The big data technology landscape – it’s immense and can be overwhelmingly complex. That’s why most people and businesses have been slow to adopt. For outsiders, big data can be quite the ball of yarn to untangle.

I know this because, for almost four years, I’ve had the pleasure of delivering big data training to diverse professionals from major corporations all over the world. The hardest part of that work is to help students cut through the overwhelm enough to see that there is a clear path through “big data” – that it can be learned, and that this knowledge is immediately applicable to modern-day business operations.

In today’s post, I am excited to share with you an at-a-glance big data technology landscape cheat sheet that I developed for students in my Certification in Big Data and Data Analytics Course. My hope is that you’ll find it both immensely useful, and aesthetically appealing (maybe even cool enough to print and tack to your office wall for future reference).

Brief Primer

Just in case you’re new to “big data”, the topic can be broken into 3 main components. Those are: data engineering, analytics, and data science. Nowadays the internet is all a-buzz about IoT, AI, and deep learning, so you may be curious why I don’t mention those. Each of those hot topics falls in one or many of the main three big data camps.

Purpose Behind the Big Data Technology Landscape Cheat Sheet

This big data technology landscape is meant to provide you an at-a-glance reference that quickly tells you:

The functions each of the technologies can fulfill

each of the technologies can fulfill Where your current skills position you in the big data space, and

in the big data space, and What new technologies and skills you may want to consider incorporating, depending on your project needs

What You’ll Get…

This one-page big data technology cheat sheet details the main technologies, applications, and programming languages that are used in the big data space. No matter if you’re a big data newbie, or an experienced pro, there are sure to some technologies you’re already accustomed to, and some of which you have no knowledge. Don’t worry!! I can’t imagine that any one person on the planet knows how to use all of the technologies that are detailed on this big data technology landscape cheat sheet.

How to Use…

Now let me provide you some specifics on how to interpret this big data technology landscape cheat sheet. When using this cheat sheet, please bear in mind that it’s only a high-level summary of the various technologies and methods that are out there. It provides you a lay-of-the-land, if you will. Unlike the more common format of big data technology landscape summary sheets you can find out there, in this cheat sheet:

I’ve used shapes and points to convey whether the technology is used in data engineering, analytics, and/or data science. If a technology is capable of being applied in more than one of these domains, then that is indicated by the horizontal spread of the shapes.

I’ve used shapes and points to convey what functions each technology is able to fulfill. Shapes with a greater vertical spread represent technologies that can serve a more diverse range of functions.

This cheat sheet details more than just hardware products and frameworks. It also describes relevant programming languages and software applications that are used widely across the industry.

Like I said, I’ve been teaching this topic for a while. My next session runs in Dubai from December 17th to 21st. There are at least five other sessions I will be running in Dubai in 2018, as well as some live web-stream trainings. I’d love to send you a hefty 20% discount code on my live training. Also, this version of the big data technology landscape cheat sheet is far too low-resolution for print, but I want you to have access to a print-worthy version. To get access to all of these, just drop your email in the opt-in here.