With the influx of data in the 21st century, the demand for business professionals who can collect and analyse this data has increased manifold. According to a 2016 report by McKinsey and Company, the data doubles in volume every three years. There is a shortage of 1.5 million managers skilled enough to use this data to make sound business decisions. Knowledge of business analytics helps to turn data into actionable intelligence, thus making it quite crucial to the success of any organisation. Business Analysts use a range of statistical and quantitative methods, tools and predictive models to gain insights and make data-driven decisions.
Here is our list of top-ten picks for best online courses and specialization programs that will help you understand the fundamentals of business analytics and equip you with necessary knowhow about right tools and techniques. These will open the gateway of better opportunities for all learners. This list of Best Business Analytics Courses, Tutorials and Certifications available online includes both free and paid resources. While most of these can be taken up by complete beginners, a few are advanced level courses that require some prior knowledge.
1. Wharton’s Business Analytics Specialization (Coursera)
The Wharton School has designed this Business Analytics specialization for anyone interested in understanding how business decisions are made using big data. You’ll learn how data analysts describe, predict, and inform business decisions. This program aims to promote deep understanding of how big data and analytics are used in four key areas: marketing (customer analytics), human resources and talent management (people analytics), operations, and finance. This knowledge will help learners to create new data-driven business strategies, participate in conversations about analytics, transition to a new career path, or improve their own business.
This program comprises of 4 targeted courses – Customer Analytics, Operations Analytics, People Analytics, and Accounting Analytics and culminates with a Business Analytics Capstone project. This hands-on project requires learners to apply the business analysis skills learned to a real problem faced by tech giants like Yahoo, Google and Facebook. This capstone project is designed with Yahoo to provide invaluable experience to learners and reinforce their skills of making decisions based on data.
No prior knowledge or experience of business analytics is required for this program. Working knowledge of Microsoft Excel’s basic functions will be an advantage.
Key Highlights
- Achieve fluency in business data strategies
- Explain how data is used for recruiting and performance evaluation
- Model supply and demand for various business scenarios
- Develop an analytic mindset to help solve business problems with data-driven decision-making
- Learn the tools used to predict customer behaviour
- Several exercises and examples to enhance understanding of the topics
- Capstone project to apply skills to a real world data set
Duration : 20 weeks, 2 to 5 hours per week
Rating : 4.6
Sign up Here
2. Excel to MySQL: Analytic Techniques for Business Specialization by Duke University (Coursera)
This Specialization is offered by the most prestigious Duke University in partnership with Coursera. It is intended for anybody who is interested in data analysis and its applications in decision making. In this program, you will learn to use powerful tools and methods such as Excel, Tableau, and MySQL to analyze data, create forecasts and models, design visualizations, and communicate your insights.
It includes 4 industry relevant courses followed by a capstone project that requires learners to apply data analysis principles and recommend methods to improve profits of residential rental property company. This capstone project has been designed with help of Airbnb (Capstone’s official sponsor).
The course begins with introduction to best practices for using data analytics, identifying key metrics etc. It also covers data analysis techniques used by giants like Amazon, Airbnb and Uber and how these techniques help them in their respective industry. Then it dives into Excel, Tableau, and MySQL, followed by practices to translate and persuasively communicate insights into actionable recommendations for decision-makers. This course can be taken by beginners with no prior knowledge of business analytics.
Key Highlights
- Learn to recognize the most critical business metrics and distinguish them from regular data
- Understand how companies like Amazon, Uber and Airbnb use big data and data analytics to out-compete traditional companies in their industries
- Prepare to design and implement realistic predictive models based on data
- Learn effective data visualization with Tableau
- Understand how relational databases work
- Hands-on project to apply the techniques learnt to real world problem
Duration : 5 courses, 4-6 weeks each course, 3-5 hours each week
Rating : 4.7
Sign up Here
3. Advanced Business Analytics Specialization by University of Colorado (Coursera)
This Specialization is based on summer boot camp that is run as part of Masters of Business Analytics Program at the University Of Colorado Boulder Leeds School Of Business. The focus of this program is to teach real world business analytical skills so that you can leverage data to solve complex business problems. In addition to learning about how to think about business analytical problems, you will learn practical skills such how to extract and manipulate data using SQL code, how to execute statistical analysis for descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analysis, and how to discuss, interpret and predict analytical results.
There are five courses in this specialization –
1. Introduction to Data Analytics for Business
2. Predictive Modeling and Analytics
3. Business Analytics for Decision Making
4. Communicating Business Analytics Results
5. Advanced Business Analytics Capstone
This is an intermediate level course and requires some background in statistics. It is suggested that learners have a working knowledge of Excel and high-level understanding of programming instructions.
