By Ellis Booker InformationWeek, December 18, 2012
... Some have responded [to shortage of data science skills] by trying to hire data scientists from the small, existing, expensive pool of talent. Others have sent current employees back to school, taking advantage of a blossoming number of university-level courses in data management and advanced analytics geared toward IT professionals already working in industry.
Unfortunately, neither approach is likely to fill the need. As Gartner recently estimated, only about one-third of global demand for big data-related jobs will be met.
But there is a third path: Outsourcing.
... Several experts interviewed about the pros and cons of outsourcing the data-science function had strikingly similar advice. Although all said some aspects can be outsourced, all cautioned it was a mistake to think of these services as a commodity, given the degree of industry- and company-specific knowledge needed to derive actionable insights from complicated data models.
Moreover, every expert stressed the need for knowledge transfer. "You cannot completely outsource it forever," said Anjul Bhambhri, VP of big data at IBM in a phone interview.
Benefits Of Outsourcing
By far the top benefit of working with an outside organization is speed, said a number of people.
"The pros of outsourcing are clear -- you can get the results faster, and don't have to hire hard-to-find and expensive data scientists," Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro, an analytics and data mining consultant and editor of KDnuggets, said in an email. Outsourcing "could be entirely appropriate for smaller companies or companies where data is not the main focus or gives them competitive advantage," he said.
A subtler advantage of using an outsider is the chance to examine the data with fresh eyes, without old assumptions or bad habits. "People internally look at the data same way, and it's sometimes harder to step back, to walk away from history and process and comps," said Brooke Niemiec, divisional VP of customer relationship marketing and loyalty at JCPenney in a phone interview.
...
Outsourcing Downsides
"Whenever you outsource to a partner something that involves deep intelligence about the business, you're putting part of your brain outside your body," said Chuck Densinger, partner and chief customer intelligence officer at customer intelligence company Aginity in a phone interview. But even with contract and service arrangements, he said, "You're not building a capability. You're not institutionalizing it. And you're beholden to that partner."
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