Business Analytics Training Cost

Looking to learn business analytics? If so, the tools, programs, and applications you’ll need are available for different prices, depending on which you select. Microsoft Office Business Basic subscriptions start at $6/user/month, SQL is offered for free for non-production purposes, and Tableau Public is free to download. Beyond this, something you’ll want to consider is the cost of business analytics training. Self-paced tutorials and video content are available online for free or minimal cost, bootcamps and other structured courses typically cost several hundred dollars, and certificate study is available for several thousand dollars. Read on to find out more about how much you can expect to spend on learning business analytics.

What is Business Analytics?

Business Analytics is a group of technologies and disciplines, such as quantitative methods, statistical models, and data analysis, which are used to solve business problems. It relies on iteratively and methodologically exploring an organization’s data using statistical analysis techniques to make better, data-driven decisions. This involves a practical application of statistical analysis geared toward uncovering actionable recommendations.

Many companies view their data as a business asset and continue to explore ways to use it for a competitive advantage. To be successful with business analytics, an organization must have good quality data, as well as Business Analysts who not only understands the business but also the technologies needed to transform its data into insights. Business Analysts seek to draw concrete conclusions about a company by finding answers to questions such as why certain events happened, what is expected to occur in the future, and what actions can be done in the present.

Most business analytics tasks are descriptive, predictive, or prescriptive. Descriptive analytics involves analyzing historical data to discover how an organization could respond to specific variables. Predictive analytics examines historical data to predict the likelihood of specific future outcomes. Prescriptive analytics is a combination of descriptive and predictive analyses; it involves formulating a process with which users can anticipate what is expected to happen, when it will occur, and why it will transpire. Business Analysts rely on tools and skills such as data mining, association and sequence identification, text mining, data aggregation, forecasting, optimization, and data visualization to gather and present these data-driven insights.

Read more about what business analytics is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Business Analytics?

Business analytics is one of the most versatile skill sets you can bring to the professional arena. All businesses, from small startups to multinational companies, seek those with a background in business analytics who can work with data to solve complicated problems, devise useful business strategies, and clearly communicate with stakeholders. Most Business Analysts have a background working with technology and programming languages like C++ and Java, as well as various databases and testing methods. These individuals typically possess technical and business skills, making them high-demand among recruiters and employers. 

Business Analysts are typically good problem solvers. They can analyze problems and apply critical thinking to propose innovative solutions that consider variables such as market trends. These individuals also tend to have an analytical mindset, which allows them to apply statistical models to analyze large datasets. Their analytic skills help Business Analysts perform tasks like understanding consumer buying decisions and behaviors and using this information to formulate a marketing strategy.

Business Analysts are usually expert communicators. They can clearly communicate their data findings and present these insights to different teams on both the business and technical sides. This often requires adapting their communication style to best reach different audiences. These individuals also possess time-management skills to balance multiple project deadlines and perform under pressure.

In-Depth Review of the Training Cost

If you’re interested in studying business analytics, many options are available for different prices, durations, and formats. The following paragraphs provide a brief summary of the various ways you can study business analytics.

The most expensive way to receive business analytics training is at a college or university. These programs typically take four years for students to earn a bachelor’s degree, which also makes them the longest study option in terms of time commitment. In addition to studying business analytics, college students also take courses in other related topics and complete general education requirements. College study provides an immersive, intensive learning experience, which can be a great way to learn business analytics. However, it can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year and requires committing to years of study. This can make it a prohibitive learning format for some individuals. 

For those who crave the interactive classroom learning experience, various in-person study options are also available in business analytics. In-person study provides many perks, such as access to an instructor in real-time, the ability to connect with other learners, and hands-on training from expert instructors The most expensive and rigorous form of in-person study is certificate courses. These programs generally span weeks or months and cost several thousand dollars. Upon completion, participants are awarded a certificate that demonstrates their mastery of business analytics. 

