Having data analytics skills is becoming ever more important as digitalisation advances across all industries. Stephanie Mullins and Olivia Nieberg from specialist business education PR consultancy BlueSky Education shine a light on seven business schools offering programmes in data analytics. 

Having an in-depth understanding of how digital concepts such as artificial intelligence will affect business is becoming one of the most important business skills today, and those who have this digital understanding are at the top of the pile when it comes to employability.

This is why Masters in Business Analytics programmes are surging in popularity, and why top business schools all over the world are increasing their offerings when it comes to teaching future leaders how to flourish within digital business environments.

Aalto University School of Business

At Aalto University School of Business, an institution ranked 1^st in Finland and 3^rd in the Nordic countries in the Financial Times European Business Schools 2020 ranking, studying for a Master’s Programme in Business Analytics gives students an exceptional combination of skills in leadership, business, and technology.

The programme fits industry and future needs, and graduates are innovative leaders of the digital and sustainable era. The programme provides students with in-depth knowledge about data-based decision-making and analytics and allows them to specialise in different business domains. The brand new, two-year programme is special in the sense that while the main theme of the programme is business analytics, it also covers a series of important topics, such as business intelligence, information management, artificial intelligence and sustainable business, truly preparing their students for a successful all-round career within digital sectors.

On top of this, Aalto University School of Business also offers outstanding career services for those on the business analytics programme. Collaborative courses with companies and alumni offer opportunities to work on real-life cases and network with industry leaders, with most students doing their Master’s thesis commissioned by their employer. Ultimately, the Master’s Programme in Business Analytics at Aalto will allow students to personalise their long-term professional profile.

BI Norwegian Business School

Across the border is BI Norwegian Business School. This leading institution has a Master of Science in Business Analytics that is highly customisable and offers an array of international opportunities, allowing their students to master the combination of highly advanced analytic skills with business and management skills so they can become viable candidates for a range of businesses and industries.

This is a future-oriented programme that offers students several exciting opportunities that will contribute to a varied and interesting student life as they are able to tailor their degree. The elective courses on offer allow students to adapt their studies to their own interests and goals. This way they can build up competency and pursue a combination of courses. Elective courses include Supply Chain Analytics, Marketing Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence – Technologies and Applications, just to name a few.

Most prominently, students are able to embark on an internship programme as part of the degree. This includes an opportunity to complete an internship at SAS Institute, the world’s largest business analytics company.

Imperial College Business School

World-renowned institution Imperial College Business School also offers one of the most prestigious programmes when it comes to business analytics. In fact, it is the most competitive business education programme in the world – even more so than the MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business or Harvard Business School. Yes, the full-time 12-month MSc in Business Analytics at London’s Imperial College Business School beats them all in terms of applicants per place.

The programme is designed from scratch alongside employers. Students learn how to make sense of data and how to use it for making decisions within business. Students start off by getting up to speed with programming languages Python and R, before moving on to subjects like network analytics and machine learning, then becoming more specialised with courses on subjects like healthcare or financial analytics. This is followed by practical business projects where students work together to solve real-life problems. There is no doubt that graduates from this programme are some of the most employable in the world.

Durham University Business School

Another world-class business school also based in the UK is Durham University Business School, where they also offer their MSc Business Analytics course. This programme is intended to provide premium masters-level education and training in relevant areas of contemporary business analytics in a supportive, research-led, interdisciplinary learning environment.

The 12-month programme focuses on a number of key issues in data analytics and its use in business. Excitingly, the programme also includes a trip to Silicon Valley, in which students get to visit data-focused organisations and meet and present to these companies. This is an invaluable experience for those on the programme and the development of their future careers.

ESCP Business School

For a truly international experience, ESCP Business School offers their top-ranked ‘Masters in Big Data and Business Analytics’ where the programme is delivered in English on their Paris and Berlin campuses, and also includes an international seminar in China.

Students on the programme come from various countries and have different backgrounds such as engineering, pharmaceutical, literature, social and political sciences. With many nationalities represented, the multicultural aspect enriches exchanges and group work.

In fact, this programme is all about networking, as the masters programme even has its own student society. ‘The Big Data Club’ was established in 2017 by students of the first cohort of the MSc in Big Data and Business Analytics specialisation. Its mission is to encourage networking amongst students and industry professionals as well as provide an understanding of industry best practices and techniques used in Big Data. In previous years, the club has done so by organising conferences, workshops, a series of podcasts, webinars and networking socials.

MIP Politecnico di Milano

In partnership with IBM, the ‘International Masters in Business Analytics and Big Data’ at MIP Politecnico di Milano is a 12-month Master programme that is designed to train young and highly motivated candidates. Through an experiential approach using business cases, contributions by industrial partners and companies, and internships, the teaching methods are multi-dimensional on this programme.

Designed for fresh graduates with less than three years of work experience, the masters at MIP gives a unique opportunity for those wishing to kick start their career within business analytics. As well as focussing on hard-data skills, the programme also includes practical activities such as workshops on soft skills empowerment, allowing their participants to gain a whole multitude of essential quantitative and qualitative business skills.

Ultimately, this Milan-based institution has created a programme that is designed to train a new generation of data-savvy professionals who will be able to manage complex business analytics problems across a variety of different industries and environments.

Trinity Business School

Based in the tech hub of Dublin, Trinity Business School’s ‘Masters in Business Analytics’ focuses on the applications of modern operational research and management science techniques to solve business problems and support management decisions.

Analytics has become increasingly important in the business world as organisations have access to vast amounts of data, which is why students on this master’s programme are interested in using analytics to solve management and business problems such as in marketing, accounting and finance, operations, supply chain and human resource. Employment opportunities exist as business analysts or analytics professionals.

Indeed, Dublin is already home to over 2,200 start-ups and ranks 8th in the European Digital City Index. “Being located in Dublin provides an unparalleled opportunity to benefit from the wider ecosystem that exists here. Dublin is widely regarded as the tech headquarters of Europe and a multitude of firms are located within a stone’s throw from Trinity Business School. This provides an invaluable opportunity to learn, develop skills, network and work with the best minds in the sector of your choice be it financial analytics, social media analytics, marketing analytics or supply chain analytics,” says Ashish Kumar Jha, Associate Professor in Business Analytics at Trinity Business School.

While data analytics was once viewed as a technical skill left to scientists and IT professionals, it is now often considered an essential skill for any leader looking to enhance their career in an ever-growing digital business environment. Business Schools from all over the world are expanding their educational offerings with exceptional masters’ programmes within this sector, providing the teaching needed to keep up with the rapid pace of digital transformation.