There’s no questioning that data analytics is the field of the future. Modern computing and technology have given us the ability to collect, process, and utilize vast amounts of data at speeds that would have been unthinkable even just a decade ago. Data analytics has the potential to change the way that business is done, no matter what industry you are looking at. Hence, it comes as no surprise that a career in data analytics can be quite lucrative. If you are passionate about numbers and looking to build your career as a data analyst, then read on to get answers to all your questions about this field, including how long is the data analyst course to how much it costs, and everything in between!
Table of Contents
What is Data Analytics?
Why should I learn about Data Analytics?
Data Analytics Courses
The Future of Data Analytics
Data Analytics FAQs
Conclusion
What is Data Analytics?
Data analytics is all about studying data in order to draw meaningful conclusions and insights. Those conclusions and insights are meant to help you optimize the business or system in question. For example, a lot of businesses use data analytics to gain an understanding of their customer’s preferences and then use this information to tailor marketing campaigns accordingly.
Manufacturing-oriented businesses, on the other hand, may use data analytics to identify production bottlenecks that must be eliminated.
Below are just a few real-life examples of how data analytics helped businesses improve their operations:
1. Netflix is the world’s largest streaming platform with over 221 million subscribers globally. Netflix analyses a variety of customer viewing data such as what genres they watch, whether they are watching series or movies, what keywords they search on the app’s search feature, etc.
Through analyzing this data and applying AI and machine learning, Netflix is able to suggest new movies and shows to their viewers that they are likely to click on and enjoy watching. They also use data analytics to inform their decisions on what type of content they should produce or host on the platform.
Based on data that indicates what type of content is getting the most views on the platform, Netflix uses a projection model to make decisions on what kind of shows or movies will be worth investing in.
2. Spotify is one of the largest music streaming platforms in the world. Much like Netflix, Spotify analyses historical listening data to provide suitable music recommendations that its customers will enjoy. Additionally, Spotify uses convolutional neural networks (CNN) to analyze audio data such as the musical key of a song, its loudness, its beat, and much more.
This allows it to identify what genre of music the song belongs to, for instance, whether it falls into the category of jazz, rock, ballad, etc. Spotify then uses this information to improve its music recommendations as well as to create genre-based playlists.
3. Tesco is a well-known UK grocery chain that has used data analytics to effectively encourage customers to spend more money in their stores. In 1995, Tesco launched its ‘Clubcard’ loyalty program. When people signed up for this program, they would get to earn points for every purchase and Tesco would then record details about each transaction.
The data they collected allowed Tesco to learn that the majority of their revenue was coming from a small group of loyal customers. They were also able to identify more casual, infrequent customers. Tesco then used these insights to create custom vouchers that would help retain loyal customers and encourage casual customers to make more frequent purchases.
Eventually, Tesco expanded its data collection process and began to collect more detailed customer data such as customer product preferences, purchase frequency, etc. Tesco’s emphasis on using data analysis to inform their purchase incentives is one of the factors that helped them grow into the biggest supermarket chain in the UK.
Why Should I Learn About Data Analytics?
No matter what field you may be working in, it is worth having a solid understanding of data analytics since any business can use data analytics to improve itself in some way. If you want to achieve a senior decision-maker position in your career, then a working knowledge of data analytics will definitely help you as it will allow you to make better, more informed decisions.
Indeed, the market for data analytics is only growing and is expected to be worth about USD 346.33 billion by 2030. Some major companies that rely heavily on data analytics include Amazon, Tesla, Google, Nintendo, Apple, and many more. Clearly, having data analytics as part of your skill set will make you much more attractive to hiring managers in any industry.
Another reason why you should consider studying data analytics is that it will help boost your critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Any area of your life, be it business or personal, will at some point require you to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Hence, the benefits of learning data analytics will spill over into multiple areas of your life.
For instance, you can use data analytics techniques to go over your personal spending budget and identify certain patterns or behaviors that you might not have noticed before. This may help you eliminate unnecessary spending and optimize the way you organize your budget.
If you are a complete beginner with no prior experience in data analytics, you need not worry as there are plenty of data analytics courses that are geared toward those with no previous knowledge.
In the next section of this article, we will explore some of the options that are out there and discuss key considerations when choosing your course, how much the does it costs, how long the course is, and much more.
