BIG Data

Many SQL Server associations such as PASS have both local and virtual chapters that offer free training, and since big data is one of the current 'bright shiny objects' there are many offerings.

Here's a free presentation on Microsoft SQL Server/Excel connectivity to 'Big Data' to mine Facebook and Twitter data to determine the success of upcoming movies and celebrity endorsements, then display it using BI on demand capabilities.  Warning:  Contains multiple gratuitous references to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2012/

I'm guessing Oracle has similar offerings.

>certified in being a analyst for big data?
Not aware of any certification.

Any certifications closest to be a big data analyst or practitioner?

None that I'm aware of, but big data is not my specialty, so I'll withdraw from the question to encourage other experts to respond.

Ok thanks.

Oh c'mon Jeffy, you mean I can't figure out what's new and sexy, read a book on it, put it on my resume and expect to get top dollar jobs?  No {pause for effect} wayyy...

LOL

Jim, ...
...If it were only that easy...

But seriously, I took that from your first comment too:
"bright shiny objects"

Like the term "Business Intelligence"...
I remember all the question we got on this a few years ago.
;-)

Like you, it is not my specialty, I was only fascinated about it because it dealt with things like advanced modeling and computer graphics, ...etc

Jeff

sharepoint2013,
 
Regarding, Jim's comment...

I did not mean to put you off on this.

From your username, my guess is that you specialize in SharePoint.
So in that regard you are much smarter then me...
;-)

My point was that you can't really jump in a get your hands dirty with a technology like this without actually working directly with these tools and technologies.

Every "training company" in the world will be soon offering classes in this because it is hot and new and people will start asking about it.

But to really see this stuff in Action you need to have access to some fairly High level Hardware.
See the Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_data
Companies like NASA, LHC, Amazon.com, Walmart, Google, ..et al
...have the resources to invest in these technologies. (Access to supercomputers, ...etc)

So you should have a fairly deep working knowledge of SQL, OLAP Cubes, Data Warehousing/Mining, ...etc
...before even thinking about making the leap to this technology.

Again, not trying to put you off, ...just saying that (Like Sharepoint) you really need to actually work with these systems hands on.

Looking at your question history, I would say that you could make more of a splash in the Sharepoint world.
Sharepoint pros are in high demand now.

;-)

JeffCoachman

Thanks :)

I agree with Jeff and Jim, although big data is the trendy hot buzz word of the moment, this is not as simple as getting trained to get on board.

You'll need to learn at least the following concepts/technologies to become a data scientist (another trendy term for professionals that currently are on top of the big data wave):
- SQL - not specific to a platform-should master analytical functions, should know how to write complex queries;
- data mining techniques
- machine learning algorithms
- map reduce techniques and tools

And of course, a lot of math and statistics.

Hope this helps.

noted..

Has your question been answered or is there something that is missing or unclear?

i think i need more info

Still trying to understand whats the diff between BI and Big Data

"Like all flashy new terms, "Big Data" (in some ways) is just an extension of existing technologies."

"although big data is the trendy hot buzz word of the moment"

Big Data is anything but a flashy new term. On the contrary. I strongly suggest everyone read the book below, which I just finished. I'm pretty sure you will have a different take when done :-)
The book provides an excellent objective overview of Big Data and what it's all about.

Too Big to Ignore: The Business Case for Big Data

It really is ... 'too big to ignore'

MX, ...what I was trying to say is that, as of this writing, many people who bandy about the term "Big Data" may not really know what its true definition is.

True, ..."Big Data" is a new technology, I was not arguing that, ...But from what I have researched, the term refers more to the "Technology" to analyze this data, than to the "size" of the data.
So the source you mentioned would be a great resource for the OP.

Many folks simply like to just use this term for "Data that is really big", so this may not be easy to nail down.
Wikipedia says:
"Big data[1][2] is the term for a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications"
...so this is still not an iron clad definition...
...I also saw this:
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/big_data.html

How does you reference define "Big data"?, and in what terms:
(Size in Bytes?, Number of Row?, number of field?, Complex datatypes?, ...etc)

So again here I am not trying to trivialize the technology or the terminology used to define it, I only sought to let the OP know that the Term "Big Data" represents the huge leap in technology that enable us to deal with quantities of data that were previously difficult, if not impossible to deal with. (regardless of what flashy new name they give it)
;-)

For example, I (and I am sure you) remember when the terms "Stereo" and "Hi-Fi" were printed boldly on audio equipment. (and also remember when the Oversampling rate was prominently displayed on CD players )
;-)

So at one point these terms were also "flashy new terms"
...The technology is still in-place, (Stereo, High Fidelity, Oversampling, ...et al), ...but the terms are not as commonly mentioned as the once were.
Here too, this may apply to the term "Big Data"

JeffCoachman

" than to the "size" of the data."
I would not agree with that.

All I'm saying is ... one should really read this book. All the 5 star reviews cannot be wrong ... and I can confirm, since I did read it.

"How does you reference define "Big data"?, and in what terms:"
Too big to define here :-)

mx

Sounds good

But from what I have researched, the term refers more to the "Technology" to analyze this data, than to the "size" of the data.
Absolutely!  As we all know RDBMS are defined somewhat by their ACID properties.  Big Data with implementations such as MapReduce and Hadoop are large unstructured or loosely structured data sets that allow relaxing the consistency property.  These are cases that lend themselves well to a scale out approach and where the traditional scale up route would cost prohibitive.  Not all large data sets are so forgiving, bank data is still a classic case where for obvious reasons you need transactions to be consistent.

Come to think of it, it sounds like to me that some MS Access database schemas I have seen would be a perfect match for Hadoop's unstructured data.

Just kidding.