Beginners Guide to Data Analytics


Speaker: David Barnett, RightBrain Networks

Getting started in data analyses is daunting. The field is full of tools with clever, but ultimately non-descriptive names (Hadoop, Spark, Hive, Pig, etc). Operating a distributed Hadoop or Spark cluster takes significant time and treasure.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a complete toolchain for doing big-data analysis. This talk, intended for beginner to intermediate experience levels, will focus on the task of analyzing web logs to solve the real world business case “Who is visiting my site, and what are they up to”? Attendees will learn about the tools available for data ingress (Kinesis Firehose), data integration (Lambda), data analysis (EMR hosted Spark, Hive, Pig, etc), and data warehousing (Redshift).

These are complex tools, each with their own intricacies. However, by the end of the session attendees should feel comfortable enough to dive in and begin doing analyses on their own data.

Who am I?

David Barnett

Senior Software Engineer, RightBrain Networks Twitter: @dhbarnett

David Barnett is a Senior Software Engineer at RightBrain Networks. An Ann Arbor-based software development and cloud consulting firm, RightBrain Networks uses today’s cutting-edge technologies to help companies reinvent themselves in the cloud.

For nearly 20 years David has helped organizations deliver quality software that exceeds business expectations. He has experience working on and/or leading a variety of teams including software quality, product delivery, research, and cloud development and operations with a focus on Linux/Unix systems. He has worked for companies ranging in size from 20 employees to Fortune 10.

At RightBrain Networks David develops custom solutions for companies looking to architect or re-architect their software in the cloud. He focuses on data-driven applications, microservices, networking, security and scientific computing.

Outside of work, David is active in his local community. In addition to serving on neighborhood and community boards, David coaches science olympiad and participates in community theater. He is also a member of AWS Michigan.

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