Data Analyst Courses
A simple Google search will show you that there are hundreds if not thousands of data analytics courses available for you to choose from. If you’re wondering how long it takes to complete the analyst course, the answer will depend on which type, of course, you choose as well as which institution you select.
Overall, how long is the data analyst course vary greatly? You should not make your final decision simply based on how long is the data analyst course. Instead, you should be looking at a variety of other factors such as whether the course requires prior knowledge, whether the class schedule aligns with your free time, the credibility of the institute offering the course, etc.
You can also read:
Below is a Detailed List of the Top 5 Online Data Analytics Courses That You Can Do From the Comfort of Your Own Home.
For each course, we will cover the following elements: how long is the data analyst course, the price, the curriculum, the prior knowledge requirements, the schedule, and flexibility.
1. Wharton’s Business Analytics: From Data to Insights Course
The Wharton School of Business is one of the world’s most renowned institutions for business studies. It is a part of the University of Pennsylvania which is a prestigious Ivy League university that is ranked as the 13th best university in the world. Some notable alumni who attended Wharton include Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and CEO of Johnson & Johnson Alex Gorsky just to name a few.
Wharton’s business analytics course is targeted toward senior decision-makers who would like to learn how to use data analytics to improve the function of the business that they oversee in their company. Hence, this course is suitable for people with at least a few years of corporate experience who are in leadership roles.
The content will be taught using a combination of live and recorded video lectures. There will be plenty of real-world examples given to boost your understanding. One of the modules will consist of a simulation model to help you get a feel of how to use data analytics in a business setting to make the right decision.
The program will span a duration of 9 weeks and will require roughly 6-8 hours of your time per week. The cost is $2750, and the modules covered include descriptive analytics, prescriptive analytics, predictive analytics, and how to apply the insights from these different types of analytics to business decision scenarios.
2. Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate:
Google is known for providing a variety of high-quality, completely free online courses. Google’s Analytics Professional Certificate is a great option if you want to gain a solid understanding of the data analytics field without spending any money. As for how long is the data analyst course, this will be totally up to you as it is a fully self-paced course.
This course will teach you a variety of practical skills including how to organize and clean data to make it ready for analysis, how to visualize and present your findings using dashboards, how to frame questions that will allow you to make data-backed decisions, etc.
Some of the tools you will learn how to apply to include Excel spreadsheets, SQL, and R-programming. This course is suitable for complete beginners, so if you are a young professional with minimal experience, this course would be a great option.
3. CareerFoundry’s Data Analytics Program
CareerFoundry is offering a Data Analytics Program that promises to take you from a complete beginner to someone who is ready to enter a career in the field of data analytics. This course is the perfect choice if you are aiming to attain a full-time data analyst role at a company.
In fact, CareerFoundry promises that you will get your money back if you do not find a job as a data analyst within 180 days of graduating from your course. In this comprehensive course, you will get to interact one-on-one with a teacher who will also serve as your mentor.
This mentor will help you understand what the day-to-day tasks of a full-time data analyst will look like, and will also provide you with customer feedback. This course will also give you access to job preparation materials and career coaching from experts.
In terms of the curriculum, CareerFoundry’s course covers all sorts of practical skills that you would use in your day-to-day job as a data analyst, including data visualization, data cleaning, statistical analysis, predictive analysis, and much more. There will also be a hands-on data analysis project that you will get to add to your portfolio or resume.
As for how long is the data analyst course, this is a completely self-paced course. However, according to CareerFoundry’s estimate, you can complete the course in 5 months if you put in 30-40 hours per week, or 8 months if you put in 15-20 hours per week.
It is worth noting that CareerFoundry’s alumni have gone on to secure jobs at major companies such as Google, Apple, PayPal, Mercedes-Benz, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Visa, Booking.com, Bank of America, Netflix, BBC Worldwide, Credit Suisse amongst others.
