Courtesy of V3

The 2012 EMC World conference signalled the emergence of a profession which will will be entirely unfamiliar to many in the IT space: data science.

Just like cloud computing dominated the 2010 EMC World and big data the 2011 event, this year, the hot topic for this year's conference was the emerging field of large-scale data analysis and modelling. Many predict that the field will soon become an invaluable part of the business landscape.

The field of data science is being painted as the logical next step to big data. It  uses the computing power and vast data holdings of large-scale database systems and puts them to use. Combining fields such as advanced statistics with cloud computing platforms, a data scientist would be able to spot long-term trends and model scenarios for major business decisions.

EMC, VMware and a number of other companies believe that the field of data science will bring a new class of professional into the workspace. Individuals who are trained in both the advanced statistics and analysis as well as the development and operations of big data platforms could soon become invaluable to large enterprises and service developers.

Executives have made lofty predictions for the field. EMC chief Joe Tucci told reporters that a data science degree could soon become more valuable in the workplace than a computer science degree.

Getting those professionals into the market, however, remains a primary concern for both vendors and enterprises interested in advancing the field. By EMC's own estimate just 800 or so universities even offer data science skills as part of their curriculum, and EMC's own training programme has yet to certify its first crop of students.

Thus far, the company has also found that the field is not proving to be attractive for unemployed IT professionals hoping to get back into the workplace.

Greenplum senior vice president Scott Yara predicted that the data scientist will become an essential part of the management team. EMC's Howard Elias said that while training programmes are still new, interested candidates thus far have primarily been younger adults from finance and analysis backgrounds rather than IT professionals looking for new skills.

As the field remains in its infancy, however, data science could still hold promise to those in the IT space who are looking to expand their career horizons. The growth in the platform could also help to stimulate growth in other areas of IT.

Yara sees traditional IT staff in demand as well.  "We are seeing data science as a team sport," Yara explained. "There has been a lot of talk about the scientist in particular, but you need a lot of people to take charge of different roles."

Yara noted that the rise in data science will also add to the workload for other IT operations. Such heavy-duty platforms would require careful maintenance and management to function on a daily basis.

EMC and its subsidiary companies have good reason to push big data and data science. Over the course of EMC World the company introduced some 42 new products aimed at areas such as private cloud storage and data migration.

As it stands, EMC and the companies it owns claim to be able to singlehandedly build, configure, deploy, secure and manage the big data platforms needed for data science platforms. Aside from its own storage and security branches, the company has ties ties to VMware and the recently-acquired Greenplum specialises in management of big data platforms.

When a company specialises in the production, maintenance and training needs for a certain field, the marketing message must be taken into account. EMC has tremendous motivation for selling firms on the need for data science platforms.

Those concerns aside, the need for data science seems to be very real and rapidly emerging. Large-scale web services and social networking platforms in particular will create a demand for individuals who can put massive amounts of customer data and feedback in the proper perspective and help make sense of the data generated through their cloud networks.

The transition to the larger enterprise space appears to be just a matter of time. Firms will be eager to gain the long-term strategic edge promised by the ability to evaluate and predict outcomes from unstructured data.

With a new class of students just months away from kicking off their university educations and a healthy crowd of trained professionals still eager to re-enter the market, data science may indeed be a career path worthy of consideration.