In just two years, big data will be responsible for employing more than 4.4 million people, with close to 2 million IT positions in the United State alone, according to Gartner forecasts. Not only that, but Gartner also estimates that for every IT-related position, there will be three more people employed in non-IT capacities for every big data job, bringing the total employment stemming from big data to around 6 million.
Big data is a big deal
In this age, businesses now have the ability to collect huge amounts of data that they can use to grow or operate. It is easy to be left behind if you ignore all the data that is readily available to you. Only if you efficiently capture, analyze and process big data will you be able to fully understand your customers, partners, business and competitors. This understanding can improve your operation’s efficiency, increase your sales, lower your costs, provide better services and get better products out.
Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research, however, notes that there is a shortage of IT professionals who will be qualified to fill big data jobs. He estimated that only one-third of them will be filled, making big data skills and expertise very valuable in the coming years. Just from this scenario alone, you can easily deduce how big data skills can make you extremely hireable.
You would also have to consider that big data is a new field, so universities are not going to be a good source of talent in this area. The result? IT professionals who are looking for fatter paychecks, better job options and job security are getting into big data. But how do you go about certifying your skills in big data?
HP Introduces Big Data Solutions Certification Program
HP recently introduced a new certification called the Big Data Solutions Certification Program. This certification and training program will certify an IT professional’s proficiency and skills in using HP Vertica.
HP Vertica is a real-time analytics platform that helps companies process and analyze big data.
Who will benefit most from this certification?
If you are an IT professional working with HP Vertica, whether you are an application developer, systems administrator, database analyst or in any IT post that oversees and manages the analytics, this certification would be a good move for you.
The Big Data Solutions Certification Program will certify your skills and knowledge and help validate you as a big data expert.
It is also good for companies who are now using HP Vertica to make sure their employees know the platform well enough to get the most out of it.
How to get certified?
The HP Vertica Big Data Solutions Certification Program is a part of HP’s ExpertOne program. This certification and training program is available to HP’s customers, resellers, partners, employees and students.
Candidates would need to undergo extensive training using a variety of course work and, of course, hands-on experience with HP Vertica.
HP recommends that you:
- Complete the Vertica Boot Camp or Vertica Introduction training. Or, if you do not have $2,000 and three days to spare for the formal classroom classes, you could have your own self-directed study with at least three to six months of hands-on experience with Vertica
- Have at least one to three years of experience in Linux
- Have at least one to three years of experience in scripting in Python or Perl or any other scripting language
- Have the mastery as well as the extensive skills and experience in SQL
- Have at least three to four years experience working with relational databases. You would need to know just how relational databases work from theory and structure and design, among other things
If you are confident that you have the recommended experience, you can proceed to take Exam HP2-N36, which is the core requirement in getting certified.
The HP2-N36 exam has 50 multiple-choice items. You would need to answer at least 35 of these items correctly in a span of 90 minutes in order to pass the test.
If you, however, feel that you need more training, then you can get supporting courses that are available at HP’s Learning Center (registration is required).
To register for the HP2-N36 exam you can go to the learning center and click on the link “Access more information.”
The exam will include Vertica Architecture, where you deal with key features of the platform, then describe its transaction model and installation.
Projection Design
- How to load data into Vertica, including loading data into ROS or WOS, differentiating mergeout and moveout tasks, among others
- How to permanently remove data from Vertica and advanced projection design
- How to properly manage clusters in Vertica, including adding nodes to existing clusters, recovering failed nodes, and local segmentation capability
- How to restore and backup, as well as manage resources in Vertica
- Best practices in monitoring Vertica and troubleshooting the platform including the use of the Management Console, disallowing user connections, and cluster administration
- How to tune performance and analytics, including knowing the different analytics syntax, how to use event based windows, event series join, pattern matching and time series, explain plans, query profiles and how to analyze an explain plan
If you use HP Vertica, or work for a company that does, then the HP Vertica Big Data Solutions Certification Program is perfect for you. Even if you plan to switch jobs, you will certainly have a lot of options because HP Vertica is one of the most widely used analytics platforms available today. Some of its more impressive customers include:
- Zynga,
- WebMD
- The Washington Post
- Vonage
- BlueCross BlueShield Association
- Convertro
- Guess
- NetworkIP
- Comcast
Alternatively, you could also go for Apache Hadoop big data certifications. Check out providers such as Cloudera or HortonWorks.
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