Business Analytics Learning Resources: 50 Top Resources for Getting the Most Out of Your Analytics

Companies are using business analytics (BA) to make data-driven decisions that help them to automate and optimize their business processes. Business analytics–which is defined as “the study of data through statistical and operations analysis, the formation of predictive models, application of optimization techniques, and the communication of these results to customers, business partners, and college executives”–requires quantitative methods and evidence-based data for business modeling and decision making. Companies that implement business analytics best practices gain a competitive advantage, as they are able to use the insights gained through BA to conduct data mining, complete statistical analysis and quantitative analysis to explain why certain results occur, test previous decisions using A/B and multivariate testing, and make use of predictive modeling and predictive analytics to forecast future results.

If your company is looking to implement business analytics and start on the path toward making proactive tactical decisions, you will find useful information, tips, and strategies in our business analytics learning resources. We’ve rounded up our top picks for business analytics resources from leading experts and thought leaders, to help you prepare for successful adoption and implementation of business analytics, or to help your organization use business analytics more effectively. From articles and white papers to slide decks and infographics, our business analytics learning resources contain the information and insight you need to determine your objective for using BA, define your criteria for success and failure, select your BA methodology, and validate models using your BA success and failure criteria.

Please note that while we have listed our top 50 business analytics learning resources here in no particular order, we have included a Table of Contents so that you can jump to the resources that are of most interest to you.

Jump to:

• Degree Programs, Certification Programs, Events, and Courses
• Articles and White Papers
• eBooks, Guides, and Journals
• Slide Decks
• Infographics
• Multimedia and Videos

Degree Programs, Certification Programs, Events, and Courses

1. Online MS in Business Analytics
@KelleySchool

The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University offers Online MS in Business Analytics, a degree program that will help students become Big Data specialists and gain a competitive advantage in all aspects of business. Kelley is one of the first top-ranked schools to offer an MS in business analytics, and the online degree is the same degree students who study on the IU campus receive.

Three key features we like about Online MS in Business Analytics:

• Opt to add an MBA for a dual degree and add general management to your portfolio in less time than it would take someone to earn both degrees alone
• Earn the Online MS in Business Analytics, a 30 credit-hour degree, in 15 months to five years
• Learn how to make business decisions based on analytic modeling, think strategically in management situations, unlock statistical information from any dataset, and develop analytical models to provide solutions in multiple areas

Cost: Contact for a quote

2. Business Analytics Certificate (Online)
@UMassBoston

UMass Boston, “a research university with a teaching soul,” offers its online Business Analytics Certificate for professionals who seek more knowledge in business concepts and technology, including business analytics and decision analysis. This online business analytics certification program consists of four courses that focus on “the transformative capabilities of BA and the technologies needed for implementation,” so that students may more successfully integrate BA into enterprise business processes.

Three key courses we like about Business Analytics Certificate (Online):

• Enterprise Business Intelligence
• Enterprise Data Warehousing for Business Intelligence
• Enterprise Data Mining and Predictive Analytics

Cost: $490/credit and $800/semester curriculum and service fee during the fall and spring semesters or $400/semester curriculum and service fee during the summer semester

3. Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics
@PSUWorldCampus

Penn State World Campus gives students the ability to take classes anytime, anywhere, and offers more than 125 accredited online degree programs, including the Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics. This nine-credit online business analytics certification program teachers students how to apply Big Data analytics and predictive analytics to meet their organization’s business objectives and leverage the information in order to gain a competitive advantage.

Three key we features like about Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics:

• Learn from the same faculty who teach in resident programs at the Penn State Smeal College of Business, an AACSB accredited and widely recognized program
• Covers the complete spectrum of analytics activities, including descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive
• Built-in option to continue your studies and apply the three courses to the Masters in Data Analytics – Business Analytics degree

Cost: $930/credit + information technology fee each semester

4. Certificate in Foundations in Business Analytics
@UMUC

University of Maryland University College (UMUC) serves more than 90,000 students in more than 23 countries around the globe. Their Certificate in Foundations in Business Analytics is a graduate certificate program designed to prepare students for a role as a business analyst and decision maker. Coursework for this business analytics certification program includes 12 total semester hours that focus on managing data analytics projects, uncovering actionable data insights, creating data visualizations, and driving business decisions.

Three key topics we like from Certificate in Foundations in Business Analytics:

• Decision management systems
• Data management and visualization
• Using business analytics to make data-driven decisions

Cost: Contact for a quote

5. Chief Analytics Officer Forum, West Coast
@CAO_Forum
May 25-27
San Francisco, CA

The Chief Analytics Officer Forum (CAO Forum) is a business analytics event provided by Corundum Intelligence for the global analytics community. The CAO Forum is offered at various times throughout the year around the globe, and the West Coast event is slated to feature more than 100 CAOs and VP-level analytics executives who will hear from analytics experts sharing their strategies for transforming business through analytics. CAO Forum West Coast also includes an Analytics Leadership Pre-Conference Focus Day, deep-dive interactive Masterclass sessions, and other learning opportunities.

