don’t, don’t worry. It’s easy to get the gist — You walk into the store,
grab whatever you need, put it in the bag and simply walk out. The tech takes
care of all the rest.
While we all thought the move spelt doom for other retailers, as of this week, the company is selling the solution to competitors.
Interesting strategy for market penetration.
Finally, the UK will be rolling out in April
a new digital services tax aimed at US tech giants.
The measure will impose a 2% levy on British revenues of search engines, social media services and online marketplaces. It is expected to raise up to £280m in its first year.
With this tax, the UK follows the lead of France, which implemented similar measures last year.
German ERP vendor SAP has kick-started the new decade with renewed strength. After undergoing a series of leadership changes in the past year, the company appears set on re-examining its product and strategy roadmaps based on customer feedback and more realistic self-assessment. Not surprisingly, it is S/4HANA – the new iteration of SAP’s core ERP system — the one leading the charge.
The firm was originally scheduled to discontinue support for its current ECC Business Suite in 2025, hoping the deadline would prompt a critical mass of its customers to transition to S/4HANA. However, after sluggish early adoption rates and mounting stakeholder pressure, the new leadership team decided back in February to give customers a much-needed extension.
Under the new roadmap, SAP ensures first-party support for ECC until 2030 – albeit free, general-access maintenance will be discontinued in 2027. At the same time, the company is future-proofing its customers’ investment in S/4HANA by promising platform support until the end of 2040.
Although it is still early to tell the extent to which this new policy will impact adoption in the coming months, the measures have been well-received among the community. Additionally, the migration to S/4HANA is only poised to keep gaining momentum as digital transformation initiatives across the globe enter a more mature phase.
Accelerating S/4HANA adoption
A few factors have been holding up widespread adoption of S/4HANA. First of all, there seems to be a generalised confusion around the benefits and specifics capabilities of S/4HANA. A recent study by Resulting IT revealed that SAP consultants are only marginally more knowledgeable in the platform than their clients.
The insight is pretty
telling and suggests that SAP could have failed in its past efforts to
communicate with its stakeholders and manage change. Thankfully, that problem
has a relatively easy solution. The latest changes in leadership and the
extension of ECC support signal the company’s awareness of this issue and increase
confidence that it will be addressed.
Understanding S/4HANA is crucial for its adoption. This might sound like an obvious requirement for buying into a new product, but it is especially important in S/4HANA. This is not a simple software update that can be installed over the weekend. The next-generation ERP suite implies a profound redesign in terms of architecture that requires companies to invest a lot of resources and re-evaluate internal processes to carry out the migration. On top of that, existing customers who have already invested a lot of money in ECC customizations will have to start from scratch.
Therefore, it is paramount that the decision to embark on a migration project stems from a solid business case if it wants to succeed. It is never easy to convince entire teams and organisations to change their processes, but trying to do so without strong arguments and a clear roadmap can be dangerous. Moving to S/4HANA is not exclusively an IT call. It requires that business leaders across the organisation are involved in the decision-making and willing to implement changes.
Time will tell how SAP’s renewed focus on S/4HANA translates into client adoption. However, recent announcements make us think the company is on the right track and the S/4HANA will only gain momentum from now on.
Is your company planning to move to S/4HANA but is still not sure when? You might want to hurry things up.
If you are a specialist in SAP technologies but still haven’t gotten your feet wet with S/4HANA, here is why and how you should do it.
The staffing as a whole is undergoing a profound and rapid transformation. But what about the IT staffing sector? IT staffing enjoys all the benefits...
The staffing as a whole is undergoing a profound and rapid transformation brought about by technological disruption, a generational shift in the workforce and new economic trends. A €416-billion industry by 2018 global estimates, the sector is expected to grow by 3% in 20201 and will only increase in importance as the needs and challenges of a fast-evolving job market make it an essential part of the talent acquisition process. But what about the IT staffing sector in particular? One could say IT staffing enjoys all the benefits of the industry’s current situation while avoiding most of its downsides.
The irruption
of technology
From job boards and professional networking platforms like Indeed and LinkedIn, to new corporate administrative tools such as vendor management systems (VMS), technology is shaking up the industry from head to tail. While some see this as a threat to the traditional staffing business model, 87% of recruitment professionals believe agencies should embrace digital transformation to remain competitive. Simultaneously, 55% of staffing firms expect their technology investments to increase in 2020.