In addition, in-person business analytics bootcamps and other courses are also available from many top educational providers. These classes typically cost several hundred dollars, which is significantly less than certificate study. Often, these classes are shorter in duration, spanning several days or weeks. They, too, provide real-time instruction, as well as a computer lab stocked with the most up-to-date software and tools.

Many educational providers, such as Noble Desktop, offer bootcamps and certificates in business analytics in both the in-person and live online formats and allow students to choose the learning format most suited to their needs. The cost of study is the same, ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Live online courses allow participants to complete all coursework remotely from the comfort of their home or office. Business analytics classes conducted in the live online environment also allow students to ask questions in real-time, which is an essential feature for learning complex data analytics or visualization skills.

If you want to study business analytics but aren’t able to commit to regularly meeting classes in the in-person or live online environment, another study option is available as well. Self-paced business analytics materials, such as tutorials, blogs, and YouTube videos, are available online from many educators, such as Coursera, Udemy, and Noble. Unlike in-person and live online study that meets at regularly scheduled intervals, asynchronous content is pre-recorded. This means that it can be accessed at any time, any day, and from any location with an internet connection. On-demand business analytics coursework is the least expensive learning option, typically costing less than a hundred dollars. Some providers even offer free learning materials. However, those seeking advanced business analytics training for their job may find self-paced instruction limiting in that there is no opportunity to ask questions. For this reason, live online or in-person coursework may be a better alternative.

Free Introductory Business Analytics Course Online 

Perhaps you want to study business analytics but don’t feel ready to dive into a full course. If this sounds like you, and you’re looking for an overview of business analytics, the good news is you can get started learning for free online with Noble Desktop’s Intro to SQL. This hour-long course is designed for those who are new to working with structured query language and want to learn how to use this programming language to search for data stored in databases. This video provides an overview of what SQL is, why we use databases, and why SQL remains a popular language across industries. A live demo is also included that illustrates how to work with a database and code SQL queries.

Other educational providers also offer free online beginner-friendly business analytics courses: The University of Michigan offers Introduction to Data Analytics for Managers, which is available via edX. Participants in this introductory-level, six-week course work with hands-on exercises, case studies, and lectures for an overview of how data analytics can be applied to business. Instruction is also provided on how to use the graphical development environment instead of complex coding, as well as how to perform data science tasks and interpret the data findings. For those who want to learn more about working with customer data, Wharton University’s Customer Analytics is available via Coursera. Participants in this free five-week class have access to a range of readings and quizzes, as well as 34 videos that provide instruction on working with predictive, descriptive, and prescriptive analytics in the real world with enterprises like Amazon and Google.

LinkedIn Learning’s Become a Business Analytics Expert is just one of more than 16,000 courses in the LinkedIn library that’s available for free for those who have a premium LinkedIn account. Over the course of this 10.5-hour introductory-level course, participants complete 10 modules that provide an overview of the concepts, techniques, and tools necessary to become a Business Analyst. All students receive instruction on topics like meta-analysis, logistic regression and data reduction with Excel and R, and forecasting.

Read more about free business analytics videos and online tutorials.

Learn Business Analytics with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

If you want to study business analytics, Noble Desktop offers several excellent classes to prepare you to work as a Business Analyst. Noble’s Business Analyst Certificate is available in both the in-person and live online format. Participants in this hands-on course learn how to work with tools such as Tableau, SQL, PowerPoint, and Excel to analyze and visualize data. All participants receive live, project-based instruction from industry experts and can retake the course for up to one year to revisit the material.

For those who want to learn more about working with big data, Noble also has an in-person and live online Data Analytics Certificate. All participants receive one-on-one mentoring with tuition. This course is available in the full-time format that spans six weeks, as well as the part-time format of 24 weeks of evening classes. This project-based course covers core data analytics concepts and skills like collecting, wrangling, analyzing, and visualizing data. In addition, participants prepare for a career in business analytics or data analytics by reviewing case studies that incorporate both predictive and prescriptive analytics.

Those interested in comparing learning options can also browse Noble’s in-person and live online data analytics and data science classes to find the perfect class.