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Business Intelligence Courses

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Take free online business intelligence courses to build your skills and advance your career. Learn business intelligence and other in-demand subjects with courses from top universities and institutions around the world on edX.

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What is Business Intelligence?

Business Intelligence (BI) is information management and analysis for the enterprise. It includes data capture and management of the data warehouse but is most often associated with data analysis, insights gathering and reporting. BI uses data mining technologies, tools and techniques to transform raw data from multiple internal and external sources into actionable metrics that can be used in operations, planning, product development, strategic management and other divisions of a company.

Online Courses in Business Intelligence

The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has created a whole new realm of BI that companies must stay on top of to remain competitive. Big data analysis can uncover trends and insights that were unavailable before and learning the latest business intelligence tools and technologies for working with large data sets is an essential part of BI training. Fortunately, there are excellent online business intelligence courses to teach you the fundamentals. Start with introductory courses in using Excel for data visualization and analysis and then take courses in various languages and BI tools such as Python, R, Spark, SQL and Hadoop.

Go further with advanced MicroMasters programs in business analytics, data science and big data. The 4-course Business Analytics MicroMasters program from Columbia University is an excellent way to gain deeper knowledge of the BI field. Learn the tools and systems for managing structured and unstructured data, how to prepare data for statistical analysis, how to apply descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics to business models and how to build business intelligence solutions.

Data analysis is one of the most popular areas of study on edX and courses and certificate programs are available from many top institutions and companies including MIT, Columbia, Microsoft and more.

Business Intelligence Jobs

BI drives decision making at a company, making it a high priority and putting analysts in high demand. The average salary of a business intelligence manager in the United States is $109,718 according to estimates by Indeed.com and, at the time of this writing, there were over 5,000 open BI job positions available. Top job positions include BI Analyst, BI Manager and BI Developer and the top job locations include New York, Seattle and Washington, DC. For those looking to get started, there were over 50 business intelligence internships available as well as over 700 entry-level job positions. With a professional certificate in BI or a MicroMasters on your resume, you will be well equipped to get started on your job search.

Explore a Career as a Business Intelligence Analyst

If you like math, computer science, economics and statistics and have a passion for research, analysis and discovery, then a career in BI may be the path for you. Demand for BI managers and developers is very strong and likely to grow along with the growth of big data and the Internet of Things (IoT). Enroll in one of the data analysis or data science programs on edX and get started on your journey into the world of business intelligence.