Data analytics jobs big draw among IITians

Techies increasingly opt for the sector as it offers better pay, promising career growth

First it was information technology (IT), then finance and now it is big data analytics - the current favourite sector for most Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduates.

Given better pay packages and promising career growth prospects, IITs have seen a good number of engineers opting for a career in data analytics during placements.

Big data refers to using of math and technology to arrive at behavioural sciences and design thinking. Companies process bytes of information sought from sensors and social networks.

This information is used to seek insights into customer behaviour, marketing, risk and supply chain among other areas. Analytics, say industry players, is the next big business segment.

Companies across sectors - IT, retail, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consulting - are looking at big data to gain competitive advantage. Firms, including Tata Consultancy Services, Genpact, Nu Sigma, Barclays Bank, Morgan Stanley, Boston Consulting Group, Bank of America Merill Lynch and Goldman Sachs are recruiting engineering students to do the math for them.

"With up to five years of experience, more and more IITians are moving towards data analytics. It is the slowdown in engineering, fatigue with software and a faster growth in profile that are attributed to this changing trend," says Atul Kumar, director and co-founder of EduPristine. EduPristine is a training provider for international certifications and finance courses in India.

"With data volumes exploding, the profile of data analytics has become central to many companies. They need more and more engineers to work for them in this segment, and given data analytics involve writing codes, number crunching and logical thinking, that comes naturally to engineers," says Kumar.

Spending on big data by companies, say industry players, is expected to grow to around $34 bn in 2020 from $4 bn in 2011.

Little wonder then that this week Apple acquired social media search and analytics start-up Topsy and this May, software exporter Wipro invested $30 million for a minority stake in Opera Solutions, New Jersey's big data analytics firm, early this year. Japanese conglomerate Hitachi on the other hand is betting huge on big data analytics for its growth and sees its Asia-Pacific region increasing revenue by 25 per cent or more with its usage.

And, with a data analytics profile paying salaries of over 50 per cent than any other profile, it has become attractive for students.

"In other sectors like IT and Software, joining salaries have remained more or less the same with an increase of Rs 50,000 per annum, may be. But data analytics offers at least a 40-50 per cent higher joining salaries to students. This makes it attractive for them," said a placement official from IIT-Ropar, Punjab. IIT-Ropar has seen a lot of interest in data analytics from its students this placement season.

At IIT-Bombay, 27 companies made 94 offers in analytics; 26 consulting firms made 124 offers and 78 offers from 19 companies in finance sector, last year.

IIT-Bombay, in its placement report of 2013, said a variety of profiles were opened up in the sectors, as these companies have begun to appreciate the analytical and quantitative analysis capability of the students. "A couple of years ago, companies were not offering positions in analytics. But more and more offers are coming our way and students are lapping it up," said a placement official at IIT-Bombay.

IIT-Delhi had placed 5 per cent of its batch size last year in analytics.

Placements on IIT campuses for 2014 are still on.

CRACKING DATA

* Big data refers to using of math and technology to arrive at behavioural sciences and design thinking process. Companies process bytes of information sought from sensors and social networks

* This information is used to seek insights into customer behaviour, marketing, risk and supply chain among other areas.

* Analytics is the next big business segment

* Spending on big data by companies is expected to grow to around $34 billion in 2020 from $4 billion in 2011

* Companies across sectors - IT, Retail, FMCG and Consulting - are looking at big data to gain competitive advantage

* Firms, including Tata Consultancy Services, Genpact, Nu Sigma, Barclays Bank, Morgan Stanley, Boston Consulting Group, Bank of America Merill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, are recruiting engineering students to do the math for them