Cost to Attend:

• Main Conference: $1,295 before March 18
• Main Conference + Pre-Conference Focus Day: $1,995 before March 18
• Main Conference + 1 Masterclass: $1,795 before March 18
• Main Conference + Pre-Conference Focus Day + 1 Masterclass: $2,495 before March 18

6. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania on Coursera
Business Analytics Specialization
@coursera
@Wharton

Coursera provides universal access to the world’s best education, including the Business Analytics Specialization offered by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. This four-course Specialization requires no prior experience with business analytics, as it provides an introduction to Big Data analytics for all business professionals. Students will learn how data analysts describe, predict, and inform business decisions in specific areas of business and develop basic data literacy and an analytic mindset for making data-driven decisions in the future. This business analytics learning rescue from Wharton includes a Capstone Project that students will complete by applying the skills they’ve learned throughout the courses.

Three key courses we like from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s Business Analytics Specialization on Coursera:

• Customer Analytics
• Operations Analytics
• Accounting Analytics

Cost: $535

7. Foundations of Business Analytics: Prescriptive Analytics
@lynda

Lynda helps professionals learn the skills they need to achieve their full potential, and their Foundations of Business Analytics: Prescriptive Analytics is a course that does just that for business professionals. Led by Alan Simon, a leading business intelligence and analytics, data warehousing, and enterprise-scale information management authority, this business analytics course is two hours and 40 minutes in length and covers the entire analytics lifecycle and workflow to describe how organizations can turn their Big Data investments into valuable actionable insights.

Three key topics we like from Foundations of Business Analytics: Prescriptive Analytics:

• Prescriptive analytics fundamentals and workflow
• Data warehousing and business intelligence
• Big Data

Cost: FREE

8. Business Analytics
@TAOS_events
@udemy

“The world’s largest destination for online courses,” Udemy offers Business Analytics, an introductory-level course designed to help students learn the application and techniques involved in BA. Business Analytics features 6.5 hours of video content and 69 lectures from The Art of Service to introduce students “to the skills, technologies, applications, and practices for continuous iterative exploration and investigation of past business performance to gain insight and drive business planning.” This business analytics course requires a basic understanding of IT.

Three key topics we like from Business Analytics:

• The insights gained from data and statistical methods
• Descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics
• Business analytics vs business intelligence

Cost: $149

9. Learn R for Business Analytics from Basics!
@Analytics17
@udemy

A business analytics course that helps learners apply their basic BA skills to the R-platform, Learn R for Business Analytics from Basics! is a newly launched Udemy course for beginners from Analytics17. Spend 1.5 hours over the weekend learning how to use R as a business analytics tool and then put your knowledge to the test to develop a losses prediction model in R from scratch.

Three key topics we like from Learn R for Business Analytics from Basics!:

• Loading important packages in R
• Doing plots in R to understand data distribution
• Running correlation and regression in R and analyzing model results

Cost: $149

10. Straight from Business School: Data + Analytics
@Classrack
@udemy

Straight from Business School: Data + Analytics is a business analytics course that offers to help students learn how to manage and analyze Big Data for making better predictions and decisions for business success. A beginner level course from Classrack, Straight from Business School: Data + Analytics focuses on the strategies and methods needed for analyzing large sets of data in order to gain a competitive advantage.

Three key topics we like from Straight from Business School: Data + Analytics:

• Using Big Data to strengthen your organization
• Processing and analyzing data to make accurate predictions and better decisions
• Regression and decision analysis

Cost: $49

11. Data Science A-Z: Real-Life Data Science Exercises Included
@kirill_eremenko
@udemy

Kirill Eremenko is a data science management consultant who instructs Udemy’s Data Science A-Z: Real-Life Data Science Exercises Included. This business analytics course is appropriate for all skill levels and includes 207 lectures over 20.5 hours of content. From data science and data analysis, to data mining and modeling, Data Science A-Z: Real-Life Data Science Exercises Included delivers a full overview of the data science journey in a hands-on and practical way.

Three key topics we like from Data Science A-Z: Real-Life Data Science Exercises Included:

• Cleaning and preparing data for analysis
• Performing basic visualization of your data
• Modeling and curve-fitting your data

Cost: $299

12. “Complete Hands-On Business Analytics” Online Course
@AnalyticsQueen

Piyanka Jain, CEO of Aryng.com, works to build organizations’ capabilities for leveraging data for smarter decisions. Their business analytics course, “Complete Hands-On Business Analytics,” offers complete analytics training for business professionals. Students will gain the ability to make new interpretations and evaluations of business performance based on data using statistical techniques as a result of this business analytics course from Aryng.