There are many ways in which technology can help recruiters do a better job. For instance, artificial intelligence and networking platforms facilitate and accelerate the sourcing of candidates, which represents a major advantage in a field of work in which winning the race against the clock is a key factor of success.
IT staffing: Demand outweighs supply
Skill obsolescence is a well-known side effect of progress. However, with new technologies emerging at a growing pace and changing the way businesses operate, the skill gap is rapidly widening. Not surprisingly, 77% of staffing professionals cite skills shortage as their top challenge. That is especially true for IT staffing.
In 2018, in fact, 49% of S&P 100 job postings were for only 39 roles. Most of these were vacancies for IT-related positions like software developers and computer systems engineers. As a critical function to businesses in the age of digital transformation, IT is one of the most understaffed and contested labour sectors.
Moreover, the constant evolution of technology and its business applications ads a layer of complexity to the generalised and persistent shortage of skills experienced by the staffing industry. The newer the technology, the fewer qualified professionals available. The demand for expertise in fields like data science and cloud architecture, for instance, is impossible to meet.
As a result, many companies look to IT staffing agencies for help in identifying and securing tech talent. Another solution to the skills shortage is leaning on the burgeoning freelance community to supplement internal capabilities.
The importance of soft skills
As it happens with more and more jobs, the IT sector is
increasingly in need of professionals that can complement their technical
knowledge with abilities like adaptability and interpersonal communication.
Commonly referred to as soft skills, these capabilities have become crucial in
a time of rapid and sudden business transformation. This is particularly true
of IT professionals, who were traditionally judged by their technical skills
and now need to demonstrate greater social and change-management competences.
Knowing what each side needs
The talent supply gap and the importance of freelancers offer, of
course, a great opportunity for IT staffing companies. However, IT recruitment
is a crowded space, with many companies and agencies often competing for the
same candidates and positions. Thus, it becomes essential for agencies to have
a deep understanding of the needs of both candidates to differentiate
themselves from competitors and be able to deliver solutions quickly.
Scary news this week – and not
only regarding COVID-19.
On Wednesday, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) — the
UK’s cyber-defence organ – warned the public about the ease with which
baby monitors and other smart devices can be (and have been) hacked.
The usual culprit? Weak default passwords.
In one of the creepiest reported episodes, the attacker spoke to a young girl in Tennessee pretending to be ‘Father Christmas.’
Terrifying. And a good reminder for security experts to take the dangers of human oversight seriously, both at home and at work.
Meanwhile, tech
conferences all over the world are being cancelled or going virtual over global infection fears.
Oh,
dear. This is shaping up to be another one of those coronavirus
specials…
Facebook’s F8, Microsoft’s MVP Global Summit
and Google I/O are among the affected events.
The latter two companies also announced that they’ll be making their professional conferencing tools available for free as a growing number of firms are encouraging their employees to work remotely.
You know what they say — If life gives you lemons, start promoting your products.
Still haven’t had enough
coronavirus? Check out this story on how AI and robotics are helping fight the
virus.
The
protagonist, a beat detective with a good amount of personal problems, examines
the room where the murder took place. One by one, the film introduces the
various characters in the story, and the question inevitably pops up into your
head:
There you go. Now you can start ruling suspects out.
A week in retrospect
Speaking of
crime…
A new study on cloud security published this week revealed that only 57% of all business-sensitive data stored in the cloud is protected by encryption. This is particularly worrisome considering that 47% of businesses report having suffered a breach or failed a security test in the past year.
Is your data at risk? This article might help you figure it out.
Stop
pointing that at me.
The debate
around the use of facial recognition to fight crime is heating up. In
response to mounting criticism, London’s Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Cressida Dick tried to calm down the public by highlighting the benefits of the technology.
There seems
to be a general misunderstanding, as the system currently being employed in the
UK doesn’t store the data it captures. It simply compares faces against a data
base of known offenders, in real time.
The images we post on Facebook and Instagram do much more to endanger our biometric privacy, assures the Met’s chief.
Meanwhile, a global report from communications firm Edelman revealed that 60% of people feels tech is advancing too fast…
And,
speaking of advances…
The MIT Technology Review has published its annual list of technological innovations poised to have a big impact on solving the world’s problems. Here are the contenders:
Independent IT workers make up a significant part of the workforce with the rise of tech freelancers. And their numbers are growing exponentially.