Key Highlights
- Understand the entire business analytics process, from data capturing, extraction, analysis, modeling, and presentation of findings
- Extract and manipulate data stored in large databases using SQL
- Identify and apply statistical models that are commonly used to implement descriptive analytics
- Learn to use Excel-based tools to construct models based on regression, simulation, and data mining
- Learn to use Excel-based tools to construct models pertaining to linear programming, integer programming, and simulation-optimization methods
- Capstone Project related to financial loans to help with the investment decisions of an investment company
Duration : 4-5 months, 3-5 hours per week
Rating : 4.6
Sign up Here
4. Data Analysis and Presentation Skills: the PwC Approach Specialization (Coursera)
This specialization by PWC is designed to provide you with practical training of data analysis, so you can understand data, apply data analytics tools and create effective business intelligence presentations. You’ll learn how to use Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and other common data analysis and communication tools.
This course has been designed for learners who are new to the field of data and analytics. So, no prior knowledge or background in business analytics and statistics is required. You will need PowerPivot and MS Excel to complete some of the exercises in the course.
There are five courses in this specialization:
1. Data-driven Decision Making – Here you will be introduced to big data, how it is used and a framework for conducting Data Analysis and tools and techniques that are commonly used
2. Problem Solving with Excel – Here you will learn the basic functions of excel through guided demonstration
3. Data Visualization with Advanced Excel – Here you’ll learn PowerPivot, Excel’s built in tools, how to visualize data, dynamic dashboards etc.
4. Effective Business Presentations with PowerPoint – Here you’ll learn to present your data in an engaging manner
5. Data Analysis and Presentation Skills: the PwC Approach Final Project – This will bring together all the new skills and insights you’ve learned through the four courses
Key Highlights
- Understand how to use the data and analytics framework to develop a plan to solve a business problem
- Learn to use PowerPivot to build databases and data models
- Learn to use Excel to analyze data using formulas and present a series of visualizations
- Create a dynamic data dashboard in Excel that accepts inputs and refreshes with new data
- Capstone Project to apply data analysis and presentation skills to solve a real-world client problem
- Learn best design principles for effective visuals and slides
- Iterative peer feedback to complete assignments and projects
Duration : 21 weeks, 3-4 hours per week
Rating : 4.6
Sign up Here
5. Business Analytics – Nanodegree Program (Udacity)
In this Business Analytics Nanodegree specialization, you will master foundational data skills that apply across several functions and industries. It mainly focuses on how to collect and analyze data, model business scenarios, and communicate your findings with SQL, Excel, and Tableau.
The curriculum has been developed in collaboration with Tableau and Mode, with the needs of the industry in mind. It is divided into following parts –
1. Welcome to the Program – Introduction & orientation to the program
2. Introduction to Data – Learn to use statistics and build models with Excel
3. SQL for Data Analysis – Learn to extract and analyse data using SQL
4. Data Visualization – Learn to build meaningful data visualizations and data dashboards
This is an introductory level program with no prior experience requirement. It is suitable for beginners in data analysis or anybody who wants to learn techniques to complete small scale data analysis and exploration. The main focus of the program is on projects where learners implement the techniques learnt and strengthen their skills.
Key Highlights
- Learn exploratory data analysis with small to mid-sized datasets
- Real-world projects and content created in partnership with top companies
- A very interactive learning environment provided by Udacity with great student community for support
- Individual 1-on-1 mentorship provided
- Taught by industry practitioners with curriculum developed by industry experts
- Projects reviewed by qualified instructors, instead of automated or peer reviews
- Personalized feedback, career coach & career services
Duration : 3 months, 10 hours per week
Rating : 4.6
Sign up Here
6. Business Analytics Fundamentals by Babson College (edX)
This Certification program on Business Analytics Fundamentals aims to provide principles and practical applications of business analytics. It imparts foundational and practical skills and knowledge to analyse and understand data, present your findings effectively and draw meaningful conclusions about data. It covers latest modelling techniques and advanced Excel functions.
The key areas covered in this course are Data Collection, Data Visualizations, Descriptive Statistics, Basic Probability, Statistical Inference, and Creating Linear Models. You will learn basic data types, sampling methods and surveys. Real-life data sets are used throughout the program with plenty of exercises and projects. The lessons are structured well and paced perfectly to make them easier to grasp.
This course provides a hands-on approach to anyone looking for better handle on business analytics. Since it’s an introductory level course, no prior background or skill set in business analysis is needed. Only working knowledge of Excel is suggested.
Key Highlights
- Learn to recognize, interpret, summarize data and offer valuable insights
- Learn descriptive statistics and basic probability concepts
- Cover Inferential statistics such as confidence intervals and hypothesis testing
- Learn to build basic Excel models for revenue, cost, and profit
- Understand how to apply fundamental analytics to common business decisions
- Option to pursue a verified certificate at a small fee
Duration : 4 weeks, 4-6 hours per week
Rating : 4.5
Sign up Here
7. Business Analytics for Data-Driven Decision Making by Boston University (edX)
The aim of this course is to help you make better business decisions using analytic methods. You will learn to reframe a business question as an analytics question, to decide what data you need and where to obtain it, and to prepare that data for analysis. You will practice how to create compelling data visualizations and learn about the tools to achieve that. You will also understand how to infer and present insights from the analysis. Thus this course teaches the complete end-to-end process of making effective data-driven and evidence-based decisions.