Three key topics we like from “Complete Hands-On Business Analytics” Online Course:

• Structured approaches to explaining analytics to stakeholders
• Using data and gaining actionable insights to make better decisions
• Conducting aggregate analysis, correlation analysis, trend analysis, and sizing analysis

Cost:

• Level 1: $499
• Level 2: $799
• Level 1 + Level 2: $1,099

Articles and White Papers

13. Business Analytics (BA)
@BizAnalyticsTT

SearchBusinessAnalytics, TechTarget’s resource for business intelligence and analytics professionals, offers Business Analytics (BA), an informative article that provides a thorough overview of business analytics, including examples of BA and an in-depth comparison between business analytics and business intelligence.

Three key facts we like from Business Analytics (BA):

• Successful business analytics is dependent upon data quality, skilled analysts, and an organizational commitment to data-driven decision making
• Analytics tools range from spreadsheets to complex data mining and predictive modeling applications
• Business analytics supports tactical decision making in response to unforeseen events

Cost: FREE

14. Business Analytics vs Business Intelligence?
@timoelliott

Timo Elliott, innovation evangelist for SAP, explores the differences between business analytics and business intelligence in this business analytics article. Elliott points out that there are key differences between the two, but the problem is that it is common for “business intelligence” to be used when people mean to refer to business analytics.

Three key points we like from Business Analytics vs Business Intelligence?:

• Some enterprises use business analytics as an all-encompassing term for data warehousing, business intelligence, enterprise information management, enterprise performance management, analytic applications, and governance, risk, and compliance
• Most business professionals agree that business analytics includes statistical and predictive analytics
• The technology involved in business intelligence changes rapidly, leading some people to refer to newer tools and techniques as business analytics and more dated tools and techniques as business intelligence

Cost: FREE

15. Significance of Business Analysis

A learning resource that is well suited for those who are new to business analytics, Significance of Business Analysis is an article that explains the role of business analytics in the enterprise space and the ways in which BA benefits companies. The article serves as an introduction to business analytics and is a good starting point for business professionals who are just beginning to learn about BA.

Three key points we like from Significance of Business Analysis:

• Business analytics is important for companies because it helps them to keep up with and survive change
• Business analytics is critical for maintaining competitiveness
• Effective business analytics give organizations the ability to ensure precise information is shared and understood by everyone on project teams

Cost: FREE

16. Business Intelligence vs. Business Analytics: What’s the Difference?
@Better_Buys

Better Buys offers content and resources to help organizations make smarter software purchasing decisions. Their business analytics article, Business Intelligence vs. Business Analytics: What’s the Difference?, shares seven industry experts’ opinions on the difference between the two business processes.

Three key points we like from Business Intelligence vs. Business Analytics: What’s the Difference?:

• “Business analytics relates to the exploration of historical data from many source systems through statistical analysis, quantitative analysis, data mining, predictive modeling and other technologies and techniques to identify trends and understand the information that can drive business change and support sustained successful business practices.” ~ Pat Roche, VP of engineering, Noetix Products, Magnitude Software
• “More recently, the trend in analytics has been instead to provide the people who have questions about their data with the tools to get their own answers. It’s now about letting business people become analysts themselves.” ~ Francois Ajenstat, senior director, product management, Tableau
• “BI used to refer to platform capabilities to access data, manage megawatt, development tools for reports, dashboards, and applications, and publishing, scheduling and distribution capabilities. Analytics referred to either methods of analyzing information (i.e., descriptive, predictive, regression, neural networks, etc.) or the tools to perform those methods. Thus, analytics is a subset of the broader platform capabilities.” ~ Dr. Rado Kotorov, Information Builders CIO

Cost: FREE

17. Challenges and Benefits of Business Analytics in Midsized Companies
@FYI_Solutions

FYI Solutions is an IT consultancy that delivers better results through closer relationships with clients and consultants. They share their insights into business analytics, based on a recent survey of IT managers in midsize companies, in their article, Challenges and Benefits of Business Analytics in Midsized Companies.

Three key points we like from Challenges and Benefits of Business Analytics in Midsized Companies:

• Business analytics and business intelligence no longer are just for large companies and enterprises, as customer and market volatility and rapidly growing volume and variety of data have made BA and BI critical to the success of midsize organizations
• Business analytics delivers faster time-to-insight, improved operations, the ability to take advantage of new revenue-generating opportunities, and better customer service, making midsize companies much more willing to adopt BA
• Midsize businesses are most interested in business analytics because they are looking for help in understanding their data in order to stop trends, note changes by comparing current and past records, and visualizing the rise and decline in demand for products and services

Cost: FREE

18. Business Analytics Make for Smarter Decisions
@ComputerWeekly

A leading UK IT publication, ComputerWeekly shares this extract on business analytics from Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results by Thomas Davenport, Jeanne Harris, and Robert Morison. Business Analytics Make for Smarter Decisions is a business analytics article that highlights the benefits of becoming more analytical and explains why even organizations that use business analytics most successfully need to target their analytical efforts “where they will do the most good.”

