Big Data needs big talent, and the pool for hybrid, interdisciplinary talent is dry. What does this mean for solution providers like SAP SE?

John Furrier and Dave Vellante, cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, sat down with Ken Demma, VP Big Data Analytics at SAP, to get his take on the problems facing the industry, Big Data, and where he thinks the industry and SAP are moving.

A need for talent

SAP, like many of its competitors and contemporaries, is suffering from a skills shortage, specifically in data and analytics. More important, Demma mentioned, is the need for “hybrid skillsets.” In a world with hordes of data and the need to develop stronger analytics, the need for analytic leaders who can translate that information into business solutions is going to be critical moving forward. Instead of simply looking at the machine, it’s time to humanize the data and put it to practical use, he said.

Demma suggested that it will be those with an interdisciplinary skillset that will help companies realize the value of their data and analytics from a business standpoint, allowing them to effectively operationalize that information.

Mindset shift and translation

Furrier noted that there needs to be a change of “mindset” in the industry away from the “locked down” view of data and into a more “open view” of today and the future — that a “generational shift,” in Furrier’s words, was on the horizon as companies look to add and fill executive positions like a chief data officer and chief analytics officer.

Demma was quick to agree. He mentioned that the defensive posturing is something of the past as SAP looks forward. Part of this openness is the telling a “complex story” that the data provides. Getting at those nuggets of data will be the key role for a CAO when that interdisciplinary professional understanding comes to maturity.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of BigDataNYC 2015.

Photo by SiliconANGLE