Becoming a Business Analyst: Learning to Translate Data into Actionable Insights

As organizations embrace a data-first mindset, data becomes the backbone of informed decision-making. Business analysts play a pivotal part in unlocking the potential of this data, translating raw information into actionable insights that drive change. Whether it’s optimizing marketing strategies to target specific consumer segments, streamlining supply chain operations for cost-effectiveness, or identifying emerging market trends for competitive advantage, business analysts leverage data-driven approaches to inform and shape critical business decisions.

In this course, we will explore what business analysts do on the job as well as the knowledge and skills they are expected to have, such as data literacy, statistics, data visualization, and project management. After this course, you will walk away with a clear idea of what it takes to become a business analyst and practical steps you can take to break into the field.

What you’ll learn and how to apply it

After this course, you will be able to:

• Describe the knowledge and skills needed to become a business analyst.
• Understand the multifaceted role a business analyst plays within an organization.
• Create a pathway of practical steps you can take to develop fundamental skills as a business analyst.
• Understand the data lifecycle and how business analysts contribute.
• Differentiate between the various tools a business analyst can use to manage data on the job.
• Recognize the power of data visualization and data storytelling to deliver powerful insights and influence decision-making.
• Consider next steps to evolve in your role as a business analyst and beyond.

This course is for you because

• You're an indiviual, student, or professional aiming to transition into a Business Analyst role or similar (depending on the company or team, there are often overlapping responsibilities in job roles such as Data Analyst, Project Manager, or anyone involved in data-driven business strategy and operations).
• You're new to a Business Analyst role and want to understand the knowledge and skills necessary to grow and be successful in your position.

Prerequisites

Although this course does not assume the audience comes with any technical background or prerequisite knowledge, being familiar with the following concepts or terms will help ease the learning journey:

• Business analytics
• Statistics
• Data visualization
• Spreadsheets and Excel
• Programming

Recommended follow-up:

• Explore the Becoming a Business Analyst playlist