Three key points we like from Business Analytics Make for Smarter Decisions:

• Companies that utilize business analytics successfully broaden their targets and become more strategic over time
• Good business analytics targets focus “on generating insight rather than merely information and is both ambitious and approachable”
• When selecting target opportunities, organizations should take a purposeful approach

Cost: FREE

19. The 4 Key Benefits of Business Analytics
@SavvyCopywriter

Digital marketing specialist Kimberly Crossland shares her business analytics insights in The 4 Key Benefits of Business Analytics. This BA article explores the ways in which “building a culture based on business analytics helps companies stay agile.” Crossland also explains why analytics has become key to making business decisions.

Three key points we like from The 4 Key Benefits of Business Analytics:

• With business analytics, companies are in a better position to quantify their fundamental values
• Business analytics enables companies to make smarter decisions in a shorter period of time
• Business analytics is at the core of the data visualization that is critical to helping decision makers make faster, better decisions

Cost: FREE

20. 5 Benefits of Using Business Analytics
@Datamensional

Datamensional creates business intelligence solutions that deliver the actionable information decision makers need. Their business analytics article, 5 Benefits of Using Business Analytics, highlights five ways in which companies gain an advantage from using business analytics, including measuring progress toward accomplishing mission statements and encouraging intelligent decision making.

Three key points we like from 5 Benefits of Using Business Analytics:

• Business analytics provides more information to employees, helping them to become more productive
• Business analytics delivers data and actionable insights across the organization, enabling collaboration for better business decision making
• With business analytics, companies are in a better position to keep up with rapid industry changes

Cost: FREE

21. Four Key Challenges for Business Analytics
@Capgemini

Capgemini helps organizations improve their performance with a focus on a people-centered approach to technology and the expertise that fits their needs. Four Key Challenges for Business Analytics is their business analytics article that highlights four common challenges in business analytics that all organizations should consider.

Three key points we like from Four Key Challenges for Business Analytics:

• Clearly determine the benefits that will be gained from applying business analytics, in order to gain buy-in
• Business analytics success depends on quality data
• Adopting business analytics requires a coherent, dedicated approach and quality data

Cost: FREE

22. The Six Biggest Challenges Facing Big Data and Analytics
@BlueHillBoston

Blue Hill Research is a leading provider of holistic, value-driven technology research. They share six challenges that Big Data and business analytics face in their article, The Six Biggest Challenges Facing Big Data and Analytics. The article prompts organizations to consider their insights and prepare for addressing business analytics challenges in the future.

Three key points we like from The Six Biggest Challenges Facing Big Data and Analytics:

• Big Data is much more effective when it offers a personalized view
• Social ROI should be measured using financial metrics, in order to make legitimate business cases
• Organizations need to keep pace with managing data quality and integration as analytics capabilities speed up

Cost: FREE

23. Challenges in Business Analytics
@DataAnalytic

Carol Hargreaves is head of business analytics practice at the Institute of Systems Science at the National University of Singapore. She shares the challenges with making sense of the massive amounts of data in her brief business analytics article, Challenges in Business Analytics.

Three key points we like from Challenges in Business Analytics:

• Business analytics is necessary for detecting patters in data and presenting them in a simple way
• Business professionals are not statisticians, so they need the proper business analytics tools for extracting meaning and insights from Big Data
• Organizations that are leading in business analytics store data for mobile distribution

Cost: FREE

24. Predictive Analytics 101
@LiquidHub

A senior business technology leader boasting nearly 20 years experience specializing in digital transformation, customer experience, and solutions management, Ravi Kalakota shares his in-depth business analytics article, Predictive Analytics 101, on the Business Analytics 3.0 Blog. This business analytics article covers analytical insights, predictive modeling, transaction profiling, decision analytics, and much more.

Three key points we like from Predictive Analytics 101:

• Predictive analytics hinges on insight
• It’s not enough for organizations to have data; they need to use the data properly in order to gain analytical insights to change customer expectations and corporate strategy
• A combination of business intelligence and business analytics allows organizations to understand what is taking place and anticipate what is about to take place, so they can make better business decisions

Cost: FREE

25. 3 Steps to Identify the Analytics Training You Need
@AnalyticsQueen
@ForbesTech

Forbes contributor and Aryng CEO, Piyanka Jain writes about driving impact using data and analytics. In this business analytics article, Jain explores how business professionals should go about identifying the analytics training they need in order to succeed in analytics. She suggests that anyone looking to get into business analytics first take an analytics aptitude assessment test because it is not likely that you will enjoy working with data if you don’t have the aptitude for it.

