How India is building its analytics talent
Bangalore: Analysts have to combine expertise in math mostly statistics and probability,calculus and econometrics — with business knowledge.While Indias traditional strength in math makes available plenty of people with math skills,that does not automatically translate into analytic skills.
Global executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles estimates that India has 50,000 highly qualified analytics professionals.But demand is running at five times this number, says C K Guruprasad,consultant for the technology practice at the firm.
Consulting firm McKinsey estimates that India would need 2 lakh data scientists in the next few years.The extent of hiring for analytics can be gauged from the fact that a single company,Wipro,already has as many as 8,000 people in analytics functions,as per a Heidrick & Struggles report.
Companies are finding different ways to address the talent shortage.Mu Sigma has established what it calls the Mu Sigma University to create a pool of analytics talent.Deepinder Dhingra,head of products & strategy at Mu Sigma,says the company recruits engineering and management talent from campuses and puts them through a three-month mini MBA programme.The company today employs about 2,000 analytics professionals.Fractal Analytics has the Fractal Analytics Academy that seeks to create and leverage learning opportunities to institutionalize analytics.It is a forum to encourage the exchange of information and knowledge,develop domain expertise,and technical and soft skills.Fractal has also designed a series of courses that encapsulates the knowledge that it has developed over the years.
IBM is working with 500 universities in India to embed analytics in their curricula,says the report by Heidrick & Struggles.Redwood Associates started in 2007 as a specialized training facility for analytics and has since trained over 10,000 students.Guruprasad says a large pool of experienced analytics leaders is moving back to India and that would raise awareness and assist in the build-out of talent for analytics teams.While they may not directly solve the immediate talent crunch in terms of the required numbers,these executives will be both a short-term and longterm investment as they help groom others, he says.
Indian corporates too will increasingly require analytics services.Vanitha Narayanan,managing partner for global business services in IBM India,points out that there are many use cases that are unique to India.Telecom companies with massive subscriber numbers need analytics to understand how they can offer customized services to keep their subscribers from moving to competitors.Cell towers in India are today the biggest consumers of diesel after the Indian Railways.So telecom companies need to understand the best way to optimize power management for cell towers.
Avendus Capital executive director Amit Singh says that as the industry matures,Indian analytics service providers will move towards providing more complex services like model development,services based on proprietary IP,and consultative offerings.They will also expand offerings beyond traditional verticals, he says.
IN HIGH DEMAND
Consulting firm McKinsey estimates that India would need 2 lakh data scientists in the next few years Companies are finding different ways to address the talent shortage IBM is working with 500 universities in India to embed analytics in their curricula Mu Sigma has created a pool of analytics talent Fractal Analytics Fractal has designed a series of courses that encapsulates analytics over the years