Not that long ago, freelancing was a somewhat mysterious concept reserved for a few lucky ones and the creative types. Nowadays, independent workers make up a significant part of the workforce with the rise of tech freelancers. And their numbers are growing exponentially. This is especially true in IT, where skill shortages and the constant need for IT professionals across all industries provide the perfect conditions for a freelance lifestyle.
We take a look at the
factors propelling (and hindering) this transformation.
A new office environment
This rise in
freelancing is in large part due to the generational shift in the workplace.
By the end of 2020, millennials will have caught up with Generation X, with each making up 35% of the world’s labour. At the same time, those born after 1997 (Gen Z) will have established a solid foothold in the workplace with 25% of the total.
A recent survey of more than 7,000 freelancers in over 150 countries revealed that a staggering 70% of independent workers are under the age of 35. Those younger than 25 represent 21% of the total.
This new workforce configuration is introducing important changes, from corporate culture to salary expectations or how teams operate. Considering that, by 2025, millennials will represent three-quarters of all employees and many of them will be in managerial positions, these new standards will have a big impact on recruitment moving forward. Concepts like flexible schedules, hypermobility and freelancing are becoming more ubiquitous and sought after.
Albeit often
accompanied by controversy, the emergence of the so-called gig economy has too
contributed to the normalisation of the freelance life. While some tout the
benefits of this labour model, such as greater flexibility or financial
freedom, others consider it a source of precarious employment. Whereas that
could be argued when it comes to very specific sectors, the reality is that tech freelancers
generally enjoy an advantageous position in comparison to their in-house
counterparts.
Yes. Independent workers must deal with limited social protections, fluctuating activity and internal red tape. However, the average daily rate of tech freelancers fluctuates between €350 and €800 – well above the average rate of salaried employees in most countries. They also express a 4-out-of-5 satisfaction with their lifestyle.
Programming and IT make up 29% of the global freelance workforce, sharing the top three with web and graphic design. The fit between IT and a freelance lifestyle is clear. A highly coveted skillset that is relevant to almost all industries gives IT professionals the flexibility and bargaining power required to go independent. IT contractors are also among the best-paid freelancers.
A new regulatory landscape with the rise of tech freelancers
But freelancing faces
some roadblocks too. All around the world, new regulations on temporary
employment are being put in place in an effort to avoid precariousness and
reduce the disparity between permanent and short-term positions. Nonetheless,
some of these well-meaning measures can end up doing more damage than good.
A good example of this
problem is the UK’s IR35. Set to kick in on April of this year, this piece of
legislation plans to increase employment tax costs for those companies who
consider a contractor as an employee in all but name. Although the law is
intended to discourage companies from abusing temporary contracts for
tax-saving purposes, what it could mean in practice is that companies would
steer clear of contractors altogether.
Both the freelance
community and businesses are pressing for the legislation to be
re-examined.
How is your data security? Around 50% of all business data is already stored in the cloud, while 48% of this data can be considered sensitive in nature.
Digital transformation is well underway. An estimated 50% of all business data is already stored in the cloud; while 48% of this data can be considered sensitive in nature. These figures, which were reported on Monday in a global study by Thales and IDC, paint a promising future for the enterprise cloud industry. They also seem to signal growing confidence in the technology’s security and privacy capabilities. So, regarding data security, is your cloud data secure?
Data security: number and perception
The same survey revealed that only 57% of all cloud-stored sensitive data is protected by encryption, whereas 100% of respondents admit to having at least some unencrypted sensitive data in the cloud. One could think this constitutes further proof of the enterprise’s sense of data security. In reality, the number of respondents that feel their data is vulnerable to cyberthreats (86%) has increased considerably since last year’s report (67%). Furthermore, 47% of businesses report having been breached or failed a security test in the past year.
There is thus a clear
disconnect between the perceived levels of data security and the actual measures
being put in place. Many decision-makers are not paying enough attention to
their own danger alerts, and that is dangerous.
So — how can you tell
if this happening in your organization? There are a few telltale signs.
Choosing the right multi-cloud
partners
Achieving optimum levels of data protection is becoming increasingly difficult as more and more companies turn to different cloud providers to meet their various business needs. The vast majority of businesses (81%) report using more than one infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) vendor. Meanwhile, 72% of organisations state they use between 11 and 100 software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications — That’s a lot of potentially breachable data living in the cloud.
