Business analytics is a typically cerebral field of technology. It takes a lot more mental work than most other job roles. Skills like communication, business acumen, problem solving, create the foundation of a good business analytics professional. Nevertheless, there are a number of tools and technologies that are pretty much indispensable in the life of a business analyst. Every business analytics training programmed in the country touches upon one or more among these tools. Let us see what these tools are and how they can aid your journey as a business analyst.
MS Excel
Starting from the basics is a good idea while learning any new skill. MS Excel is something we all are familiar with. But that does not mean you do not need to learn this tool. There are advanced features in Excel which can be great aides in terms of filtering out information from a heap of data. You are likely to handle most of your basic analytical processes using Excel. It is a good idea to know it inside out.
SQL
This stands for structured query language. It helps analysts to deal with relational databases. Knowledge of SQL will help you be self sufficient in terms of acquiring data for your analysis. Most business analyst job roles require you to have knowledge of SQL.
Tableau
Tableau had turned a lot of heads with its incredibly efficient and user-friendly visualization properties. As business analytics professionals you need to express yourself in the most comprehensible manner. Your data visualization should come across as clear, driving, and focused. Not only does Tableau help you visualize your data in a meaningful way, it also allows you to conduct basic data analysis with the different sorts of tables, charts, and filters built into the programme. It simply makes your life easier as a business analyst and makes work easier for the stakeholders as they can use the interactive dashboards to communicate with you.
R
This tool takes you to the next level of statistical analysis. While you can achieve a decent amount of success with the tools like Excel and Tableau, using R alongside them gives you a lot of power in terms of dealing with large datasets and accessing data from different sources and in different formats. R is a tool much appreciated by data scientists and it has a lot to offer to a business analytics professional as well.
You can always update your repertoire of tools with new additions. Whatever tool you use, you need to be persistent with your efforts in order to fetch good, actionable insights. Make sure you learn them from reliable sources. While free online education can work for an advanced learner who is trying to get his hands on some information, as a beginner you should seek expert guidance from business analytics training institutes.
Also remember that learning to use the necessary tools takes you only halfway towards becoming a business analyst. The soft skills matter more in this field in any other analytics job. With persistence and focus and a balanced skill set you can go miles.