This course is a part of two MicroMasters programs – Digital Product Management and Digital Leadership. It is an advanced level course and lists elementary knowledge of statistics as a prerequisite for taking this course. It is designed for those who need to manage teams of business analysts and data scientists or wish to perform analysis of data themselves.
Key Highlights
- Hands-on introduction to the concepts, methods and processes of business analytics
- Exposure to concepts and practices of building predictive models using machine learning algorithms
- Learn how companies can use analytics as the basis for creating value
- Understand how to effectively interact with data analyst teams
- Learn to translate data analytics results into sound business strategies
- Several examples and demonstrations to explain complex analytical models
- Free access to course content, verified certificate can be added for a fee
Duration : 8 weeks, 3-6 hours per week
Rating : 4.6
Sign up Here
8. Statistics for Business Analytics and Data Science A-Z™ (Udemy)
Statistics is a skill that is very under rated in a business setting, but is highly important. The results of any data analysis should be statistically reliable, only then can sound decisions be taken on their basis. This course will help you master the core statistics knowledge for a career in data science. It is not a regular course on statistics but a very hands-on and practical training of stats from a business perspective. It includes real-world examples of business challenges to show you how you could apply this knowledge to boost your career. You will master topics such as distributions, the z-test, the Central Limit Theorem, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, statistical significance and many more.
This course is for anybody wanting to learn stats from ground up. It is very well suited for individuals who are working as data scientists or business analysts and need a refresher course on statistics. The instructor Kirill Eremenko is a very popular teacher on Udemy with a rating of 4.5 and has taught almost 900,000 students. He delivers the lessons in a fun way and tons of examples included make it easy to understand complex concepts.
Key Highlights
- Understand the practical approaches to solving business problems with large datasets
- Understand the difference between a normal distribution and a t-distribution
- Understand the Central Limit Theorem and its application
- Learn to use the Z-Score and Z-Tables, t-Score and t-Tables
- Understand and apply statistical significance
- Learn to apply Hypothesis Testing for Means and Proportions
- Create confidence intervals
- Understand the potential pitfalls of overusing p-Values
Duration : 7 hours on-demand video
Rating : 4.4
Sign up Here
9. Business Analytics MicroMasters Certification by Columbia University (edX)
This MicroMasters program in Business Analytics is a professional and academic credential offered by Columbia University on edX platform for online learners. It is a series of 4 graduate level courses that empower learners with the skills, insights and understanding to improve business performance using data, statistical and quantitative analysis, and explanatory and predictive modelling to help make actionable decisions.
The 4 Masters level courses cover the following topics – Analytics in Python; Data, Models and Decisions in Business Analytics; Demand and Supply Analytics; Marketing Analytics. All these courses include video lectures, quizzes, programming assignments, peer-reviewed assignments, and community discussion forums.
Learners need to complete all the 4 courses to earn MicroMasters program certificate from ColumbiaX. This certificate counts as 7.5 course credits towards any one of Columbia University’s following online or on-campus Masters programs – MS in Management Science & Engineering, MS in Operations Research, MS in Business Analytics and MS in Marketing Science.
Key Highlights
- Learn how to harness the power of analytics to make better business decisions and advance your career
- Apply methods, tools, and software for acquiring, managing/storing, and accessing structured and unstructured data
- Apply descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics to business modeling and decision-making
- Gain the ability to explain complex analytical models and results
Duration : 4 courses, 12 weeks per course, 8-10 hours per week per course
Rating : 4.5
Sign up Here
10. Strategic Business Analytics Specialization by Essec Business School (Coursera)
This Specialization is designed for students and professionals interested in practical applications of business analytics techniques and big data. It covers a wide variety of analytics approaches in different industry domains including media, communications, public service etc.
Learners who complete this specialization will be fully accomplished experts in big data management, with a robust understanding of how data can be used to leverage strategic value. They will be able to combine and manipulate data sets, and interpret them. The courses also prepare them to present their interpretations and value case to potential stakeholders successfully.
There are 4 courses in the program – (i) Foundations of strategic business analytics, (ii) Foundations of marketing analytics, (iii) Case studies in business analytics with Accenture and (iv) Capstone Project.
This is an advanced level program and requires a good statistical background. It is suggested that learners have knowledge of R programming language and analytics to complete the coursework. Some experience with SQL and machine learning will be useful too.
Key Highlights
- Hands-on case studies in real business contexts: examples include predicting and forecasting events, statistical customer segmentation, and calculating customer scores and lifetime value
- Understand text mining, social network analysis, sentiment analysis, real-time bidding, online campaign optimization etc.
- Earn a Specialization Certificate from one of the world’s leading business schools
- Capstone project to apply and test the skills acquired in the program
Duration : 16 weeks, 2-5 hours per week
Rating : 4.4
Sign up Here
