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The worldwide big data and analytics investment market continues to grow, with projections indicating strong compound annual growth rates over the next decade. To achieve true competitive advantage from business intelligence and data analytics, organizations must control how these investments are being integrated into the culture of the organization. Analytics integration is dependent on employees displaying a comprehensive set of skills that extends beyond technical competencies. This qualitative research identifies specific personal, interpersonal, and communication skills critical for effective interaction among analytics specialists and corporate decision makers. In applying these skills, analytics professionals can shift the decision culture within the organization to engage a data-informed approach to decision making.

Information Systems (IS) curricula need to provide students with skills that match industry requirements. This study examined online Information Technology (IT) job advertisements, compared them to the IS 2010 Model Curriculum, and recommended nine courses for an IS curriculum. The study found that programmer, network administrator, and database administrator were the top three jobs and that programming, database, and design were the top three qualification types. The data does not support 41% of the career tracks, nor 28% of the courses, in the IS 2010 Model Curriculum. The nine recommended courses deliver 76% of the qualifications suggested by the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]