1 - Teradata

Teradata research project
Data science in Europe – skills gap or emerging talent?
Hypothesis
Despite a continued appetite for big data projects, many organisations are struggling to recruit the
staff they need. This could be because they are searching for skills that are in short supply, or that
they do not realise that it is possible to get started on a strategy without needing to find a ‘mythical’
data scientist.
Alternatively, lack of success in this area could be due to the business being too vague in its initial
project scope, with a lack of understanding within the organisation as to why they need the right
candidates.
This research, undertaken by OnePoll on behalf of Teradata, polled c-level executives in the UK,
France and Germany, with the aim of examining their current resourcing status. It explored the
various perceived qualities and experience businesses are looking for in the recruitment process, as
well as the motivation behind it.
1
For more information contact Sabina Lallian.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0) 207 5353 618
www.teradata.co.uk
Findings summary

44% of organisations across the three geographies surveyed have a strategy or roadmap for
big data

19% are already running big data projects (ranging from 26% in France to only 13% in the
UK), with a further 28% planning to start projects in the next two years (34% in the UK). An
average of 39% currently have no projects in the pipeline
Click here for more visualisations from Tableau Software

Supporting this, 42% are currently recruiting or thinking of recruiting data scientists or other
big data roles

62% believe there is a skills shortage in the area of data science/big data/analytics, with only
12% confident there isn’t a problem

Pressure to recruit is coming from the top: overall, 42% of respondents report pressure from
the CEO/senior management, 44% from the CIO/IT and 17% from the CMO/marketing and
sales. In the UK and Germany in particular, more organisations report pressure from the
CEO than from IT

36% of companies are now more aware of the commercial impact of big data (rising to 50%
in Germany)

Once recruited, the majority (51%) of big data employees/consultants will report into
departments other than IT, with almost one quarter (23%) reporting directly to the board

In terms of existing staff, 46% are recruiting employees with an IT background, while 37%
are looking for staff with business experience (e.g. BI specialists or business analysts)

Externally, 42% are looking for specialist consultants on contract, 38% via specialist IT
recruiters and 17% via internal HR using internet sites
2
For more information contact Sabina Lallian.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0) 207 5353 618
www.teradata.co.uk

Overall, while 43% are looking for IT/developer skills, 29% are looking for data scientists,
25% for business analysts and 22% for BI specialists
Click here for more visualisations from TIBCO Spotfire

Experience scores over education, as only 24% are looking for degree or other professional
qualifications and just 19% for new graduates

45% believe there is a need to recruit skilled, experienced people to build a big data team,
while 39% believe that retraining existing staff is equally important

Although 53% overall believe technical experience is a key quality for anyone working on a
big data project, other important criteria include problem-solving skills (cited by 43%),
analytical skills (42%) and creativity (35%). In Germany however, problem-solving skills
stand out as most important (cited by 55%, compared to only 37% highlighting technical
experience)

58% believe it is difficult to find candidates with the right mix of skills for big data projects,
with only 12% finding no problem

The greatest problem is finding potential recruits with the right combination of business/IT/
analytics/communication skills, cited by 42% (rising to 54% in the UK). Only 14% believe that
the right candidates are too expensive and just 7% (15% in France) believe their organisation
is struggling to define what it is looking for.