Three key points we like from 3 Steps to Identify the Analytics Training You Need:

• It is important for business professionals to honestly determine what they want to do, because there is a vast difference between being an analyst/data scientist and being a business professional who wants to leverage analytics in day-to-day work
• True data analysts need specific analytical skills, including SQL skills, hands-on experience with basic statistical techniques, and the ability to work with stakeholders through effective communication
• Business professionals who want to leverage analytics should understand the Data to Decisions framework, have hands-on experience with business analytics, be able to work effectively with data scientists and analysts, and have a high level of understanding of predictive analytics

Cost: FREE

26. Predictive Analytics: The Rise and Value of Predictive Analytics in Enterprise Decision Making
@CGI_Global

A global information technology and business service provider, CGI shares its business analytics white paper, Predictive Analytics: The Rise and Value of Predictive Analytics in Enterprise Decision Making. The white paper explains that predictive analytics has quickly become a “competitive weapon with a rapidly expanding range of uses” because it produces value for organizations in several ways.

Three key points we like from Predictive Analytics: The Rise and Value of Predictive Analytics in Enterprise Decision Making:

• Predictive models generate better decisions, greater consistency, and lower costs
• Predictive models are generating value for organizations in marketing, customer retention, pricing optimization, and fraud prevention
• Both government and industry organizations gain more insights from their data and make better decisions because of predictive analytics, which gives them a stronger competitive advantage

Cost: FREE

eBooks, Guides, and Journals

27. A Practitioner’s Guide to Business Analytics: Using Data Tools to Improve Your Organization’s Decision Making and Strategy
@BartlettRandy
@MHBusiness

McGraw-Hill publishes content for professionals in finance, marketing, six sigma, quality, and management. One of their business analytics eBooks is A Practitioner’s Guide to Business Analytics: Using Data Tools to Improve Your Organization’s Decision Making and Strategy, written by information professional Randy Bartlett. The eBook offers strategies for leveraging analytics inside a business, in a how-to format.

Three key tips we like from A Practitioner’s Guide to Business Analytics: Using Data Tools to Improve Your Organization’s Decision Making and Strategy:

• How to assess your company’s analytics needs and capabilities for developing a strategic analytics plan
• Using the three pillars of Best Statistical Practice and accurately measuring the quality of analytics-based decisions and data analyses
• Building and organizing a specialized Business Analytics Team to lead infrastructure changes

Cost: $53.55

28. Business Analytics: A Practitioner’s Guide
@SpringerLink

SpringerLink, a leading provider of scientific, technical, and medical information, offers Business Analytics: A Practitioner’s Guide. This business analytics eBook offers a guide to implementing business analytics in any firm and in any field. Rahul Saxena, director for smart global delivery transformation and operations at Cisco Advanced Services, and Anand Srinivasan, founder and CEO of Dsquare Solutions, authored Business Analytics: A Practitioner’s Guide, to help businesses understand how to use analytics to drive from ideas to execution.

Three key topics we like from Business Analytics: A Practitioner’s Guide:

• Using analytics for full lifecycle support for business
• Best practices for business analytics and how to scale analytics while developing analytics teams
• Leveraging analytics for competitive advantage

Cost: $69.99

29. Understanding Business Analytics
@tomsitpro
@SMFulton3

Tom’s IT Pro centers on real-world business computing and technology. Their business analytics guide, Understanding Business Analytics, is written by Ingenus principal and senior partner Scott M. Fulton. The guide is a comprehensive guide that introduces business analytics to readers and offers business analytics insights from industry leaders.

Three key points we like from Understanding Business Analytics:

• Business intelligence and business analytics are different; BA assembles the data gathered through BI so that people can analyze it
• The goal of adopting business analytics is to see aggregated data and charts to determine the patterns or trends in your business performance
• It is possible to get BA insights in real time, if the data that reveals those trends are collected in real time

Cost: FREE

30. The Short Executive Guide to Business Analytics
@butleranalytics

Butler Analytics was founded by Martin Butler, who also founded Butler Group. Butler Analytics focuses on decision management and automation technologies, methods, and strategies, which includes business intelligence and predictive analytics. Their business analytics guide, The Short Executive Guide to Business Analytics, explores how BA technologies provide organizations with the means to answer questions about businesses that they may not have even known to ask.