Data security: how to implement a proper strategy
These multi-cloud environments add a layer of complexity on top of the already complicated world of cybersecurity. In turn, survey respondents identify complexity as the top barrier to implementing a proper data security strategy.
To protect data
integrity, organisations must leverage the appropriate set of tools across
platforms and partner with those vendors offering solutions that fit within
their ecosystem. Ideally, your various security tools and protocols should cover
both on-premises and cloud-based data and be compatible with one another.
If that’s not the case, it might be time to review your security architecture. Putting together the right team has also become essential for multi-cloud success. Consider hiring a cloud security specialist if you haven’t done so yet.
Data vs network
security
Despite 83% of
organisations planning to either maintain or increase their security spending
in 2020, the portion of the security budget destined to data security remains
marginal at 15.5%. Comparatively, companies spend much more on network security.
This seems to be due to another important disconnect — that between the major perceived
security threats and the reality behind most data breaches.
While more than half of businesses are worried about cybercriminals, terrorists and corporate espionage; everyday issues that tend to pose greater challenges to data integrity are often less cause for concern. Just in the UK alone, 90% of data breaches experienced in 2019 originated from a human error. Employee communications, system misconfigurations and privileged users with access to sensitive resources are all potential risks that network security cannot mitigate.
Data security: accesses and permissions
A great focus on data security is, therefore, highly recommended. Re-examine and restrict your access protocols and permissions, encrypt greater amounts of data and make sure to store and safeguard the keys properly. Moreover, invest in data recovery and backup tools.
Also, do not rely too much on your providers to protect your data. Sure, the cloud is fundamentally a shared responsibility environment. However, there are many proactive measures that you can implement internally to safeguard this data.
Remember – if there is
a breach, it will be the company’s reputation the one to take the biggest hit,
not the provider’s.
The threat of
emerging tech
Although most experts do not see widespread quantum computing entering the scene until 15 or 20 years from now. The security risks this emerging technology represents are already in the minds of business leaders. Around 72%% of companies believe quantum computers will start disrupting their encryption efforts within 5 years.
Quantum computations
can potentially decipher most cryptographic key systems used today. However,
the technology is still in its infancy, and companies shouldn’t worry too much about
its security implications just yet. But, if you’d like to start future-proofing
your system, there are several vendors out there already working with quantum
cryptography methods.
SAP FICO is a functional component of SAP ERP, used in many large companies to manage financial statements. Explore the role of the SAP FICO Consultant
Use our template to create a compelling and comprehensive SAP FICO Consultant job description to attract top talent.
The SAP FICO consultant is responsible for developing and implementing SAP-based ERP solutions, focusing on the finance and controlling areas. They work closely with the client’s finance team to analyze and design SAP FI/CO solutions, perform testing and ensure the stability of the solution.
The SAP FICO module is one of the most widely used SAP modules and includes SAP FICO configuration and usage. Therefore, aspiring SAP FICO consultants should have a strong foundation in all aspects of the SAP FICO module to succeed in their role.
Find SAP FICO Consultant missions on our freelance and permanent IT recruitment platform, or join Mindquest so you don’t miss out on any SAP assignments!
What is SAP FICO?
SAP FICO is a functional component of SAP ERP, used in many large companies to generate and manage financial statements. It is used for reporting, but also for analysis for decision-making. Explore the role of the SAP FICO Consultant
Above all, we are talking about two modules: SAP FI (Financial Accounting) for the Finance part and SAP CO (Controlling) for the Management control part:
The SAP FI module allows
companies to generate financial statements such as balance sheets or profit and
loss reports. It is itself made up of secondary modules dedicated to specific
accounting processes: Customer Accounting (FI-AR), Fixed Asset Accounting
(FI-AA), General Ledger (FI-GL)…
The SAP CO module manages the
planning, reporting and supervision of operational costs. A determining module
to improve the profitability of a company, it is also composed of secondary
modules: Cost control by product (SAP CO-PC), Accounting (SAP CO-OM-CEL),
Analysis of the income statement ( SAP CO-PA)…
As a consequence, the SAP FICO consultant is an expert on these specific modules. Before installing the software, their primary role is to analyze and define the needs of the company. They can then have an advisory or support role.
What is the role of the SAP FICO Consultant?
Analyze and assess user needs
Before installing the solution, the SAP FI
/ CO consultant must analyze and understand user needs. As a result, they will
be able to precisely define which functionalities to configure.
