A Quest For Data-Driven Solutions: Business Analytics

A Quest For Data-Driven Solutions: Business Analytics Holding extreme value, especially in Silicon Valley, Business Analytics is used by top companies worldwide. Related to the fields of Data Science and Big Data, Business Analytics uses data to help businesses and ventures grow and solve business problems.

Through this short learnpath, you will be able to navigate your way through the skills needed to enter, and grow, within the realm of Data Science. It will give you a brief overview of the field, its important and the relevant skills you need. For more details, view our extensive learnpath link given at the end.

Introduction to Business Analytics Business Analytics is the derivation of meaningful information from large amounts of data using quantitative methods. It helps in making business decisions based on data insights.

As more companies want to derive solutions backed by data and analytics, the demand for individuals who are skilled at extracting essential insights from large datasets increases exponentially. Hence, it is a relevant skill to have not just today but for the future as well.

Prerequisites and Learning Paths A Bachelor’s degree is typically required. Although it can be in any field, disciplines such as Business, Commerce, Economics, and Computer Science are preferred. Further, you could also opt for a professional qualification like a Master’s degree or a PhD from institutes like IIBA and BCS since they offer foundation certifications in Business Analytics.

If you already have a Bachelor’s degree in any quant-intensive course, you can kickstart your Business Analytics journey. However, if the degree is in any other discipline, we would recommend strengthening your mathematical skills.

We would suggest going for an online course or a series of online classes to learn skills relevant to the field, since the advantages of the same outweigh the disadvantages. When it comes to Business Analytics, the majority of the work you will do will be on a desktop or laptop.

Hence, an online course is more convenient, cheaper, and less time-consuming and equips you with the same skills an offline course will.

Skills required 1. Soft skills :

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Communication skills: When dealing with data, it is important to turn the data into actionable information that can be useful to any organization. Hence, it is recommended that you work on your language and communication skills so that no data is lost in translation.

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Commercial awareness: As a Business Analyst who works predominantly with various companies, it is essential to have domain knowledge.

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Analytical skills: To help organizations find data-driven solutions and develop models, it is crucial to know how to critically analyze and review information to get the most out of it.

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Time management and Organizational skills: As business analysts work within deadlines and may have to work on two or more projects simultaneously, they need to know how to manage their time well.

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Problem-solving skills: As a business analyst, it is your job to help address and resolve problems plaguing organizations and businesses by providing them with data-driven solutions.

2. Basic technical skills

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Math and Statistics: Developing base knowledge of the statistical concepts used in Data science can be of great benefit. Some important topics have been listed in the infographic above.

We have shortlisted the following courses that can help you learn these topics: ○ Statistics for Data Science Course: Provider: Henry Harvin, Price: ₹6,750 ($93), Duration: 8 Hours, Level: Intermediate Level ○

Statistics Essentials for Analytics: Provider: Edureka, Price: ₹5,999 ($82), Duration: Self-Paced, Level: Intermediate Level

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SQL: As business analytics requires the ability to deal with large data sets, knowledge of SQL and Relational Databases is a must. Some elements you should learn are listed in the infographic above.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following courses:

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SQL Essentials Training & Certification: Provider: Edureka, Price: ₹7,999 ($110), Duration: Self-Paced, Level: Beginner Level

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SQL Developer Course: Provider: Henry Harvin, Price: ₹6,750 ($93), Duration: 16 Hours, Level: Intermediate Level

Excel: It is software you must be familiar with. However, learning advanced Excel tools can be of great help when it comes to furthering a future in the Business Analytics field.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following course: ○

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Advanced MS EXCEL 2016 Certification Training: Provider: Edureka, Price: ₹8,475 ($116), Duration: Self-Paced, Level: Advanced Level

Tableau: It is a visual analytics platform that is transforming the way in which we use data to solve problems. It is an essential tool in the field of Business Analytics.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following course: ○

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Tableau Certification Training: Provider: Edureka, Price: ₹21,995 ($302), Duration: 36 hours, Level: Intermediate Level

Project Management: This involves planning and organizing a company’s resources to fulfill a specific task. The role of a business analyst is crucial in this process as they help deliver results.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following course: ○

Product Management Course: Provider: Henry Harvin, Price: ₹20,250 ($278), Duration: 16 hours, Level: Intermediate Level

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PowerBI: Well-known as a Business Intelligence solution, it is used to visualize and extract data. It helps bring all the data together so that you can view your company’s information assets in a comprehensive way.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following courses: ○

Microsoft Power BI Training: Provider: Edureka, Price: ₹17,795 ($244), Duration: 27 hours, Level: Intermediate Level

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Microsoft Power BI Online: Provider: Simpliv LLC, Price: ₹11,393 ($156), Duration: 1.2 hours, Level: Beginner Level

3. Advanced technical skills

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Programming: The two most popular and useful programming languages currently are R and Python. As programming is a large part of a Business Analyst’s job, knowing either or both languages is essential.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following course: ○

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R programming for Data Science: Provider: Henry Harvin, Price: ₹13,500 ($185), Duration: 8 hours, Level: Intermediate Level

Predictive Modelling: Predictive modelling studies patterns to help predict or forecast future events with the help of Python or R programming languages. It helps the Analyst make business decisions and predictions.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following courses:

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Business Analytics Nanodegree Program: Provider: Udacity, Price: ₹47,967 ($658), Duration: 3 Months, Level: Beginner Level

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Predictive Analytics for Business: Provider: Udacity, Price: ₹58,257 ($800), Duration: 3 Months, Level: Advanced Level

Unsupervised Learning: It is the ‘data-driven’ type of Machine Learning, holding the advantage of being able to work with unlabelled data. It allows large quantity of data to be operated on quickly.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following courses: ○

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Unsupervised Machine Learning: Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹4,271 ($57), Duration: 3 Months, Level: Intermediate Level

Optimization: Optimization provides numerical proof and substantiates any proposed business solution. It can help in the field of business by providing cost-effective and cost-minimizing solutions.

Here is a course for you to learn optimization: ○

Advanced Business Analytics Specialization: Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹7,667 ($102), Duration: 3 Months, Level: Intermediate level

Conclusion While this learnpath briefly covers all the relevant skills, if you wish to go into details and learn more about each technical skill at the basic or expert level, alongside recommended courses to make your learning easier, you must explore our comprehensive learnpath.It will guide you through all the topics and tools you need to learn within each skill as well, helping you hone that skill.

Further, it serves as a tool to learn in-depth about what business analytics is, its importance and what the job role entails. Explore our extensive Business Analytics learn path and start your learning journey today!

We, at Careervira, offer comprehensive learnpaths on a plethora of topics and domains to help you advance your career. You can explore them through our Learn Path page.

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