Career in Business Analytics

Introduction -

"Data" is the single-most crucial asset for every organization. The volume of data so collected from different sources is simply huge. However the information technology has brought about a sea change in storing and handling this data and process it in just blink of an eye. "Business Analytics" is the name given to the process of mining this data and use the right set of statistical and quantitative functions or tools to analyze it. Business analytics refers to the investigations and analysis of past business performances in order to gain insights and devise business plans for the growth of the business.

Origin of Business Analytics -

Since the science of business analytics is closely related to the statistics, we may assume, it always existed as a branch of arithmetic. However, with advent of information technology and sophisticated database management systems, it was reintroduced in the form of "Business Intelligence" in early 90s. "Business Intelligence" involves collecting data, researching and summarizing it, to derive meaningful information in order to make business decisions. The advancement of this science by using mathematical models and simulations, given different conditions and changes, was the next step which came to be called "analytics".

Business Analytics encompasses the effective usage of quantitative tools, techniques and personnel in order to reduce cost, gain market share, improve production; in all it is a sophisticated and structured method adopted by organizations to make more profit.

Utility -

Business analytics can be applied to all key areas of a business including financial management, customer relationship management, consumer behavior, supply chain, marketing etc. In the industry, it may be used as an input for human decisions or may drive fully automated decisions. It can answer key questions like why is this happening, what if these trends continue, what will happen next (predict), what is the best that can happen (optimize), etc. Before the advancement of the sophisticated science of business analytics, one would have to rely on intuition to answer these questions and some more like what markets to pursue, how to project price offering, or how to identify where operations can be made more efficient in response to cost and environmental or other constraints.

In finance, we see people look at past and present performance of stocks to decide on how and where to invest. In telecom, companies are trying to find out consumers' usage patterns during a particular time of the day to decide the most attractive tariff plans. In retail, the knowledge is used to study the purchase patterns among various income groups to be able to launch some attractive and profitable schemes.

There has been a lot of offshoring from developed countries like European and US to India.

Career Scope -

It is believed that the field is still at the nascent stage in corporations dwelling in developing countries but of late large corporates have begun to establish their in-house analytics teams and some who have not done it so far, have started realizing the need. As of now, there may be over 5000 professionals in India. With the scope for providing business analytics services to huge MNCs at the best possible performance to cost ratio, the scope for a professional in this field is simple phenomenal. Depending on the field of choice and nature of analysis, a business analyst may claim anywhere between Rs. 300,000 to 1,000,000 per annum.

Eligibility Criteria -

A degree in statistics and mathematics followed by an MBA is an ideal qualification for aspiring business analysts. There are no separate programs for offering studies in this branch. however most MBA syllabi contain this as one of the mandatory subjects. So a list of reputed institutes that have  embedded business analytics in their curriculum are -

• IIM (Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kozikode, Trichy)
• Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai,
• Narsee Monji Institute of Management, Mumbai
• International Institute of Business Analysis, USA
• International Institute of Learning, USA.

Required Skills / Profile -

• Good analytical and logical mindset (mandatory)
• High level of quantitative and statistical knowledge (mandatory)
• Knowledge of software like SAS, VBA, SPSS and  proficiency in programming and database systems (desirable)
• Excellent mathematical foundation (mandatory) 
• Exposure to business domains like finance, telecom, retail, banking, insurance etc. (desirable)