Have you ever wondered?
- How the world would have been if we could predict any natural disaster like Nepal’s earthquake or for that matter even the after-shocks.
- How good it would have been if we could predict the box office collection of Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
- Could we have prevented the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008
- How about an intelligent, auto-balancing and self-monitoring power grid / water supply system
- How about knowing would Ronaldo’s (CR-7) stats dictate a high success rate with free kicks or successful crosses
And yes all these can be achieved, off course we are not talking of conventional superheroes but ANALYTICS, the new super Hero. Analytics is the “new oil” that will power the business. It helps to draw valuable insights and equips any organisation to take better informed and timely decisions.
Analytics is not a one-dimensional approach. It involves the amalgamation of data, techniques and statistical tools and management context. It demands very strong management fundamentals and application of information in the decision-making to improve business performance. It’s not all about getting the numbers, but solving the business problem by providing viable and appropriate solutions. In achieving this, there are various challenges like mapping business problems to the analytics approach. It requires thorough understanding of the business (domain) to which it is applied and the impact this solution creates.
MBA graduates or particularly people with business knowledge play a major role at this stage. They have an edge in dealing with higher management and linking analytics with business strategy. They are able to connect the dots to align with the organization’s long-term goals. Even while analytics could be for functional areas like finance, operations, human resources, and marketing, it immensely helps to link these in finding the big picture for the future business.
Analysis of the data at each functional level in an organization has always been there. But now a days, the major challenge is the quantity and variety of data that is being generated at each level. Hence, analytics initiatives can no longer be restricted to a function, and needs to be analysed at an organizational level. This led to the need of analytics at a macro level. We have been seeing different top positions like chief analytics officer, chief data officer, chief information officer et al being included in the top management in recognition of the value they bring to the organization. MBA’s with knowledge of Analytics are the best fit in bringing both worlds of management and technicality that industry can ask for.
Whether it is in deciding your pension plan, predicting your investments in stocks, analysing your insurance plan, customer analytics has seen a tremendous growth in generating valuable decision-making inputs. Be it an online or offline retailer, the importance of analytics cannot be ignored. From the point of knowing your customers, improving your process to aligning your suppliers and partners, it has gone beyond graphs and dashboards to generate near real-time dynamic solutions. Numerous areas in logistics and supply chain are being explored in the recent past with the massive growth in the technology and internet penetration to solve their problems at each level using analytics. One such emerging field is integrating Internet of Things in Supply Chain Management. Moreover, forecasting has been the top priority across all these functions. Isn’t it amazing knowing the future of the business! In Human Resources as well, analytics has seen an immense growth in the past decade in response to problems faced by the companies related to attrition, recruitment and performance management. It helps the organization to utilize the detailed performance and operational data collected at various levels to provide effective solutions. It even evaluate behavioural traits of employees by mapping qualitative and quantitative techniques. Now Analytics experts are an integral part of HR team in all large professional organizations.
Reading between the data and attention to details have gone a step further in visualizing the data in ways which we haven’t seen ever before. Presenting the data visually and adding contextual information to complement the analysis process will help the Decision makers to interact with their data to explore trends and highlight opportunities. Hence, data visualization helps in understanding analytics solution in layman terms. Visual Analytics has become the competitive edge in differentiating the organization from its competitors. It has become an integral part of their strategy. Top management plays an important role in long term sustainability of this differentiation across all the levels of the organization.
Having seen these improvements and demand from various industries, educational institutions have come up with a different approach to analytics around the globe including India. Master’s in business with analytics major has seen enormous potential in the Indian market from the corporates, which can be seen in the growth of employment in this domain. Below picture captures the essence and skills of an analytics management graduate.
Analytics MBA fits best for students interested in transforming large amounts of data into better-informed business decisions which should be aligned with the goals of an organisation. Being at the intersection of business and technology, this offers a rich possible career in data-rich environments, operational management, financial services and insurance, human resource planning and analytical marketing landscapes.
Analytics alone accounts for one-fifth of India’s total knowledge process outsourcing, valuing $1.15 billion. India today requires 3L data scientists and USA requires 1.5 million data managers. All numbers are true. That is the potential.
After all what gets measured gets managed!!!
Data Science Summit, 28 August 2015. The Park, Kolkata. For more details and RSVP, check the site.
This was an attempt to make Big data appear slightly small, for you to take an interest in. If you are a student interested in big data or a business man reading this, and willing to know how your business could hold hands of the newest technologies and increase revenue, there is something BIG for you.
Data Science Foundation in association with NASSCOM is organising “Data Science Summit, Kolkata 2015” on 28th August 2015 at The Park, Kolkata. Something of this sort and magnitude is happening for the first time in Kolkata and we are happy that Kolkata Bloggers is a happy part of this event. We have the best of the speakers in this region coming together to raise awareness of Big Data. Do check out their website and book your calendar as soon as possible.
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Author details:
Intuito, a Latin word for Insight, is the Analytics club of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Bangalore. NMIMS, Bangalore is the only college in India which offers full time MBA with Analytics specialization.
The club aims to create a collaborative environment for knowledge sharing among the students in the field of business analytics. It also emphasizes on bridging the gap between students and the industry, in order to meet the latest requirements of the business. Intuito as a club provides a strong industry academia platform for the MBA students to showcase their talent and skills by proposing solutions for the real business scenarios (Social as well as corporate). [Facebook Link.]