Meet 5 of the Most Influential Big Data and Analytics Experts

With large volumes of data, data analysts are in high demand. Organizations generate and collect an ever-increasing amount of data, so being able to extract effective answers and insights from the chaos is a valued and in-demand skill set.

Here is a list of the top 5 Big Data and Analytics influencers, who are well-known professionals, prolific authors, and enthusiasts of the area.

1. Judith Hurwitz

Judith Hurwitz is the President and CEO at Hurwitz & Associates, where she advises both emerging and established companies on go-to-market strategies. Hurwitz is the author of eight books, including several in the “For Dummies” series, a software industry thought leader, and a market analyst with a focus on cloud, Big Data, analytics, and cognitive computing.

2. Carlie Idoine

Carlie Idoine is the Research Director for Business Analytics and Data Science for IT leaders. Her areas of expertise include both business analytics and data science toolsets and approaches, citizen data scientists, optimization strategies, and processes. Idoine has more than 25 years of experience in integrating new technologies, including the deployment of enterprise analytics strategies. She provides research and advisory services focused on using analytics to solve complex business problems.

3. Doug Laney

Doug Laney leads the data and analytics strategy practice with the consultancy, Caserta. Formerly he was a vice president and distinguished analyst with Gartner's Chief Data Officer (CDO) research and advisory practice. He is an accomplished practitioner and recognized authority on data and analytics strategy is a three-time recipient of Gartner's annual Thought Leadership Award and is regularly considered one of the top global influencers on these topics. Mr. Laney specializes in and assists organizations with data monetization and valuation, open and syndicated data, data governance, and big-data-based innovation. In 2001 he coined the "3Vs" of volume, velocity, and variety, now commonly used in defining Big Data, and authored "Infonomics: How to Monetize, Manage, and Measure Information as an Asset for Competitive Advantage".

4. Ben Lorica

Ben Lorica is the Chief Data Scientist at O'Reilly Media. Lorica has applied his BI, machine learning, and statistical analysis expertise in a variety of domains, including financial engineering, marketing and market research, web analytics, and text mining. With a Twitter handle like @BigData, you can be sure he is an influencer. Lorica hosts The O’Reilly Data Show podcast; he also blogs on data, technology, and culture at The Gradient Flow.

5. Bernard Marr

Bernard Marr is a Big Data and analytics expert, strategic performance consultant, keynote speaker, and author. He regularly publishes articles on Big Data and Analytics on Forbes. He is the author of several books, including Data Strategy — How to Profit from a World of Big Data, Analytics, and the Internet of Things.

Data analytics is a highly rewarding career choice and there are many different pathways into the field. We hope this article has helped shed some light on the many learning options available to you. If you’d like to discuss your future in data with a real person, schedule a call with Syntax Technologies.

Syntax's data analytics course provides students with the remarkable opportunity to evolve as experts in the field and consequently, enter one of the most sought-after domains of the tech industry.