Three key points we like from The Short Executive Guide to Business Analytics:

• Data visualizations utilize a variety of chart types, which combine to form dashboards
• Data visualizations are preferred because they offer instant insights
• Business intelligence and predictive analytics tell businesses the “what,” but prescriptive analytics tell the “how”

Cost: FREE

31. Decision Analytics
@SpringerLink

Decision Analytics is an online journal. Open access articles are available for reading through SpringerLink and SpringerOpen. This pier-reviewed journal offers business analytics articles covering computer technology, operations research, statistics, decision making, problem solving, and more. The journal provides a publication for theoretical, empirical, and analytical research, plus real-world applications and case studies of business analytics.

Three key articles we like from Decision Analytics:

• A Joint Renewal Process Used to Model Event Based Data
• Localized Twitter Opinion Mining Using Sentiment Analysis
• A Novel Cost-Sensitive Framework for Customer Churn Predictive Modeling

Cost: FREE

Slide Decks

32. Big Data & Business Analytics: InfoSec and Privacy Considerations When Managing an Implementation Project
@LPMN_ca
@CarlosChalicoT

The Leadership in Project Management Network (LPMN) is a non-profit organization of project managers for sharing ideas, skills, and experiences and providing mentoring, coaching, counseling, and networking opportunities. Their business analytics slide deck, Big Data & Business Analytics: InfoSec and Privacy Considerations When Managing an Implementation Project, is presented by IT specialist Carlos Chalico and covers the basics of business analytics, how to implement a Big Data-business analytics project, and the InfoSec and privacy considerations.

Three key points we like from Big Data & Business Analytics: InfoSec and Privacy Considerations When Managing an Implementation Project:

• Analytics involves the simultaneous application of statistics, computer programming, and operations research
• The best way to communicate insight from business analytics is through data visualization
• Enterprise analytics requires ongoing analysis, with data warehouses, corporate reporting, dashboards, etc., and special studies such as hypothesis testing

Cost: FREE

33. Day 1 – Analytics to Solve Your Business Problems
@Vishal_BI

Day 1 – Analytics to Solve Your Business Problems is a business analytics slide deck by Vishal Pawer, business intelligence solution architect. The slide deck examines implementing a business analytics solution in 12 steps and covers the importance of BA, developing a BA framework and components, improving the maturity level of business analytics, and more.

Three key points we like from Day 1 – Analytics to Solve Your Business Problems:

• Business analytics helps organizations to gain a broader and deeper insight and understanding into past business performance
• Organizations typically use business analytics to determine which factors can influence a better outcome for business by determine a trend or pattern in the data
• Business analytics results in more consistent data, more consistent extraction, the ability to pinpoint problems and opportunities by drilling down the data, and sound business decisions that are based on the analytics

Cost: FREE

34. Analytics in Business
@nikovuokku

Chief of data at Sharper Shape, Niko Vuokko shares the material from his lecture on analytics and Big Data in his business analytics slide deck, Analytics in Business. The slide deck focuses on a few central messages, including the fact that the purpose of analytics is to solve business problems and Big Data requires unique analytics that do not apply to smaller datasets.

Three key points we like from Analytics in Business:

• Business analytics applies to every industry and every department
• Big Data is crucial for the most valuable analytics
• The success of business analytics depends on the quality of the data and the skills of those business professionals who control it

Cost: FREE

35. The Analytics COE: Positioning Your Analytics Program for Success
@kirankg

Global IT executive Kiran Garimella examines how organizations can position their analytics program for success in his business analytics slide deck, The Analytics COE: Positioning Your Analytics Program for Success. The slide deck shares Garimella’s presentation from the Loras College Business Analytics Symposium and explores the analytics center of excellence (CoE).

Three key points we like from The Analytics COE: Positioning Your Analytics Program for Success:

• Business analytics programs are not just limited to the application of data science and Big Data technology to data
• Decision makers want business analytics to help them make better decisions faster while minimizing risk
• Business analytics tools are necessary for gaining accurate insights because people make cognitive errors when dealing with statistics

Cost: FREE

36. A Case for Business Analytics Learning
@MarkTabNet

Senior data scientist for Predictix, Dr. Mark Tabladillo delivered a presentation on the need for a learning organization at the PASS Business Analytics Virtual Chapter. This business analytics slide deck presents three learning areas for business analytics professionals and evaluates the necessity of establishing group learning options and learning and sharing opportunities for business analytics pros, especially as business intelligence and business analytics boom in nearly every industry.

Three key points we like from A Case for Business Analytics Learning:

• Business analytics differs from business intelligence because it uses continuous iterative exploration and investigation for insight on past performance and to guide future planning, versus the consistent metrics for measurement that are used in business intelligence
• Business analytics requires statistical and quantitative analysis and exploratory and predictive modeling
• Business analytics requires business analytics professional to turn trends into actionable insights

Cost: FREE

37. Analytics Trends 2015: A Below-the-Surface Look
@DeloitteBA

Deloitte is known for having top business analytics specialists who use insight-driven methods and tools to help organizations apply insights at the right time and then connect insights to optimize value. Their slide deck, available on SlideShare, takes a deep look at the business analytics trends from 2015, as detailed in their Analytics Trends Report.