Solution and functionality development
Once the assessment is completed, the role of the consultant is to implement the solution. His knowledge of business case allows him to develop tailor-made functionalities to fully cover the needs of the company.
Train future users
After installing the solution, the SAP FICO consultant must ensure that future users can handle the software. They then train future users and play a support role in the event of any problems.
To help companies achieve a successful SAP implementation, this whitepaper explains SAP implementation best practices. It also presents a case study from the global leader sportwear company ADIDAS as an example of successful SAP implementation.
Whether you are a business leader, IT professional, or project manager, this whitepaper will help you understand how to plan, execute, and manage a successful SAP implementation that delivers tangible benefits and ROI.
Required skills of the SAP FICO Consultant
How to become a SAP FICO consultant? Here is a list of the skills needed to succeed in this career.
Technical expertise
As an expert, mastery of the SAP FICO modules is obviously essential. The consultant must have very good technical knowledge in order to be able to fully meet the client’s needs and to develop suitable functionalities. But also to validate and document the project requirements.
Knowledge of accounting, corporate finance & management control
Firstly, business knowledge is essential for the FICO consultant: they must master and understand the end user’s problems, as well as the business processes involved, to set up suitable workflows in the information system.
A good analytical mind
Soft skills are also essential the SAP FICO consultant must be able to better analyze the processes and business lines of the company, to determine if the necessary functionalities fall under a standard use of SAP FICO or if they require custom development. They also often act as an intermediary between technical teams and trades.
Listening skills
and pedagogy
Then, to better understand the needs of the company, the SAP FICO consultant must have good interpersonal skills and always remain attentive to their client and future users to assess their needs. Likewise, once the solution has been implemented, the consultant will have to provide training for future users: being a good communicator and teacher is therefore very useful.
SAP FICO consultants can work either in-house or externally.
In-house consultants work for the organization during and after the implementation phase, while external consultants are only involved in the implementation.
Moreover, consultants are responsible for system configuration and execution, based on business requirements, GAAP analysis, process improvement, and identifying new opportunities or products. Thus, their role is more significant than that of end/power clients since they are accountable for successful execution of the system. Becoming an SAP FICO consultant is a major career advancement.
In addition, the SAP FICO consultant plays an important role during a digital transition. It is usually the large companies that use this type of profile. Recently, some SMEs have integrated this tool into their activity to gain competitiveness. Today, the needs of companies in SAP FICO expertise are numerous.
Salary of the SAP FICO Consultant
How much does a SAP FICO Consultant make?
The salary of a SAP FICO Consultant can also vary depending on several factors such as location, years of experience, industry, and company size. According to Payscale, the average salary for a SAP FICO Consultant in Europe is around €61,000 per year, with the range typically falling between €40,000 to €89,000 per year.
While according to Glassdoor, the average salary for a SAP FICO Consultant in the United States is around $97,000 per year, with the range typically falling between $75,000 to $120,000 per year.
However, the actual salary can differ based on the country and specific location within that country.
Training of the SAP FICO Consultant
The FICO functional consultant can come from a business school with a finance option, an engineering school, or even from an accounting background. However, it is generally necessary to pass the various SAP certifications concerning the SAP FI and SAP CO modules, as well as to have several years of experience in the implementation and support projects.
In conclusion, a SAP FICO consultant typically evolves by taking on increasingly important integration missions and supervising a team. As they gain more experience and expertise in the field, they may be entrusted with critical integration projects that have a significant impact on the organization’s financial systems and operations. Thus, this offers opportunities for growth and advancement in the field of finance and technology.
Are you looking for IT mission opportunities in the Tech and IT sectors on a freelance or permanent basis? Mindquest can help you find your next IT assignment opportunity. Find a SAP FI CO Consultant mission by consulting our freelance and permanent mission offers available on our digital recruitment platform Mindquest :
Join us as we bid farewell to one of the fathers of UI. Larry Tesler, the innovator behind “cut”, “copy” and “paste”passed away earlier this week. He was instrumental in making computers accessible to the general public, and we owe him much for that.
Tesler’s CV included Stanford, Xerox and Apple. His chief invention, cut and paste, is said to be based on the old editing technique of cutting portions of text and gluing them elsewhere. The feature debuted in Apple’s 1983 Lisa computer.
A week in retrospect…
Let’s start
with AI.