A few other best courses you should check:
- Online Data Analytics Courses
- Data Analytics Courses in Mumbai
- Data Analytics Courses in Delhi
- Data Analytics Courses in Chandigarh
- Data Analytics Courses in Jaipur
4. IBM Data Analytics Basics for Everyone
If you are looking to further understand the career options and career paths that are available in the field of data analytics, then this course by IBM is perfect for you. This course will go into detail about the various data analytics-related positions that companies hire for, and will also teach you what learning paths you must take in order to achieve these positions
You will be given an overview of the common tasks performed by a working data analyst on a day-to-day basis, and will also be introduced to some of the commonly used software tools in data analysis. At the end of this course, you will be asked to complete some exercises and take a practical lab test that will determine your basic understanding of some of the common data analytics tasks like data mining, data gathering, and data visualization.
How long the course will depend on you, as this is a self-paced course. However, according to Edx which is the platform providing this course, it will take you about 5 weeks to complete if you put in 2-3 hours per week.
IBM has always been a major player in the field of data and data analytics. They are considered by many to be one of the best data analytics companies in the world, so taking a course created by IBM themselves will definitely give you a great and credible insight into the vast world of data analytics.
5. Udemy’s Statistics & Mathematics for Data Science & Data Analytics
This course by Udemy is a great option for those who are looking to begin a career as a data analyst. It costs $84.99 and will teach you all about the mathematical technique behind data analytics. You do not need to have any prior experience to participate in this course.
Some of the topics that will be covered include hypothesis testing, descriptive statistics, probability theory, regressions, methods used by machine learning systems such as Decision Forests and Decision Trees, etc. All of this material will allow you to understand the core concepts of statistics and probability, which are key to the field of data analysis.
If you are wondering how long is the data analyst training, the answer depends on you once again as this is also a self-paced course. From the above list, it is clear that there is no singular answer to questions such as ‘what is the price of a data analyst course’ or ‘how long is the data analyst course’.
This can vary greatly from course to course, so what is most important is for you to choose the course that best suits your learning needs and available resources.
The Future of Data Analytics
As technology is constantly evolving and improving, so is the field of data analytics. This means that more and more jobs will open up in the field of data analytics, and more and more businesses will prioritize data analytics as a key tool to inform their decision-making process.
One of the newer trends in data analytics is automated decision-making. Some industries are using machine learning and AI to automate certain decisions to speed up their operations. For instance, in manufacturing industries, intelligent systems can use data analytics techniques to detect whether a certain part is damaged.
When it detects damage in a part that prevents it from being functional, it can then reroute the assembly line somewhere else until the part is fixed or replaced entirely. Many people fear that this automation and the constant improvement of data-related technologies may put the jobs of actual data analysts at risk.
At the end of the day, data analysts will always be necessary since, unlike machines, humans can understand that context plays a huge role in business decisions. Humans have the ability to view data and decisions through the lens of contextual factors such as customer relationship dynamics, external economic factors, societal trends, organizational culture, and much more.
According to Yellowfin CEO Glen Rabie, the emergence of AI and automation is actually rather advantageous to the average data analyst. This is because these technologies will take over some of the mundane, time-consuming tasks that data analysts must regularly perform such as data cleaning and report creation.
This leaves them with more time to spend actually interpreting and analyzing the data to identify critical trends and patterns that may be of value to decision-makers. This means that data analysts will have to become more business-savvy and take the initiative to understand the basics of the industry and the market in which they operate.
All of this means that data analysts will become increasingly valued members of the decision-making teams where they work. So if you are an aspiring data analyst, you do not need to worry about technology replacing you in the coming years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below is a quick summary of some popular FAQs regarding data analytics:
1. What is data analytics?
It is the process of analyzing and interpreting raw data to make conclusions that can be used to improve the workings of a certain system or organization.
2. How much can I earn as a data analyst?
The average salary of a data analyst ranges between ₹ 1.8 Lakhs to ₹ 11.5 Lakhs.
3. How long is the data analyst course?
There is no singular answer to the question. As discussed earlier in the article, courses can vary from just a few weeks to a year or more.
Conclusion
It is clear that data analytics is a skill that is beneficial to any professional in any industry. This is because data analytics can provide key insights that can help an organization to make better business decisions. Additionally, it is possible to build a successful and lucrative career as a dedicated data analyst. Data analytics is already an incredibly huge field, and its role in modern business is only growing bigger and stronger. Therefore, you should definitely sign up for a course in data analytics and learn as much as you possibly can about this field – it will add immense value to your resume and help you to effectively set yourself apart from your colleagues.
