How to Boost your Business with Data Engineers

It’s no secret that businesses search far and wide for ways to gain an edge over the competition. Sometimes, getting that advantage is a matter of making the right hire—namely, in this case, a data engineer.

What is data engineering?

The role of the data engineer is to mine data. They use their skillset to build architectures such as databases and processing systems to extract value from the data, which can then can be used to add value to a business.

Data engineer vs. data scientist

There are clear differences between a data engineer and a data scientist, although many people believe the two roles are the same. Here’s what you should know about each one:

Data engineers: Typically, they have a more technical background than data scientists, specifically in computer engineering. Data engineers are experienced in big data, a number of different databases, cloud data solutions, and more. They are also knowledgeable in writing code and scripts and have extensive knowledge about system monitoring, alerting, and dashboarding. More importantly, they know how to extract data from large, raw, and unprocessed datasets. The data engineer makes this data more understandable and efficient and passes it on to the data scientist.

Data scientists: The role of a data scientist is more business-oriented, including econometrics, mathematics, and statistics. Data scientists can come from a variety of backgrounds that are scientific, including web development and database administration. They work closely with company stakeholders to understand business goals and determine how data can be leveraged to achieve these goals.

Data engineers are problem-solvers

Every business will face a number of data-related roadblocks that require a certain degree of creativity, patience, and technical expertise. Data engineers can help organizations resolve the issues through their understanding of data pipelines.

They can also play a key role in advancing a company’s data science initiatives in the era of digital transformation. An increasing number of companies are undergoing a transformation with the use of intelligent automation (RPA and AI). Data engineers have the expertise to help organizations connect with and make the best use of those technologies.