Three key points we like from Analytics Trends 2015: A Below-the-Surface Look:

• Business analytics is becoming engrained in businesses so that it is at the heart of business decision making around the globe
• Analytics has become a critical component in data security
• Business analytics has had to adapt to include the Internet of Things, because of the sheer amount of data being generated

Cost: FREE

38. Modern Analytics in Business
@MCanalytics

Michele Chambers, CMO and VP of products at Continuum Analytics, presented on business analytics at the Crunch Conference in Budapest and shared the content from that presentation in the form of this slide deck. Modern Analytics in Business takes a detailed look at the role of business analytics in organizations today.

Three key points we like from Modern Analytics in Business:

• Analytics boosts business strategies and leads to a competitive advantage
• Organizations that utilize business analytics most successfully cover all of BA, including descriptive analytics, simulation, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics
• Business analytics offers a world of possibilities to businesses, from ensuring they hire the right people, to determining competitors’ likely next moves

Cost: FREE

Infographics

39. Benefits of a Business Intelligence and Analytics Strategy
@SAP

SAP is a leader in enterprise application software. Their business analytics infographic, Benefits of a Business Intelligence and Analytics Strategy, outlines the ways in which business intelligence and business analytics benefit businesses that use them strategically.

Three key facts we like from Benefits of a Business Intelligence and Analytics Strategy:

• Having a business intelligence and business analytics strategy gives employees the right information at the right time and empowers them with insights so they can anticipate change and discover new opportunities
• The majority of companies do not have a strategic business intelligence and analytics plan for delivering a successful program
• High performing companies are 50% more likely to use analytic information strategically

Cost: FREE

40. Analytics and Big Data are Changing the World
@Oracle

Oracle helps organizations by offering integrated cloud applications and platform services for every role in the enterprise. Analytics and Big Data are Changing the World, Oracle’s business analytics infographic, visualizes the ways in which business analytics and Big Data are impacting businesses and the world by delivering the insights that are needed to identify problems and create solutions.

Three key facts we like from Analytics and Big Data are Changing the World:

• Top performing businesses are three times more likely to use analytics than low performers
• 53% of organizations use analytics to drive strategy, while 50% use analytics to transform daily operations
• Organizations using analytics get at least $10.66 for every $1 they spend on analytics

Cost: FREE

41. Infographic: Business Analytics v. Data Science
@Dataversity

Dataversity is an online trade journal that provides education and resources in data management via webinars, seminars, and conferences. Their infographic, Business Analytics v. Data Science, compares the roles of business analyst and data scientist, since Big Data has become king.

Three key facts we like from Business Analytics v. Data Science:

• Business analysts focus on determining the best analytical models and approaches to present and explain solutions to business users
• Business analysts and data scientists are experts in using data to inform decisions, but they do not apply their skills in the same way
• The majority of business analysts work in finance and insurance, while the majority of data scientists work for the federal government

Cost: FREE

42. Business-Driven Business Intelligence and Analytics
@TDWI

TDWI offers in-depth education and research on all things data. Their business analytics infographic, Business-Driven Business Intelligence and Analytics, visualizes the data from TDWI’s business intelligence and analytics best practices report in order to help organizations understand that BI and BA now are business driven, thanks in large part to the creation of easier-to-use technologies.

Three key facts we like from Business-Driven Business Intelligence and Analytics:

• Business analysts most often identify the necessities of BI and BA applications
• 59% of BI, analytics, and data warehouse management professionals choose the technology or BI and analytics applications
• 61% of respondents point to the CFO and finance management professionals as being responsible for allocating the budget for BI and BA projects

Cost: FREE

43. The Evolution of Business Analytics
@ninjametrics

Ninja Metrics is an advanced predictive analytics company and inventor of Social Value, a measurement of influencers. They offer The Evolution of Business Analytics, a business analytics infographic that details the history and evolution of business analytics and clearly demonstrates the importance of business analytics to humans throughout history.

Three key facts we like from The Evolution of Business Analytics:

• The digital age of the 1970s saw the rise of software engineering, which helped to spark the first iteration of analytics with decision support systems
• Companies started to analyze data as data warehouses started popping up in the 1980s
• The future of business analytics will be real-time, predictive, and behavior analytics that allows organizations to analyze customer and company data as it is generated

Cost: FREE

44. Infographic: Rewiring How Companies Use Analytics
@EY_Analytics

EY Analytics is in the business of helping organizations incorporate analytics and insights into all that they do, in order to transform operating models and completely change the way they do business. Their business analytics infographic, Rewiring How Companies Use Analytics, stays true to their mission, as it explains how organizations need to change the way they think about and approach business analytics.