Researchers from the ESPCI Paris and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology recently published a study which might explain why single-celled organism like viruses are so successful. The research shows that, under the right ecological conditions, groups of these organisms start behaving like a single one.
The computational models used to recreate said conditions can have a tremendous impact on AI research. By emulating the natural selection process, we could build rich neural networks that one day could rival even that of the human brain.
The Internet
of (Wild) Things.
Both climate change and IoT are in everyone’s mouths these days. Not often in the same sentence, though.
We can’t recommend enough Charles McLellan’s piece on how IoT is helping organisations fight biodiversity loss and climate change. From camera-based anti-poaching systems, to listening networks that monitor for the sound of chainsaws, NGOs and charities are doing impressive things all over the world.
A truly refreshing perspective on the applications of emerging tech.
In mergers
and acquisitions…
Google has acquired the Dutch company Cornerstone, which specializes in helping companies transition from on-premises to the public cloud. The move signals the push of big tech companies to deliver all-in-one cloud solutions and achieve market dominance.
Meanwhile, Dell is selling the cybersecurity leader RSA to a consortium of equity firms. The company said in a statement that the $2-billion deal will help simplify its business and product portfolio.
There are probably dozens
of variants of the Venn diagram that Drew Conway proposed a few years ago
to capture the core skills of a data scientist. Needless to say, the role has experienced
many changes since then, while rapid technological developments and the boom of
AI have further propelled the profession to the top of LinkedIn’s emerging
jobs ranking.
Well — we couldn’t resist putting forward
our own version of the infamous Venn diagram. Like Conway’s, ours is built on three
axes. However, our model focuses on broader categories rather than on specific expertise.
In today’s ever-changing business world, soft and cross-cutting skills are the
truly decisive factors that, in the long run, can ensure adaptability and
success.
Thus, our “holy trinity,” if you will, of
data science is made up of:
Curiosity
Technical know-how
Collaboration
Thinking of a career in the field, or
wondering if you’re doing this right? Let’s dive into each component.
The importance of a curious mind
Probably obvious, but it’s impossible to
talk about science and not mention the innate curiosity that powers it. Whether
you plan to explore the possibility of life in other planets or the mysteries
of quantum entanglement, it is the thirst for answers to questions and riddles
that will make you advance.
This, of course, applies to the problem-solving
capabilities required in data science projects. Nevertheless, well-directed technical
inquiries tend to fall on shaky ground whenever there are not accompanied by a
good contextual understanding. Just because you’re good at playing with data and
creating models that produce intricate insights and machine learning
experiences, none of it is worth anything if your work isn’t helpful to the
overarching goal.
For this reason, the need for curiosity
expands to the domain of expertise in which you operate (i.e. finance, political
studies, marketing). The more you know about the field of work of your company
or department, the better questions you will ask yourself, the useful insights
and models you will produce.
Note that we’re highlighting “curiosity” rather than “knowledge.” You’re going to spend many hours working with this data. Make sure it’s something that you are passionate about or at least find interesting.
Knowing the technical ins and outs
Some describe a data scientist as someone
who knows more about math and statistics than your average programmer while
having greater coding capabilities than your average mathematician. Although this
definition errs on side of oversimplification, it is not totally misguided.
To be successful in data science, you need
to be proficient in certain data engineering and coding-related methodologies
and practices. It is important not only to know how to build effective code, but
also how to efficiently extract and clean data.
Additionally, there is the crucial
technical knowledge that has less to do with computer engineering and more with,
for instance, data privacy compliance. You must know what data sets you can
manipulate and which ones you can’t, which processes can be computed on the
cloud and which ones are better reserved for on-premises infrastructure. At the
same time, if you work in finance or in any other field where sector-specific concepts
are a basic requirement, you will have to dominate those on top of your
knowledge of data science.
Playing as a team
This is where soft skills play the biggest
role. Interpersonal communication and teamwork have always been one of the key
factors of success Their relevance in this hyperconnected world of ours is only
increasing.
There must be good cooperation between all
teams and stakeholders involved in the process, and, for that, you should be
able to communicate efficiently and in a compelling way. It’s not enough with working
closely with developers or analysts. Knowing how to present a project in
layman’s terms becomes essential if you want to be granted the staff or
computational power that you’ll need to complete it.
Apart from this, you need to be well-versed
in concepts like Agile development, which help teams streamline the production
pipeline. Version control, a unified repository, and a good understanding
between development and production are a teamwork-must in today’s IT world.
