There is a scramble to find the right big data talent, especially for short-term data projects currently being outsourced to big consulting companies such as Accenture, Deloitte apart from several niche suppliers. According to this McKinsey analysis, the U.S. alone faces a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with analytical expertise and 1.5 million managers and analysts with the skills to understand and make decisions based on the analysis of big data.
Big data may be the next big thing, and as with many such trends, the field presents a new frontier for the job marketplace. Entrepreneurs Harpreet Singh and Sarabjot Kaur recognize this potential, and aim to capitalize on the increasing demand for data specialists with Experfy, an online platform bootstrapped out of the Harvard Innovation Lab. The Experfy team aspires to disrupt the rapidly growing big data consulting sector by creating a marketplace for qualified professionals (primarily freelancers and contractors), vendor companies and enterprises. Reports suggest that the need for data experts is growing, and demand is on track to hitunprecedented levels by 2018. For experts in the field, taking on freelance or contract projects can translate into thousands of dollars in extra income.
