The importance of continued business analytics education

The growing business analytics role

There's no denying that sound decision-making is the foundation for business success. It's also commonly understood that making the right decisions can be challenging. Today's business environment is fast-paced, fiercely competitive and unforgiving. One wrong decision can leave a lasting negative impact on a business and its reputation.

Business executives and professionals are always trying to improve their decision-making abilities. So, it's not surprising to learn more companies are investing in advanced business analytics and intelligence solutions.

Devin Partida

Business analytics is a set of disciplines and technology businesses use to solve complex problems. A business analytics solution uses data analysis processes, statistical models and other quantitative methods to guide business owners.

Many data-driven solutions are available today to help businesses and their executives improve their decision-making processes. Gone are the days where CEOs rely solely on their intuition to navigate through common pain points.

Executives and even lower-ranking employees can benefit from business analytics solutions, gaining greater insight into how the business operates. By 2030, the global business analytics market is on track to hit $684.12 billion, according to a 2021 Allied Market Research report.

Main benefits of business analytics skills

Professionals across virtually every industry agree that continued education is an important element of professional development, regardless of where they are on their career journey. Some professions even require employees to engage in post-secondary education, training programs or career development courses.

The same goes for businesspeople and business analytics. Professionals, especially those in leadership roles, should consider learning business analytics skills for the following benefits.

Every business professional should understand that implementing some strategies requires trial and error. Not every business strategy proves successful.

Experiment with new strategies to predict outcomes

The business world moves fast, so leaders need to formulate new strategies and accurately forecast the potential outcomes of those strategies. Every business professional should understand that implementing some strategies requires trial and error.

Not every business strategy proves successful. However, executives can use business analytics to determine the efficacy of any potential approach and make a more informed decision moving forward.

Discover connections between actions and results

Learning business analytics skills can also help professionals improve their ability to find correlations between actions and results. Managers need to be able to analyze their decisions, compare them against their forecasts and effects, and determine the next best step.

Build team trust

Companies relying on hard data to make decisions often cite increases in employee morale, improvements in collaboration efforts and benefits from a positive work environment.

For example, consider a leader in an organization makes decisions and backs them up with measurable data. The executive may use data visualization techniques to support their decision. In this case, the rest of the organization's employees can have confidence in their decision-making abilities. Building trust between employees is an integral part of doing business.

Improve job marketability

A business professional with experience in business analytics also has the upper hand in the job market. Business analysts are in high demand, meaning that any professional with strong analytics knowledge seems more attractive to a potential employer.

Resources and online courses

If someone wants to learn more about business analytics but doesn't know where to start, consider looking into these online resources and training courses.

1. Coursera

Coursera offers tons of continuing education courses for professionals in all industries. Google, University of Pennsylvania and University of Colorado Boulder are some organizations offering courses in business analytics on Coursera.

2. IIBA

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) has various professional resources on its website, offers business analytics courses and even has opportunities for professionals to earn certifications in business analytics.

3. Udemy

Udemy is another well-known organization that can support continuing education in business analytics. One benefit of Udemy is that it has courses for different levels of knowledge. Whether someone knows a ton about business analytics or little, there's a course on Udemy suited for everyone.

4. PMI

Lastly, the Project Management Institute (PMI) is a highly regarded organization many businesses are familiar with. Any company that hires a project manager requires business analytics as a core competency. Any professional can still benefit from PMI's business analytics program even if they're not a project manager.

Business analytics is becoming increasingly important in today's modern business environment. To stand out from other qualified candidates in the job market, consider fine-tuning a business analytics skill set.

The analytics field is expected to grow rapidly during the next few years, so now is the time to take the opportunity to expand knowledge in the field and further develop career opportunities.