All about Masters in Business Analytics

Data science is an up and coming player in the industry, and it keeps growing at an impressive rate with each passing day. The job of a Business Analytics graduate is to retrieve valuable business insights from the vast pool of data (that is sheer chaos that keeps increasing). Why is Masters in Business Analytics a good choice? Would it propel your career in the correct direction? Let us try to answer these questions.

Is it worth your while?

A graduate in Business Analytics is someone who can tame the beast that is data science, and make it work according to his or her own will. They are capable of understanding data, organize it and then draw critical information from it. The most important skill possessed by a business analytics graduate is the ability to recognise which data is of use to the organisation’s business proceedings, and which is not. They help to focus on what’s important, and discard the rest, which saves a ton of money and time of the organisation. Business analysts are the ones who extrapolate trend in data to predict the possible outcomes of business decisions and moves, which decides the future of the organisation.

Think of a possible salary for a person who does all this. Do you have it? Whatever it was, a business analyst earns more than that. So yes, pursuing Master’s in Business Analytics is definitely worth your while.

MBA v/s MSBA

For MBA, the candidate must have keen interest in management and business-centric subjects like marketing and finance. For MSBA, which is a data-centric course, the candidate is required to have a strong background in statistics, mathematics, and/or computer science.

A person who does not have a business background may still be able to manage to successfully complete an MBA degree. On the other hand, MSBA is designed keeping in mind students who already have prior knowledge of mathematics and statistics; here, your academic background matters.

MSBA prepares students to draw out useful information from raw data after thorough research and organization. MBA teaches students how to use this useful information to achieve best possible results.

While an MBA degree would teach you only how to run a business, an MSBA degree teaches you how to deal with data, and then use it to run your business successfully.

MSBA: Career options

Below are some of the most common job roles occupied by MSBA graduates:

· Pricing and Revenue Analyst – This job involves observing the pricing and revenue trends, and then suggest changes to pricing strategy, based on authentic and verifiable data.

· Market Research Analyst – This job entails studying the current state of the market and providing feedback to the company about which products/services sell and which do not, and what can be done to improve the situation.

· Big Data Analytics Specialist- If you are capable of swiftly analysing large data sets and providing useful results, then this is the job for you.

· Business Intelligence Analyst: This job requires you to study the operation environment of the company and suggest changes to increase company profits.

MSBA: Colleges and courses

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management – Master of Business Analytics

University of Texas in Austin, McCombs School of Business – MS Business Analytics

University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business – MS Business Analytics

University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business – MS Business Analytics

University of Connecticut, School of Business – MS Business Analytics and Project Management

University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Business – MS Business Analytics

Purdue University, Krannert School of Management – MS Business Analytics and Information Management

UC Davis Graduate School of Management – MS Business Analytics