Organizations worldwide understand the power of business analytics to help them achieve their goals. In a recent International Institute of Business Analysis survey of business professionals across more than 170 countries, 81% reported that their organizations had formally recognized the role of business analytics in their operations.
With businesses recognizing the important contributions that analytics can make, now’s a great time for individuals to acquire analytics expertise and pursue a rewarding career. Anyone considering enrolling in a degree program in business analytics can benefit from exploring whether business analytics is a good major and gaining an understanding of what business analytics entails.
What Is Business Analytics?
Business analytics is a process that helps organizations draw important insights from data in areas such as assessing performance, forecasting future outcomes, or pinpointing key trends. These insights can aid businesses in making strategic decisions or identifying opportunities for improvement.
The list of real-world applications of business analytics is extensive. For example, businesses can use analytics to:
- Forecast demand for their products
- Identify and respond to market trends
- Strengthen cash flows
- Refine budgets
- Identify the most efficient inventory levels
- Predict potential issues in supply chains and create contingency plans
Types of Business Analytics
Professionals who work in business analytics can approach their work in different ways. For example, they can perform:
- Descriptive analytics to obtain an overall understanding of events that have occurred and assess performance
- Diagnostic analytics to explain why events happened
- Predictive analytics to predict events that are likely to occur using historical data and machine learning
- Prescriptive analytics to produce guidance on the best actions to take in the future using diagnostic, predictive, and descriptive analytics
Business Analytics Processes
Business analytics is a good major for individuals who enjoy using various tools and methodologies to analyze data and share the results in easy-to-understand formats. For example, business analytics professionals rely on:
- Data aggregation methodologies to gather data and organize it for analysis
- Data mining methodologies to comb through data to reveal trends or patterns
- Predictive modeling methodologies to identify future trends based on data analysis
- Data visualization methodologies to better illustrate the meaning of data to decision-makers
What Does a Business Analytics Degree Program Entail?
Majoring in business analytics is a good career move for individuals who want to get a comprehensive education in the field and apply their knowledge and skills in the business world.
The overall goals of business analytics degree programs include the following:
- Educating students about the data analytics life cycle: gathering data, preparing data, exploring data, building data models, and visualizing data
- Training students on how to use various business analytics tools and techniques
- Preparing students to use their expertise to offer organizations compelling insights that can inform business strategy and support organizations as they pursue their goals
Courses in a Business Analytics Degree Program
Degree programs in business analytics offer students foundational courses in subjects such as:
- Probability and statistics for data analytics
- Data visualization and communication
- Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning
Foundational courses establish a solid knowledge base that serves students well as they go on to explore subjects such as:
- AI applications in business
- Time series analysis and optimization for business decision-making
- Marketing analytics
In addition, majoring in business analytics is advantageous because students can often enroll in elective courses that align with their interests. For example, they can take electives that focus on:
- Financial technology (fintech) and blockchain for finance
- Global supply chain management
- Health informatics and AI
Students in degree programs in business analytics also have the opportunity to:
- Complete capstone courses in which they use their analytics expertise to solve a problem and present their findings and recommendations
- Participate in internships in which they apply their analytics expertise in real-world settings and write a report that summarizes their experiences
In completing their coursework, students also acquire key skills using programming languages and tools such as Python, Structured Query Language (SQL), Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Tableau.
What Makes Business Analytics a Good Major?
The advantages of majoring in business analytics make getting a degree in the field an attractive option. Below are just some reasons business analytics is a good major.
Employment Prospects and Salaries Are Attractive
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
- Positions for data scientists, who glean insights from data, will grow 34% through 2034. That growth rate is significantly higher than the 3% projected across all occupations through 2034.
- Data scientists earned a median annual salary of $112,590 as of May 2024.
Business Analytics Professionals Can Work in Various Positions
Equipped with analytics expertise, individuals can enter a wide range of business analytics careers. For example, they can work as:
- Business intelligence analysts, who analyze data and develop reports or dashboards that help business leaders make good decisions
- Financial analysts, who harness the power of data analytics to perform responsibilities such as financial modeling, financial forecasting, financial risk assessment, and investment evaluations
- Sales analysts, who focus on analyzing sales data to identify the best sales strategies, sales growth opportunities, and market trends
- Business process optimization specialists, who use business analytics to strengthen business processes, reduce bottlenecks, and improve workflows
Organizations in a Wide Range of Industries Employ Business Analytics Professionals
Professionals in business analytics aren’t limited to working in a single industry. For example, they can work for organizations in:
- Healthcare
- Finance
- Supply chain and logistics
- Retail
- Information technology
- Manufacturing
- Insurance
- Scientific research
- Consulting
Business Analytics Is a Good Major for Individuals Seeking Careers in a Growing Field
If you’re looking for a career that allows you to use your expertise in new and insightful ways, majoring in business analytics can be a good option. Each day, professionals in business analytics extract the meaning hidden within data that helps businesses operate at their peak and reach their goals.
Individuals who are interested in acquiring knowledge and skills in business analytics can explore Bryant University’s Master of Science in Business Analytics degree program to learn how it can help them realize their career ambitions.
Bryant also offers the following degree programs:
Preparing students to leverage the power of data to propel businesses forward, each of these programs can set the stage for career advancement. Start on the path toward accomplishing your career goals today.