Building a robust career with business analytics

The fourth Industrial Revolution brought on by Big Data and emerging technologies has transformed the way businesses function. Organisations now thrive by using the insights gained from the vast consumer data. In today’s data-driven world, business analytics plays a crucial role in achieving business goals by turning user data into useful insights and developing strategies to make smarter business decisions. Companies worldwide are investing in analytics resources and applications to leverage their power in gaining business profitability. As per the NewVantage Partners’ survey, the number of companies investing more than $50 million in data and AI rose to 64.8 per cent in 2020.

Amidst the pandemic, business analytics has helped organisations understand consumers’ changing mindset and develop new strategies to overcome the pandemic’s effects. A report by Sisense states that 55 per cent of organisations have begun to use data and analytics to boost performance during the pandemic, while the rest 45 per cent to forecast future outcomes.

It all comes to business analytics professionals to derive insights from enormous data and guide the businesses towards success. As the companies continue to strategise to reduce the impact of Covid-19, they’re also continuously looking for proficient business analysts to join their teams and bring the business back on track. Today, there are more than 13,500-plus open business analytics jobs on LinkedIn.

This domain offers one of the lucrative career paths for any data enthusiast to fast-track their career growth. Reportedly, a business analyst with one to four years of experience earns ₹5 to ₹8 lakh annually, while a mid-career professional earns ₹8 to ₹10 lakh annually. Not only does a career in business analytics provide handsome compensation but it also opens opportunities for professionals to grow into C-suite roles. Like many others, Derek Steer, CEO at Mode Analytics, started his career as a business analyst.

What are the skills required to build a career in business analytics? A business analyst should have proficiency in the statistical series SAS & R, be familiar with SQL & Hive, have testing frame awareness and must know how to work with BI tools like Qlik, Tableau, and others. They also need to possess eminent interpersonal and soft skills to facilitate meetings with stakeholders, create outstanding presentations describing the insights gained from the vast amount of data. Efficient soft skills equip them to collaborate with various teams and carry out productive work. These are the fundamental skill sets required to become a proficient business analytics professional.

Now, how to build a career in business analytics? To give their business analytics careers a kick-start, learners can choose to upskill their skill sets with the help of online certification courses. They can take help from some good online courses with hands-on learning experiences on essential tools and techniques like data extraction and manipulation, SQL, Python, R, Tableau.

Let’s take a look at the core responsibilities of a business analytics professional.

Understanding business requirements

One of their core responsibilities is collaborating with consumers to understand their requirements and develop strategies for business profitability. The fundamental skill required for this task is the ability to interpret the various data on customers’ expectations in a coherent and singular vision.

Strategy analysis

They are required to analyse and develop strategies to ensure efficiency in business operations in order to achieve profitability. They need to identify new trends, risks, and opportunities and ensure that the business is performing efficiently according to its strategic road-map.

Decision making and problem solving

One of the paramount responsibilities of a business analyst is decision making and problem-solving. They have various tools and techniques at their disposal for decision-making to help them make data-smart business decisions. Thus aid in problem-solving and improving performance.

After pursuing a business analytics certification, learners can build a career in analytics and leadership-related job roles in various sectors such as banking & finance, healthcare, e-commerce, to name a few.

Many freshers and mid-level professionals have transformed their careers by upskilling in business analytics through IIM Indore’s integrated programme in business analytics. Ritoshuvro Banerjee, a former Senior Business Analyst at Evergent Inc, shares his upskilling journey’s experience. “Working in the IT industry for more than 6-plus years, I realised that there is a significant demand for customer-centric products and services. Business analytics has helped me develop the skills required to build customer-focused products. I can now create applications, processes, reports, dashboards, and more, keeping the end-user perspective in mind and consequently enhance the customers’ satisfaction and experience,” he says.

In collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, Jigsaw Academy offers aIntegrated Programme In Business Analytics, which is a robust programme. The curriculum of this ten-month online programme, with Bring Your Own Project (BYOP) for hands-on learning experience, is exclusively tailored to help mid-senior professionals transition into executive roles.