Again this is an experience rather than an education issue, with 41% disagreeing that the
problem is one of graduates lacking the necessary skills to analyse data effectively and a
further 26% undecided.
Partners of Teradata, TIBCO Spotfire and Tableau have created visual representations of the survey
findings which can be accessed by selecting the relevant hyperlinks. Please note that in Tableau’s
visualisation you can select specific countries on the map, or responses from the bar chart which
signifies whether companies have a big data strategy, to filter the results of the other visual
elements accordingly.
3
For more information contact Sabina Lallian.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0) 207 5353 618
www.teradata.co.uk
Research questions
1. Does your organisation have a strategy or road map for big data?
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Yes
45%
45%
41%
44%
No
34%
30%
36%
33%
Don’t know
21%
25%
23%
23%
2. Is your organisation either currently engaged in or planning to embark on a big data project
within the next two years?
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Yes – already running project
13%
26%
18%
19%
Yes – planning to start project within
the next two years
34%
23%
28%
28%
No – project planned but unlikely to
start within next two years
11%
19%
12%
14%
No projects currently in the pipeline
42%
32%
42%
39%
3. Do you believe there is a skills shortage in the area of data science/big data/data analytics?
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Yes
62%
65%
60%
62%
No
13%
16%
6%
12%
Don’t know
25%
19%
34%
26%
4. Are you currently recruiting or thinking of recruiting data scientists or other big data roles?
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Yes
41%
43%
42%
42%
No
59%
57%
58%
58%
4
For more information contact Sabina Lallian.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0) 207 5353 618
www.teradata.co.uk
5. If yes, what area(s) of the business is this demand coming from/what is the main driver for
recruitment? [Tick all that apply]
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Pressure/demand from CEO or management
42%
37%
48%
42%
Pressure/demand from CIO or IT
39%
51%
41%
44%
Pressure/demand from CMO, marketing
and/or sales
12%
23%
17%
17%
Greater awareness of commercial potential
of big data
22%
37%
50%
36%
Requirement to work on planned/on-going
big data project
15%
9%
24%
16%
6. Which department would these consultants/employees report into?
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Report directly to the board
24%
23%
21%
23%
IT
37%
56%
55%
49%
Marketing
15%
9%
10%
11%
7%
7%
5%
6%
15%
-
-
5%
Finance
-
5%
-
2%
Other [Please specify]
2%
-
-
1%
Sales
Operations
7. What methods/channels are you using (or would you anticipate using) in the recruitment
process in order to identify potential candidates for big data/data science/analytics roles?
[Tick all that apply]
UK
Existing employees with business
background [e.g. business intelligence
specialists/business analysts]
Existing employees with IT background
[e.g. IT coders]
France
Germany
TOTAL
42%
26%
43%
37%
43%
47%
48%
46%
5
For more information contact Sabina Lallian.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0) 207 5353 618
www.teradata.co.uk
Specialist consultants on contract
42%
56%
29%
42%
New employees recruited via specialist IT
recruiter
44%
44%
26%
38%
New employees recruited via non-IT recruiter
10%
5%
10%
8%
New employees recruited via internal HR
using internet sites
12%
14%
24%
17%
8. What type of background and experience do you look for when recruiting candidates? [Tick
all that apply]
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
IT/developer
43%
46%
41%
43%
Business analyst
35%
18%
22%
25%
Business intelligence (BI) specialist
25%
19%
22%
22%
Data scientist
25%
39%
23%
29%
New graduate
10%
26%
20%
19%
Third-party consultant
15%
18%
14%
16%
Marketing experience
19%
17%
13%
16%
Other commercial/business experience
20%
17%
11%
16%
Degree or other professional qualification
27%
18%
26%
24%
7%
1%
5%
4%
Other [Please specify]
9. For your organisation, what is the most effective way to build a big data team? [Tick the
most appropriate]
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Recruit skilled, experienced people
45%
52%
37%
45%
Reposition existing staff and retrain for
big data
14%
13%
22%
16%
Recruiting new skills and retraining existing
staff are equally important
41%
35%
41%
39%
6
For more information contact Sabina Lallian.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0) 207 5353 618
www.teradata.co.uk
10. In your view what are the most important qualities a data scientist or data analyst working
on a big data project should have? [Please select a minimum of one and a maximum of three
essential qualities]
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Creativity
36%
32%
36%
35%
Technical experience
59%
63%
37%
53%
Business acumen
32%
17%
19%
23%
Mathematically competent
20%
20%
20%
20%
Problem-solving skills
38%
37%
55%
43%
People skills
16%
16%
18%
17%
Analytical skills
33%
47%
46%
42%
4%
1%
2%
2%
Other [Please specify]
11. In your experience, is it difficult to find candidates with the right mix of skills needed for
big data projects?
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Yes
60%
59%
54%
58%
No
8%
12%
15%
12%
32%
28%
30%
29%
-
1%
1%
1%
Don’t know
Other (please specify)
12. If yes, what is the main reason for this? [Please tick one option]
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Lack of skilled/experienced candidates
30%
36%
41%
36%
Potential recruits don’t have the right
combination of business/IT/analytics/
communication skills
54%
37%
37%
42%
The right candidates are often too expensive
12%
10%
19%
14%
Our organisation struggles to define what it
is looking for
3%
15%
2%
7%
Other [please specify]
2%
2%
2%
2%
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For more information contact Sabina Lallian.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0) 207 5353 618
www.teradata.co.uk
13. In your experience, do you think today’s graduates have the necessary skills to analyse
data effectively?
UK
France
Germany
TOTAL
Yes
28%
41%
29%
33%
No
47%
34%
43%
41%
Don’t know
25%
25%
28%
26%
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For more information contact Sabina Lallian.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0) 207 5353 618
www.teradata.co.uk
About Teradata
Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) is the world’s leading analytic data solutions company, focused
on integrated data warehousing, big data analytics, and business applications. Teradata's innovative
products and services deliver data integration and business insight to empower organisations to make
the best decisions possible and achieve competitive advantage. Visit www.teradata.co.uk for details.
Teradata is a trademark or registered trademark of Teradata Corporation in the United States and
other countries.
About TIBCO
TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX) is a provider of infrastructure software for companies to use
on-premise or as part of cloud computing environments. TIBCO Spotfire is the company’s in-memory
analytics software for next-generation business intelligence. By offering a visual, interactive
experience, Spotfire helps professionals quickly discover new and actionable insights in information.
Learn more at http://spotfire.tibco.com or by following @TIBCOSpotfire.
About Tableau Software
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For more information, contact: Sabina Lallian, Teradata 0044 (0) 207 5353 618;
[email protected]
9
For more information contact Sabina Lallian.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0044 (0) 207 5353 618
www.teradata.co.uk