Three key points we like from Infographic: Rewiring How Companies Use Analytics:

• Organizations need to make business analytics be about the business, rather than about the data
• Companies implementing business analytics need to begin by identifying which business decisions they want to make more efficiently and effectively instead of beginning with the objective of getting value from their data
• Organizations should follow four steps when approaching business analytics: identify the business decisions you need your data to support, determine which data is most relevant, focus on what will drive immediate value, and act and measure

Cost: FREE

45. TDWI Infographic: Predictive Analytics for Business Advantage
@alertyx
@TDWI

Alertyx, a leader in self-service data analytics, sponsored a recent TDWI report that shows predictive analytics greatly impacts the data and analytics landscape within organizations. Their business analytics infographic visualizes the data types and use cases that benefit from the boom in predictive analytics usage.

Three key facts we like from TDWI Infographic: Predictive Analytics for Business Advantage:

• Organizations plan to include more than structured data in their predictive analyses in the next three years, including text, geospatial, and social media
• 72% of those who currently use or are planning to use predictive analytics have some sort of Big Data effort under way
• The majority of respondents believe that knowledge of business and critical thinking are key skills for predictive analytics, meaning that they don’t believe you need to have a degree in statistics to perform predictive analytics

Cost: FREE

Multimedia and Videos

46. Business Data Analytics Tools: Benefits, Challenges and Advice
@BizAnalyticsTT

Business Data Analytics Tools: Benefits, Challenges and Advice is a business analytics multimedia resource that offers an overview of the benefits companies enjoy when using data analytics software. This business analytics resource also details the common challenges that are involved in deploying analytics tools. Veteran analyst David Menninger shares his expertise in a 14-minute interview that is embedded into this business analytics article.

Three key topics we like from Business Data Analytics Tools: Benefits, Challenges and Advice:

• Using predictive analytics software, data mining tools, and other business data analytics technologies to create more informed decision making
• Considering some major business data analytics uses and applications for your own organization
• Building business cases for investing in data analytics

Cost: FREE

47. Making Data Analytics Work: Three Key Challenges
@McKinsey

McKinsey & Company has been a trusted advisor to the world’s leading businesses, governments, and institutions for 90 years. Their multimedia business analytics resource is an article with three embedded videos featuring data and analytics experts discussing three key challenges that pose roadblocks to organizations looking to adopt business analytics practices.

Three key points we like from Making Data Analytics Work: Three Key Challenges:

• Organizations that want to use business analytics in order to make better business decisions, be more productive, and improve at making predictions must begin by shaping a plan
• Be prepared for the complicated nature of mapping out an analytics plan
• Crafting a business analytics plan is difficult, but a good one draws together data, analytics, frontline tools, and people in order to create business value

Cost: FREE

48. Advanced Analytics and Business Intelligence
@Halo_BI
@TeamCain_Guerin

Halo delivers supply chain intelligence solutions to hundreds of enterprise customers and service provider partners. Their business analytics video features Ray Major, president of iQ for Business, and Michael Guerin, TeamCain president.

Three key points we like from Advanced Analytics and Business Intelligence:

• It is possible to extend the value of business intelligence through advanced analytics
• There are several analytics available through BI: descriptive statistics, regression analysis, cluster analysis, and simulation modeling
• There remains a divide between having the ability to understand the data being able to visualize data

Cost: FREE

49. Introduction to Big Data Analytics: A Webinar
@WizIQ

An easy to use, mobile-ready elearning platform, WizIQ delivers self-paced courses or live classes. Wiz IQ also offers this video on Big Data analytics and business analytics, which is a recorded webinar that provides a comprehensive introduction to Big Data analytics and the insight they offer.

Three key topics we like from Introduction to Big Data Analytics: A Webinar:

• Big Data-related challenges in developing analytics
• Machine learning and model development
• Tools and technology for Big Data analytics

Cost: FREE

50. Big Business; Unlocking Value from Big Data with Analytics
@StanfordBiz

Stanford Graduate School of Business is well known for its business research and insights. Their business analytics video, Big Business: Unlocking Value from Big Data with Analytics, features executives and data scientists from Baidu, LinkedIn, and Foursquare. The video is a recording of the panel discussion that took place at the fourth annual China 2.0 conference, which was hosted by the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Three key topics we like from Big Business: Unlocking Value from Big Data with Analytics:

• Generating value from Big Data
• The importance of business leaders developing a vision of how Big Data will be used in their organization
• The pitfalls and challenges of adopting Big Data and business analytics

Cost: FREE